Root correction.

A small Chinese Elm in need of a repot. This tree lives outdoors all year round

The root spread is good in some areas and poor in others. There is also some inverse taper that I want to correct.

Thanks Will,

I am putting that in my zone section on Elms, in my notebook.
What does the entire plant look like ?
Khaimraj

To do any root correction properly I remove all the soil from the roots with a root hook and a bucket of water or a hose.

Hi Will

Isn't it a bit early? Or are the buds on the move?

Mike

Some of the soil can be a bit stubborn but you can be quite ruthless with Elms.

Lots of roots growing underneath the rootball. The tree is hollow and I want to get a better spread, so the roots underneath are cut out completely.

The roots underneath cut out and the callous also cut to initiate roots in those areas.

The remaining surface roots were also pruned back hard.

Now pruned back, I wanted to open up the base and widen it.

I pushed an eliptical wedge into the space and with a pair of jin pliers, twisted the wedge to open the gap. I will repeat this at the next repotting to give it some more flair.

gap opened up some. I placed a tight wire under the branches to stop the tree from splitting in two.

The tree was then potted up but deeper than before to help with the new roots. Repotted at the same height and the cut callous would have dried out.

Hello Khaimraj. Its not a very inspiring tree at present. There's a lot of work shown above ground but not so much below. I thought some newer or less experienced members might like to see what can be done.
Hello Mike. All the buds are showing movement in the garden now and as I'm on nights for the next two weeks, I thought I better get cracking.

Thanks will, I've just done similar on a Nagasaki Crab but without the wedge, here's hoping it survives. Gone very chilly now. Sigh.

Hi Will

Very good story. Thanks for sharing.

Pavel

I don't know about other people, but i found this to be very informative. I am pretty new to bonsai and this forum has taught me A LOT. I guess quite a few people that post a lot of trees have some experience and maybe don't think to include most of the steps to create a nice tree. Thanks Will for a great tip.

Neil

Will,

the tree is just fine, and you just gave me some ideas for my hollow elm.
Thanks a million, great help!
Later.
Khaimraj

Neil, you are lucky with Will.

Sincere thanks Will. I appreciate your teaching threads. I love how you explain why on a lot of the steps you took. Thanks again!

Really good explanation and useful technique. Thanks.
I have a tree that could be improved some by same method (when the cold has disappeared) ... brrrrrr......
Regards
Morten

Very informative Will. I appreciate you taking the time to post this.

Have a great week
Sam

Hi Will,
Very clear presentation on a useful technique. I'd like to try it once i find a suitable candidate
Thank you for sharing!

Very interesting, thanks for sharing what you've done here. I look forward to seeing the results.

One question, are you concerned about that tight wire marking up the trunk?

Chris

Hello Chris. I forgot to mention, the wire came off once I'd opened the gap.

Hi Will
Thanks for sharing.

Kind regards Yvonne