By your own confession, I gather you had expectations/visions of a larger/gnarlier tree by now. Some pre-planning/education to meet expectations would be somewhat important here. Most living things, when starved for food and water, don't grow very large. If you have a desire to observe the decades long (centuries?), slow process of devoping a bonsai (like my avatar of vine maples that I started with trunks less than 1/8" diameter), continue the way you're going. If on the other hand you are like most and want to see and enjoy something closer to a "finished" bonsai in your own lifetime, I would suggest beggining with something bigger, in a heap of soil, then digging it up and wacking it enough to fit into a restrictive base, then continue working with it to be "better" than it was originally. Oh, and welcome to bnut. (ps don't necessarily get rid of that elm, but use your elm as a learning curve). No need to apologize for the photo, any photo helps communicate what you're dealing with.
