Cruised on over to me local(ish) bonsai nursery this morn!

[just.wing.it]

I got the itch today....and I'm burning a "use or lose" PTO day.
So I went ahead and did a little work to my elm for the first time!
I was quick to seal all cuts.
I think it's on its way to something interesting...
Gonna bare root it and see what's under there once next year's growth begins.
I didn't wire the apex, for now... might later today.
Before:


After, 360:

 

[defra]

The wire looks like you where in a rush
Is there a reason why ypu didnt anchor the wire around the trunk?
You went straight from branch to branch

 

[just.wing.it]

The wire looks like you where in a rush
Is there a reason why ypu didnt anchor the wire around the trunk?
You went straight from branch to branch

That one is only anchored to the other branch. It's not holding both.
I had it wrapped around the trunk at first, but I was trying to avoid damaging the bark, so I moved it.
Good eye!

Edit: the wire is also very heavy, so it is holding things that thinner wire might not hold.

 

[evolutionrevolution]

Is this a good time of year to do heavy pruning?

 

[just.wing.it]

Is this a good time of year to do heavy pruning?

It's better to wait till buds are moving in late winter, hence the usage of cut sealant....don't want them drying out....
Other than that, it's fine.

 

[M. Frary]

Nice tree.
My first thought would have been to let the secondary trunk grow wild for a while to see if it could fatten up the base some.

 

[just.wing.it]

Nice tree.
My first thought would have been to let the secondary trunk grow wild for a while to see if it could fatten up the base some.

Well, that trunk was already chopped off with a dead stump on top, all I did to it was remove the dead stuff with knob cutters and seal the wound.

At repotting time, in a few months here, I'll see what lies beneath the soil line, and then maybe consider allowing it to grow like you said...
I'll probably let it run anyway to close all the wounds.

I'll have to take the Dremel to the top chop too...there's a good bit of dead stuff up there...
I think I can clean it up to look better, whether it ends up healing over or not, in the future.

 

[M. Frary]

I'll have to take the Dremel to the top chop too...there's a good bit of dead stuff up there.

Hopefully not too much is dead up top.
Elms can heal a big scar like that if treated correctly.

 

[just.wing.it]

I'll take a close up or two in a minute here....and show you.
I think it should be able to heal, but it needs to be cleaned up.

 

[just.wing.it]

Take a look.
@M. Frary
I think some careful Dremel work around the edges to find the cambium, and a few bites from the knob cutters on the deadwood will enable it too roll over.

 

[M. Frary]

That should work. It doesn't look like the dead goes too far down the trunk.
What the hell did they use to make the chop though? Looks like whoever did it got almost all the way through and just broke it off the rest of the way.

 

[just.wing.it]

That should work. It doesn't look like the dead goes too far down the trunk.
What the hell did they use to make the chop though? Looks like whoever did it got almost all the way through and just broke it off the rest of the way.

No clue....
It's got some marks on it that look kinda like some kind of saw...

 

[CasAH]

Hatchet