Zelkova Elm

Haven't posted in a while...here is a 12 inch Zelkova Elm with better fall color than I typically see.

Ooohhhh.....that's nice! Looks like it's starting to get twiggy and full, if that makes sense?!?!
Thanks for sharing!

great color john !

is that about as small as you can expect the leaves to get ?

It has been in a pot for about ten years and lots of fairly direct sun the last couple of years. I did repot it this Spring and it was protected a bit afterwards. Perhaps more early season sun and may reduce more next year.

I've never defoliated a tree and only seen this done once on a Trident maple.  Can Zelkova be safely defoliated and would that reduce leaf size?

Great tree by the way.

Thanks.

I haven't defoliated this elm, but I have read that they respond well.

Here's an update

John Quinn wrote:Haven't posted in a while...here is a 12 inch Zelkova Elm with better fall color than I typically see.

Hi John, very nice tree, the kind we would all love to look after

But since Iris can't do it any longer now, I'd like to point out that naming a tree "Zelkova Elm" doesn't make sense: Zelkova and Elm are two different species of the same genus.

It's exactly as if you called another tree "Zelkova Celtis", or "Celtis Elm".

See at least:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulmaceae

The leaves definitely show that it's a Zelkova, not an Ulmus.

Alain K.

Zelkova serrata is known by the common name of Japanese Elm, I suspect to distinguish it from the almost ubiquitous Chinese Elms as supplied by mallsai vendors.

I like Zelkova so much that I've got a 23 year old full sized tree growing in my garden. I must get around to air layering some smaller ones off it!

Love your mini, John. Ramifying nicely.

Nice Zelkova broom John, very well done, good to see back on the IBC
-Leo

Thanks, Alain, for the feedback. I miss Iris; I'll try to reach out to her on Facebook.

steveb wrote:I've never defoliated a tree and only seen this done once on a Trident maple.  Can Zelkova be safely defoliated and would that reduce leaf size?

Great tree by the way.

Thanks.

Elms don't really need demolishing to reduce leaf size. The leaves get smaller through the ramifications process.
Zelkova are demolished in order to reduce leaf size.
They are 2 different trees.
Zelkova isn't an elm.