Shohin Cork bark Elm

[apr]

I picked up this shohin cork bark earlier this year from a local Japanese importer and now that the leaves are dropping I'm hoping to give it a tidy.



Haven't decided on a front and it will likely go into a larger pot in the spring. I've got some cuttings that have rooted from the summer and hopefully I'll have some new trees coming along.

I like the movement in the trunk and it already has some good fine twiggy growth, but there are some potential flaws to fix.



The twisting sections of the trunk are nice but I don't like the straight section leading up to the apex. The taper is lost and there are several branches here that are too thick and coarse. There's also a lack of branches on one side altogether.



Theres also a few areas where 3 or 4 branches are emerging from the same spot and so these will need to reduced down as well.




I'll also get a good look at the roots in the spring and see what I can improve. For now I'll try and remove the obvious bits, dead or crossing branches etc and spend some time looking at it.

All suggestions welcome !

 

[leatherback]

Enjoy!

I would start with thinning the tree out, and only then make major decisions on trunk reductions.

 

[apr]

Amazed at the resilience of the trees in my garden.

We had a week of negative temps, all trees under atleast a foot of snow, straight into a storm and torrential rain melting it all - a day or two later there are buds opening and we aren't even through winter yet!

My other Chinese elm has been pushing fresh growth, no leaves have fallen off, same for one of my zelkova saplings that is still sporting green leaves.