Zelkova

[John P.]

Looking good! Do you have any other online resources that you could point me to about trunk chopping zelkovas? Seems to not be a whole lot out there.

 

[cmeg1]

So not know if you seen this earlier in my thread ,but I think that seeing the two techniques is quite informative,can be combined too ,as I am going to do(this link and my pictures)http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATdevelopingtrunksforbonsai.htm
I have seen no other links about informal upright Zelkova.
Every time you remove a really long and developed leader from Zelkova the trees bud profusely at nodes and bases of existing branches,so you can use that to your advantage if you decide to remake branches.

 

[John P.]

Thanks; I have actually seen that one. I found another that's pretty good here.

 

[cmeg1]

Defoliated a Zelkova.


Defoliated this air-layer for the first time.
Re-wired also.
Befor and after pics.
Actually ready to just put more effort into only a couple of these brooms.Too many.
I have taken an interest into my larger cork bark elms too.
I like this one though.

 

[Adair M]

Looking good!

It could be pruned so that it's more "flat" across the top.

 

[cmeg1]

Looking good!

It could be pruned so that it's more "flat" across the top.

Thanks,Adair.yea you are right.It needs to be flat.
Seriously thinking about keeping this one and another like it and my three year old seedling.Thats it for the Zelkova.....for now.
That way I can take my time and do all the wiring that is necessary.
Going to do the other layer Wednesday.
Here are the seedling and the other layer that I am keeping.You can see the layer from spring has a very straight trunk.

 

[cmeg1]

Ahh,just outside looking at the other two layers.Gonna' keep them.They have that nice Nebari going on.

 

[cmeg1]

Another Zelkova defoliated.

Trimmed,defoliated and wired this little guy.
I have three of these layers I am keeping.
Going to defoliate and wire all season.They should start to look real nice
The right-side branch you may notice looks a bit straight.I snapped it half way,so had to close the wound and leave straight.I've seen this kind of stuff heal no problem.
Just looks awkward now.
Second pic shows the intended line before I cracked it.

 

[cmeg1]

Air-layer broom time!


So,I have this 8' Zelkova cutting in the ground that was struck two years ago.
Trunk is 1.25".....rather large than what I have done in the past with this technique.
So,I removed the bark and then scraped the sapwood to a pith,applied some root gel,packed leaves under the colander real tight,filled with akadama,watered and covered with leaves.Roots always grow good under leaves.
I am expecting a mass of roots in a matter of days
This will be the only air layer I make this season(if I can control myself).That way next year I can make some quite larger ones and see how that works out.There are several of these cuttings in the ground.
Will be cool when I separate and put this thing in a pot full of Clayking and fertilize extremely heavy.
These are great fun

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Never used leaves before, sounds logic. Must try it once... now finding trees might be an issue...

 

[cmeg1]

Never used leaves before, sounds logic. Must try it once... now finding trees might be an issue...

Thanks,Dirk.Yes,I water the pot of akadama twice a day.The leaves keep everything moist and cool.
I find the rooting to be better in straight akadama.They look thicker with the increased aeration.

 

[cmeg1]

This air-layer is growing back in with new leaves after defoliation.I like this stage,Spring all over again.
Ready to wire again and keep this little guy tip top shape.
Defoliate and wire as many times as possible this season.

 

[cmeg1]

Bigger colander.

I went to Lowes to get some rebar and 8' garden stake so I can keep the cutting still while it is layering.I did not want it blowing around,being so tall.
I then realized that it would be interesting to use a bigger colander and let the roots/callous get bigger and run longer before I separate the air-layer.Maybe will make the root base more interesting.
So,I did it over and used a 13" colander.
Had to use some of the Clay King soil,but will definately re-use when I plant the layer.
Going to build a rather large ,shallow grow box for this broom Zelkova.

 

[Adair M]

Another Zelkova defoliated.

Trimmed,defoliated and wired this little guy.
I have three of these layers I am keeping.
Going to defoliate and wire all season.They should start to look real nice
The right-side branch you may notice looks a bit straight.I snapped it half way,so had to close the wound and leave straight.I've seen this kind of stuff heal no problem.
Just looks awkward now.
Second pic shows the intended line before I cracked it.

You cracked it when you bent it because your wire is too loose! Seriously! I know why you wire loose - you don't want it to cut into the bark, right? Well, let's change that mindset right now!

For wire to be effective, it has to touch the tree. Otherwise, how can it move the branch? If it's wired loosely, it only touches the tree in a few places. But those few places get more pressure applied in that small area than the whole branch would if it's touching everywhere.

Also, loose wire means that you're not putting in subtle little curves all along the branch. You're just trying to do "big" changes. But in reality, the branch should be continuously have some slight amount of curve. To do this, the wire HAS to touch continuously.

And, doing so actually protects the branch from cracking when we bend! Always bend so that the wire is on the outside of the curve. Doing so will prevent you from over bending and snapping.

