Thursday, March 12, 2009

Repotting Ulmus of Unknown Species





















I obtained this elm from Grant Line Nursery in the spring of 2006. It was then only the girth of a pencil at the trunk. The tree was about 9 inches tall from trunk to the tip of the foliage.

In spring 2007 I put the tree into a flower bed at my home and let it grow one season. The following spring I had to move it to the community garden bed since letting it grow freely made the flower bed look a bit too wild.

On March 6 2009 I dug up the tree and wrapped the root ball in plastic bags. The next day I washed off all the dirt from the roots, pruned the very thick roots and potted it into a square wooden training pot (approximately 4” deep, 12” wide).












I’m still not certain about how to shape the top. I know I have three solid branches low on the trunk, one or two of which I hope to keep. As for the top, it has interesting curves, but I’m not sure about the taper. I’m now trying to figure out whether I should chop a little above those three low branches and re-grow, or if I can salvage the upper portion by finding a convincing front view.




The roots are not great, either. Not sure what to do there.



















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