Root removal

[Adamski77]

Hi BNuts... need piece of advice. Have this chinese elm.... repotted in 2022, well established... currently I'm developing canopy. I don't plan to repot this season so I wanted to use this year (one major offence per year) to cut off this big root that I don't think have a place in future design (circled it in the picture). My question is more around timing... what would be the best time to do this? I thought I would let the tree flush out (assess how strong the tree is this year) and do it at the same timing as other big cuts on deciduous trees. Would this be proper approach?

 

[Dav4]

Assuming the main base of the trunk has good rootage present, I wouldn't hesitate to cut that air root off the next time you walk by it with a pair of pruning shears in your hand... the tree won't miss that root at all. Fwiw, spring is a great time to perform root reduction.

 

[TrevorLarsen]

I would think doing it at bud break just like a regular repot would be best.

 

[penumbra]

Cut it now. Funny, I just re-potted several Chinese elms, and unneeded roots were removed on several.

 

[Adamski77]

Thank you all... seems like I have a plan...

 

[Eckhoffw]

This elm is wicked! Looks to me like some prehistoric animal kneeling. Very cool.

 

[Adamski77]

This elm is wicked! Looks to me like some prehistoric animal kneeling. Very cool.

I’m trying to add some wig to it

 

[Shibui]

Cutting spare roots can eb done any time of year provided there's enough roots left to sustain the tree. Looks like there's no problem with this one as it appears to be a relatively recent root.
You will likely find that the root will grow new shoots after it is cut away from the trunk. I would certainly try to get that root out of the pot unless you are prepared to have another tree growing in there until next repot.
I would also not hesitate to repot the tree to facilitate removal of that root. One major offence per year does not seem to apply to most deciduous, most certainly not to elms or trident maple. IMHO even one major offence per season doesn't apply to these trees.

 

[Adamski77]

Cutting spare roots can eb done any time of year provided there's enough roots left to sustain the tree. Looks like there's no problem with this one as it appears to be a relatively recent root.
You will likely find that the root will grow new shoots after it is cut away from the trunk. I would certainly try to get that root out of the pot unless you are prepared to have another tree growing in there until next repot.
I would also not hesitate to repot the tree to facilitate removal of that root. One major offence per year does not seem to apply to most deciduous, most certainly not to elms or trident maple. IMHO even one major offence per season doesn't apply to these trees.

Thank you for additional perspective... this is actually super helpful. What I'll try to do is to cut this root off the trunk and attempt to give some movement to it... let's see what's going to happen (to your point it might turn into little tree). I don't mind having one more in the pot till next spring when I plan to repot anyway.