Field grown Zelkova

[BobbyLane]

Hey Maros! ideally i would of liked to have let it extend more before cutting back. i think the cut back was a bit rushed, but was also prompted by a lot of branches not getting much light, im constantly having to move trees around on my balcony. when i cut them back its like a sense of relief. they can breath again so to speak. this one needs much thicker branching though i agree, as long as its in my care i will work on that. one issue i find is the branches get too long and just sag. next time after leaf drop i will wire all the keepers up and out and let them extend properly next season. upwards, out towards the light. i shouldnt have done the first cut back, i should have wired it out over last winter. so now im a season behind on this tree.

some thickening has occurred though, at the base of the primary branches, this winter it will be wired out properly and then the focus will be on more branch thickening. its a powerful tree it needs strong primary branching.

 

[ConorDash]

I have the sagging branch issue with a maple and the multi trunk hornbeam.. happily allowing extension for thickening but the branches start to go down a lot, meaning the once strong enough wire is not ineffective to provide direction, and it’s not up towards the light. Means having to rewire with a thicker wire but this is not ideal.. some branches are too young or thin to be using 2mm, 2.5mm or thicker wire.

 

[leatherback]

not ideal.. some branches are too young or thin to be using 2mm, 2.5mm or thicker wire

Hm.. Feels like a stupid question, but.. You do realize that when wiring a tree.. Several sizes are used on the same tree, even along the same branch right?

 

[ConorDash]

Hm.. Feels like a stupid question, but.. You do realize that when wiring a tree.. Several sizes are used on the same tree, even along the same branch right?

Lol, yeh. if you've seen some of my threads, you'll know, I know.

Whats being referred to here is 1 branch, left to extend for thickness, so no secondary branching. To begin with, the branch is young and thin, so a thinner wire works but as it grows, theres a bit of annoying patch where it is relatively thin but long, so its heavy and sags down. Putting 2-3mm wire on such a thin shoot, is a break waiting to happen.

Its not a big problem though.

 

[Maros]

constantly having to move trees around on my balcony. when i cut them back its like a sense of relief. they can breath again so to speak. t

I feel your pain mate, just yesterday I lost significant part of my tiny garden due to inflatable pool for my kids. Had to do cutting back on stuff I would normally let grow longer. I genuinely envy blokes with large gardens all the time.

 

[BobbyLane]

a few weeks since the hard cutback, filling back out again

 

[Fishtank307]

Nice work so far. What do you use for carving trees, if you don't mind me asking?
I'm a bit hesitant to buy a dremel, because I have to idea if it's powerfull enough to hollow out trunks.

 

[leatherback]

Nice work so far. What do you use for carving trees, if you don't mind me asking?
I'm a bit hesitant to buy a dremel, because I have to idea if it's powerfull enough to hollow out trunks.

the dremel is. You do however have to get the right bit for it. Kaizen has terriers which are capable of large volume removal. The bonsai nibblers made in the UK are another excellent bit, also for Dremel

 

[BobbyLane]

Nice work so far. What do you use for carving trees, if you don't mind me asking?
I'm a bit hesitant to buy a dremel, because I have to idea if it's powerfull enough to hollow out trunks.

the dremel is fine but there are many a story of them burning out with repeated or heavier use. for the heavy bulk removal/block carving i use a makita, with a terrier bit on.
only use the dremel for smaller jobs. on youtube there are loads of videos, kaizen has a few where he uses both tools and explains why and demonstrates why.. as does Kevin wilson.

i have the nibbler, i dont use it on the dremel anymore. ive gone through maybe 3 dremels. my 4th dremel i only use for small jobs, on lower speeds for a short period of time. mainly use the rotary wire brush on it or the termite ball/saw, think kaizen call them sabretooths now.

 

[leatherback]

ive gone through maybe 3 dremels.

wow.. I have the same one still, after some 8 years. But.. I am not a big fan of loads of carving!

 

[hinmo24t]

this style tree might have persuaded me to split a twin trunk jap maple i have in my front yard. i hard cut one of the twin trunks (this is a 8' tall tree)
and it backbudded only very low. i think a lot of that side of the tree is dead or not buddy up high near the cut. ill split this section off to work as bonsai
perhaps and it will have a similar proportion to yours. short and wide...what she said

 

[BobbyLane]

just saw this pretty cool progression on FB, informal upright to broom, 7 years.


i see many cases where people persist with the tree on the left

 

[BobbyLane]

This one was slipped into a plastic training pot yest, its currently for sale...

 

[RJG2]

just saw this pretty cool progression on FB, informal upright to broom, 7 years.
View attachment 316156

i see many cases where people persist with the tree on the left

That's funny, I've been staring at the first "bonsai" I ever tried to create (2 whole years ago - sorbus americana); wondering what I should do considering all the horrible defects - and was thinking about doing exactly this... Thanks for the example!

 

[BobbyLane]

That's funny, I've been staring at the first "bonsai" I ever tried to create (2 whole years ago - sorbus americana); wondering what I should do considering all the horrible defects - and was thinking about doing exactly this... Thanks for the example!

get the saw out, dont be shy

then start your progression thread.

 

[BobbyLane]

Last photos as this one is moving to a new home...

 

[Graft]

price is £130, steal imo

Agreed!!

 

[Calnicky]

So in reading this fascinating post I couldn't find an indication of the best time to carve on a Zelkova. Could someone please let me know if I can mess around with it now or should I wait until spring/summer. Harry Harrington has a great carving session vid of field elm (I think) and says you need to wait until it has hardened off in the spring. Not quite same species, but is that the case with all deciduous? Have a new Dremel tool too and would like to experiment.

 

[MrWunderful]

So in reading this fascinating post I couldn't find an indication of the best time to carve on a Zelkova. Could someone please let me know if I can mess around with it now or should I wait until spring/summer. Harry Harrington has a great carving session vid of field elm (I think) and says you need to wait until it has hardened off in the spring. Not quite same species, but is that the case with all deciduous? Have a new Dremel tool too and would like to experiment.

Late spring, early summer. Depending on your weather you could do it all the way up until mid summer as well.

 

[BobbyLane]

So in reading this fascinating post I couldn't find an indication of the best time to carve on a Zelkova. Could someone please let me know if I can mess around with it now or should I wait until spring/summer. Harry Harrington has a great carving session vid of field elm (I think) and says you need to wait until it has hardened off in the spring. Not quite same species, but is that the case with all deciduous? Have a new Dremel tool too and would like to experiment.

Hi, you will find footage of Harry carving all year around, he's been doing privet and hawthorn most recently.
If youre carving you are creating deadwood so you shouldnt really be worried about a little dieback. bar maples, most deciduous trees are pretty resilient, its really not that long until spring anyway. if worried, you can seal the edges of the cambium with cut paste, it will keep it alive until spring usually. most underestimate deciduous trees.
I carve anytime i want to.

you can seal edges of live cambium like this,