grey-bark elm ??

I hope these pictures meet the standards. Is this a grey-bark elm ? And yes there is a small rose bush next to it. I am wanting to do an airlayer on this tree come spring. i live in zone 5b. any help and advise will be amazing since most other forums have not given me the time of day.
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Looks an awful lot like Siberian elm to me. Ulmus pumila I believe

ill look in to it. thank you

I'd guess Siberian, too. Not ideal for bonsai, but OK. A spring layer would be best in Michigan.

What would make it not ideal for bonsai ? leaf size ?

Leaf Size is prettgood on this tree actually, they tend to have sporadic dieback often times. Its difficult to balanve the strength of the tree, if you have weak branches, and let others grow out, the weaker ones tend to die back. They can make nice bonsai, just require a bit more work.

prkulib wrote:Leaf Size is prettgood on this tree actually, they tend to have sporadic dieback often times. Its difficult to balanve the strength of the tree, if you have weak branches, and let others grow out, the weaker ones tend to die back. They can make nice bonsai, just require a bit more work.

This is my experience also.

A dwarfish elm that is running around loose in the northern US is almost sure to be Siberian elm. Good to practice on. Be on the lookout for a usable specimen of American elm. As bonsai, they are not likely to come down with Dutch elm disease.

this is my 1st attempt at bonsai so using this as learning experience will be nice. i'll keep a look out for American Elm. Thank you all again

once i do the airlayer it will get a little trim off the top ( so i still have some sacrifice branches) and it will go back in the ground for a few years. i was thinking of putting a tile (or better recommendations) under it so i can work on the nebari.