Collected Winged Elm

[markyscott]

Like most elms, you overbuilt that top. It looks like another tree on top of a sparsely populated tree.

That defoliated picture of the top just accentuates the two tree look. Like six branches in the lower two thirds and 10 or more in the top 5 inches.

Whats the plan for that?

For me it would be to remove more than half the branches in the top.

I think you’re right - apex is too dense. It’ll have to be thinned and/or rebuilt from one of the branches lower down. Apex develops so quickly. I think I’ve cut it off three or four times since I’ve had this tree.

S

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Love the update and especially the info on balancing the vigor of the tree.

 

[Smoke]

I think you’re right - apex is too dense. It’ll have to be thinned and/or rebuilt from one of the branches lower down. Apex develops so quickly. I think I’ve cut it off three or four times since I’ve had this tree.

S

Thats the problem with making elms styled like a pine. You put the pointy little top right out there for God to kiss it.

I'm on a mission now for trees to look like the way they grow.

 

[Smoke]

I think you’re right - apex is too dense. It’ll have to be thinned and/or rebuilt from one of the branches lower down. Apex develops so quickly. I think I’ve cut it off three or four times since I’ve had this tree.

S

I don't think you need to remove it, just remove superfluous branches you don't need. Then round that puppy out some. It doesn't need to come to a point. That's for juvenile trees not stately old elms. You could keep the one , two back branch theme but flatten it out and don't make it so narrow. More elm like.

 

[Smoke]

I writing a thread right now on an experiment gone mad scientist!!!

wait for it...... It's in S&M

 

[markyscott]

You put the pointy little top right out there for God to kiss it.

Burped up a little coffee reading that. Lol.

 

[Smoke]

I "paint" with a broad brush.....

 

[markyscott]

December 2017 vs December 2019. Before cutback.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Nice. What are your plans for the low right branch?

 

[Tieball]

Looking great!
@markyscott Do the branches thicken at the base, where the branch connects to the trunk, relatively quick as you cut back and trim? Or is it a slow process over many years? Asking....because I observed that from 2017 to 2019 there didn’t seem to be much thickness change in the branches.

 

[markyscott]

Nice. What are your plans for the low right branch?

Plan is to develop a low branch there. It’ll take some years to build enough girth to be believable, but there’s been progress.

s

 

[markyscott]

Looking great!
@markyscott Do the branches thicken at the base, where the branch connects to the trunk, relatively quick as you cut back and trim? Or is it a slow process over many years? Asking....because I observed that from 2017 to 2019 there didn’t seem to be much thickness change in the branches.

Once you start pruning, the branches won’t thicken much anymore. The lower branch was allowed to extend and it‘s thickened. The other branches were cut back during the growing season, they’ve not thickened much.

s

 

[Tieball]

Once you start pruning, the branches won’t thicken much anymore. The lower branch was allowed to extend and it‘s thickened. The other branches were cut back during the growing season, they’ve not thickened much.
s

Not meant as a dispute.....just me trying to understand better as I think of cutting and pruning. I had thought the opposite Of what you mentioned as minimal growth, or at least thought differently anyway. I figured branch cutbacks would produce more limbs and more leaves...each requiring added resources from the roots....all adding up to more cells on the branch and therefore adding thickness. I realize I’ve greatly simplified the process and am probably not seeing the details. It just seemed to me that thickness would happen as growth continued.

 

[markyscott]

Not meant as a dispute.....just me trying to understand better as I think of cutting and pruning. I had thought the opposite Of what you mentioned as minimal growth, or at least thought differently anyway. I figured branch cutbacks would produce more limbs and more leaves...each requiring added resources from the roots....all adding up to more cells on the branch and therefore adding thickness. I realize I’ve greatly simplified the process and am probably not seeing the details. It just seemed to me that thickness would happen as growth continued.

I believe that if you want it to thicken, let it grow. This branch


was not pruned and allowed to extend. It put on an inch and a half of girth in a single growing season. The rest of the branches were pruned, but did not thicken perceptibly at all, With the subject tree, the only branch that thickened perceptibly was the one that was allowed to grow. I see this lesson over and over - if you want it to thicken, let it grow. Don’t prune. If you want it to branch, cut it back, but understand that growth will slow considerably. At least that’s my belief.

s

 

[0soyoung]

There's a lot of carbohydrate making foliage on that multi-branched whip!

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Have you tried rooting cuttings from winged elm? Id like to try some this spring. I assume they will root without issue like most elm?

 

[markyscott]

Have you tried rooting cuttings from winged elm? Id like to try some this spring. I assume they will root without issue like most elm?

no I’ve not tried. I think this is likely a cedar elm after all and there are so many here to collect. The only reason I can think to do so is for root grafts.
S

 

[markyscott]

There's a lot of carbohydrate making foliage on that multi-branched whip!

You won’t get an argument from me. There are a lot of folks that think if they prune it will make their branches thicken faster. They are welcome to do so.

scott

 

[0soyoung]

... not always looking for an argument.
I just wanted to AMPLIFY!

 

[markyscott]

Time for a repot and cutback.