Powerful Japanese Zelkova

[AlainK]

Apparently, you chose the side without the ugly scars, good move

From this side, it's a promising tree: once the overall structure has been defined, it's the kind of species that can be worked with the "clip and grow" technique that gives good trees a very natural look.

 

[BobbyLane]

Great response so far since the first pruning and reduction on the right, a few days after the above images i decided to do further branch selection on the left,
i think by next week i can begin pruning back the fresh growth mid n top to one or two leaves while the lower branches build up a head of steam. on zelkova, pruning these fresh shoots while still red results in more backbudding and dense ramification

 

[just.wing.it]

Great material! I'm digging this one.

 

[jason biggs]

powerful base on this one -gonna be a heavyweight champ one day !!

 

[BobbyLane]

beginning to make sense of it all, more branch selection, rubbing off unwanted growth, setting basic structure.
three lowest branches left to extend and thicken, wiring in movement, positioning drooping branches up n out to allow more light to the lower branches, cutting back harder in middle n top

 

[BobbyLane]

this will likely be the last significant cut back until end of season, one or two wired branches can be cut back to new shoots after back budding

 

[BobbyLane]

i know these trees are extremely vigorous...as of yet, this one is showing no signs of slowing down.so ive continued to clip the shoots in the crown and upper parts and they continue to back bud n fork out...

i also decided to clip the middle branches back to 3 or 4 leaves while the lower ones were clipped leaving maybe 8 leaves or more. this is mainly because i wanted them to begin ramifying and forking, they will still continue to extend and thicken, only at a slightly lesser pace than if id left the growing tips intact.
no problem, balancing the vigour like this will eventually see a well formed/balanced branch structure

 

[BobbyLane]

Pruned again, this time ive left the shoots a little longer, because if i do get another flush it will only be small...

 

[jason biggs]

really looking good.

 

[Paulpash]

Nice tree. I love Zelkova. Wish I hadn't sold mine.

 

[just.wing.it]

Man!
Aint wasting no time!
Amazing progress so quickly.

 

[defra]

This one going to be a great tree Bobby amazing development in just this season!

 

[BobbyLane]

cheers guys,
this one has been an absolute pleasure to work with so far, the growth has impressed me also.been a good growing season overall. ive been feeding a small dose of miracle gro at every watering, trees seem to be loving this. although i have experienced some long nodes. for remainder of season ive been using tomatoe feed every watering. sometimes a little of both
this went from a bare trunk to a fully grown canopy in just one season, will be fun to get in over winter and apply bits of wire here n there and really set the structure for the future.

 

[AlainK]

Waiting for the colours in autumn...

 

[BobbyLane]

some improvement since the beginning...
some balance in the structure, already beginning to see some finer, delicate branching in the branch tips, what the species is known for....
a full wiring wasnt needed, the primary lines were set over the summer, i defined them again by simply pruning and removing downward growth, crotch growth etc
there is only two pieces of wire on the whole tree...


Before n after clean up

 

[GailC]

What a great tree and me being a beginner, I really appreciate all the photos and explanations of why and what you are doing.

 

[BobbyLane]

What a great tree and me being a beginner, I really appreciate all the photos and explanations of why and what you are doing.

Thanks Gail,
i get as much satisfication of viewing images of my trees as much as seeing them in the flesh.
glad you found the progressions useful, i know when i was coming up, photo progressions like this were invaluble.i joined numerous forums just to look at progressions.

 

[BobbyLane]

i identified this area in the apex as a potential problem area, its not so bad now when viewed from the correct angle and tbf will become so dense that the bulge that could occur might not show much.
from these angles you could see what im on about..
what ill do, in the growing season ill nibble away at the callus carefully to reduce the mass without cutting off the sap flow....so just on the left side where it would become more prominent. most would say just leave it, while failing to recognize what could happen in a few years.....

 

[Woocash]

Bootiful taper. Tis gonna be a cracker Bobby.

 

[Hartinez]

Really exceptional tree Bobby, per usual. No doubt an exhibit worthy tree in the future.

Just a thought though, I feel like the branches in the coming seasons could use an opportunity to run, rather than be pruned multiple times, in order to thicken them up for proper scale. Regardless, it’s amazing you got the ramification you did out of a single seasons growth.