Thank you for taking the time to assist me with my issue.
I live near Brisbane, Australia which has a similar sub-tropical climate to Louisiana US. I aquired an English Elm last year. Its in refinement, maybe 35-40yo in 100% akadama last repot was about 18 months ago. I purchased it at the end of winter and when spring came around it had an inconsistent push of growth. Sone branches were delayed by at least a month. Once they all pusged good healthy growth i partially defoliated.
Over the Christmas break i went away and left my trees with a house sitter. When i came back there was some die back in the most ramified tips and leaves on one or two branches and one or two of the small roots emerging from a live vein had died too. I did my best to get it back to health.. seasol and moved it to partial shade but i dont think it was initially strong enough to bounce back. Since then it hasnt shot much growth over autumn (fall) and what folliage has shot its been small (around 10mm) and other leaves have been dying from the outer edges. There has also been an infestation of scale that are mainly on those weaker branches.
I also think the soil is getting waterlogged as the pot is really heavy and under the top layer it is always damp. The substrate isnt hydrophobic and it drains through the holes i just think its retaining too much moisture and maybe theres little oxygen in the substrate but im not sure.
Ive only got limited experience with bonsai and I really love this tree. If it were spring i would immediately give it a careful repot but now, being in the middle of fall i dont know what to do. Can i slip pot it into a larger yamadori style timber box with 1:1 aka:pumice without disturbing the roots? Just to help it drain the water with the extra gravity and capillary action? Or should I just try keep it dry and cross my fingers until spring then repot. Or am i gonna keep having this battle in my climate with this species? Should i maybe try do a swap with a collector in southern Australia?
The tree got stressed by drought / heat but based on you description might have an underlying shin issue. Balance water and oxygen. Going into fall no new leaves will form. For many trees new foliage is only formed in limited amounts after the longest day, this why defoliation occurs before.
Use a chopstick or similar to asses the moisture in the core of the rootball.
I am concerned about growing temperate trees in a sub-tropical location, they require winter dormancy. This may put additional pressure on a weakened tree.
Thanks heaps Robert. Now that you mention the shin it reminded me one day we had really strong gusts and it loosened the tree from the wire down. The tree was loose in the pot and I remember just tightening the wire and thinking ill have to probably check the rootball tomorrow. I totally forgot until now. Maybe theres a big airpocket or compacted substrate?
That doesn’t help but it is also a sign the tree hasn’t been properly put into that pot. Doing a gentle repot now would be possible but the tree needs a proper repot in a slightly larger (deeper) container so for that I would wait.
Hi Lee, that is an awesome looking tree! I can understand that it’s current state is causing concern. There is hope though! Elms are very sturdy. It needs some extra care. Reading your descriptions it sounds like the combination of poor watering by the bonsai sitter and weak securing of the tree in the pot have caused the stress and weakening of the tree. When a tree moves in the pot, a lot of the root hairs get damaged. This might have happened a few times.
I don’t think it needs a repot. 18 months ago is relatively recent and it had enough substrate for growth. What I would do is secure the tree extra, by adding wires around the trunk from at least two sides and tightening these. If you do that well the tree won’t be able to move at all. I’ve added a rough sketch for the idea. You would have to look for a way of tightening these wires with the least amount of movement to the pot. Maybe with the wires going around the feet of the pot. Not pretty, but health is priority.
Then semi shade, carefull watering and my estimate is that it should recover within a year. Good luck and keep us posted!
Yes that makes sense. I guess its just going to put me back a couple of years. I also have accidebtally knocked off some of the buds trying to remove as much of the scale as possible so not sure if that was a good idea too lol.
I have added tie downs over the edge of the pot by using a piece of copper wire (steel would be even better) that will just pass through the drainage screen. Bend a hook in an L shape with the angle in the 80 degree range. Poke the short end up into the drainage hole and bend the wire around the edge of the pot and up over the top of the pot by a few cm (I pad the wire on nice pots). Bend another nice tight hook on this end of the wire and use it as the anchor point for your lighter gauge wires holding the trunk (or pulling branches down).