Now... As you know, I love copper wire. And it does work great on zelkova. But, you may want to try using aluminum. Here's why: your trees are young and rapidly growing. Which means the branches will thicken fairly quickly. So wire will start to cut in fairly quickly. Which means you need to take it off, and replace it fairly often! Your branches are still slim, and aluminum still works just fine. And it's a lot less expensive. And, it's thicker than copper, so it won't cut in as quickly.

One final thing, on zelkova, the secondary branches should come off at a small angle. Certainly no more than at 45 degrees. Some of yours are not tight enough.

By the way... I went back and looked at some of your wiring with aluminum, and it looks better than the wiring done with copper. There was one loose loop. But otherwise, the aluminum wiring is better than the copper wiring.

Once you get it wired like the aluminum is done, you can put in the small curves. Every 1/2 inch or so. Just bend the wire. A little. The branch will get bent, too!

The mindset is: once the wire is on, bend the wire. Don't bend "the branch". Bend "the wire".

 

[cmeg1]

You cracked it when you bent it because your wire is too loose! Seriously! I know why you wire loose - you don't want it to cut into the bark, right? Well, let's change that mindset right now!

For wire to be effective, it has to touch the tree. Otherwise, how can it move the branch? If it's wired loosely, it only touches the tree in a few places. But those few places get more pressure applied in that small area than the whole branch would if it's touching everywhere.

Also, loose wire means that you're not putting in subtle little curves all along the branch. You're just trying to do "big" changes. But in reality, the branch should be continuously have some slight amount of curve. To do this, the wire HAS to touch continuously.

And, doing so actually protects the branch from cracking when we bend! Always bend so that the wire is on the outside of the curve. Doing so will prevent you from over bending and snapping.

Now... As you know, I love copper wire. And it does work great on zelkova. But, you may want to try using aluminum. Here's why: your trees are young and rapidly growing. Which means the branches will thicken fairly quickly. So wire will start to cut in fairly quickly. Which means you need to take it off, and replace it fairly often! Your branches are still slim, and aluminum still works just fine. And it's a lot less expensive. And, it's thicker than copper, so it won't cut in as quickly.

One final thing, on zelkova, the secondary branches should come off at a small angle. Certainly no more than at 45 degrees. Some of yours are not tight enough.

By the way... I went back and looked at some of your wiring with aluminum, and it looks better than the wiring done with copper. There was one loose loop. But otherwise, the aluminum wiring is better than the copper wiring.

Once you get it wired like the aluminum is done, you can put in the small curves. Every 1/2 inch or so. Just bend the wire. A little. The branch will get bent, too!

The mindset is: once the wire is on, bend the wire. Don't bend "the branch". Bend "the wire".

Thanks for the tip on the wire tightness.Definately makes more sense to go with the thicker aluminum,now that you mention it.
I will be wiring a lot and fertilizing somewhat heavy too.
And hey,cheap is good for now.
I am excited with this bigger air-layer too.

 

[Adair M]

Thanks for the tip on the wire tightness.Definately makes more sense to go with the thicker aluminum,now that you mention it.
I will be wiring a lot and fertilizing somewhat heavy too.
And hey,cheap is good for now.
I am excited with this bigger air-layer too.

Copper will be good when it's more developed.

 

[cmeg1]

Some photos from this evening.

Here are a few photos from my garden this evening.
The air layers are getting fertilized pretty heavy.Working on my wiring.
Will re-wire the one starting to grow back in now when it is ready for pruning again and try to wire tighter so I can introduce more movement in the branches as Adair has suggested.It does make it more interesting looking.

 

[cmeg1]

The fertilizer experiment.

I was curious about the methodologies I have read about of feeding very limited nitrogen on Zelkova,so went ahead and tried it on this seedling zelkova.
I give Earthjuice catalyst and Earthjuice bloom with every watering.The Catalyst has the nitrogen from kelp at .03 nitrogen.Pretty small amount,but I supply with every watering.
So, the tree is not necessarily starved,which would not end well.The Bloom has a lot of goodies too with every single watering like fossilized guano and bone meal.
The growth is interesting.It looks very healthy and lots of roots in the akadama,but the tree is not really pushing tons growth that Zelkova usually does.
All the shoots extended to about 5-6 leaves and has pretty much came to a halt.
I am going to continue this for the rest of the season and let buds set then after leaf fall cut back and do the wiring that it so needs.
So,this is a learn by doing approach/experiment by me on fertilizing zelkova.
If your Zelkova needs a bit of a breather,this is kinda' handy to know.

*note to self,wire after every defoliation

 

[10-brink]

Interesting stuff!

I was wondering if you had any tips for my zelkova seedlings, I have a bunch like these three, some growing tall, all healthy.

Would you allow them to keep growing this season, or start pruning to try to set the main branches? Going for broom style.

 

[cmeg1]

Interesting stuff!

I was wondering if you had any tips for my zelkova seedlings, I have a bunch like these three, some growing tall, all healthy.

Would you allow them to keep growing this season, or start pruning to try to set the main branches? Going for broom style.

I personally would let grow all season with no pruning then over-winter in the ground.Then proceed next year to air layer as I did in post #202.

Made this tree like that last year.