Pruning Chinese Elm Bonsai! – Greenwood Bonsai

[Music] Hello everybody i’m colin tomlinson from Greenwood bonsai studio Here in nottingham i wanted to talk to You today about Chinese elm bonsai i’ve got a little Example here A lot of people when they get interested In bonsai they perhaps have like a Little indoor bonsai or something that Can grow indoors For certain periods of the year one of The most popular types in the uk Is a chinese home like this imported From china Grown in quantity in china imported into The uk As long as as well as many other Countries This little one has just been brought Into the studio today Just wants a bit of a trim and a tidy up I thought i’d show you how to do that Also i’ve got a larger one here that’s Recently bought in by customer And he purchased it from us 12 years ago During that time it came back a few Years ago and we Repotted it into this pot for him but Now it needs a thorough pruning and it Wants to be taken back Quite hard so we’re also going to Reshape And prune this one for you and show you

How to go on And this one here on the left of your Screen Is a chinese arm that belongs to myself Uh i’ve and here’s a photograph of it That was taken Three years ago when i first bought it You can see that when i first bought it The top of it was a little bit weak Visually it was just a little shoot and Over the last three years i’ve been Concentrating a lot On building up the twigginess and the Ramification Of this upper section of the tree i’ve Still got a little bit of a way to go But when you look back at what it was Like three years ago I have done quite a lot of work on it And this is in a beautiful handmade Japanese pot lovely pot for this tree And it’s a very very heavy trunk Chinese home i’m saying it’s one for my Own collection of trees And this has just been pruned today just To get it to the shape To put on exhibit and show you show you Now So we’re going to lift this one out of The way we’ll do a little bit of Trimming on this small one And then we’ll we’ll do this as a Starter and then we’ll get to the main Event

And we’ll do this larger one i’ll show You how to cope with trimming Styling and pruning chinese on bonsai These chinese arms are very versatile Plants and we have customers that grow These trees In the uk they grow them outside all Year If you grow them outside all year they Will go into a bit of dormancy During the winter period they might drop All the leaves Depending on how cold it gets and if You’ve got a sheltered garden Or it’s a mild winter in the uk they Will continue to Live outside and and survive The winter the trouble is if you’ve got A chinese album And it’s a cold winter in the uk or You buy it when it’s in fresh active Green growth You can’t just straight away plunge it Outside it needs to be acclimatized to Living outside Year round i also have customers That possibly want to keep them inside All year or they perhaps live in a flat And they haven’t got any outside space And i have got customers that have grown Chinese arms like this inside For over 20 years without any without Any issues whatsoever So the versatility of the china zone is

One of the big sellers It’s one of the reasons people like to Buy it it’s also a very tree-like Plant beautiful little leaf very twiggy Compact easy to work with and easy to Grow This one’s had the trunk shaped in china And it isn’t uncommon with this one this Is just as it’s been imported There’s a couple of little bits of wire Here look on the trunk Where these have been used to pull these Branches down And it’s uh it’s just a metal wire or Rust and rot away but It’s better to remove these if you can So there’s a couple of bits on there That want removing And then there’s a couple of little Sprouts Down here on the trunk that wants taking Off A few just here and then as far as Trimming this tree goes Any branches twigs are hanging down too Much I can take off any growth growing up too Much We can prune back and let’s just give it A little bit of a tidy up so Where this branch is coming down here You can see this section here is going Down too much We can remove it this is going up a

Little bit too much And then some of these are a little bit Long and we can just Shorten some of these back just to get The shape into it Just like i have done with this that Larger one that i’ve just uh I showed you earlier this is the process I’ve been doing on that Over a few years just to build up the Ramification And get it twiggy now this particular Tree So the best view of this tree is Probably in here with the front towards You It’s also not bad from this side Actually but Either way this is the apex the top of The tree here And this sprout here is going up a Little bit too much so i’m going to Shorten that Off to here see what it looks like with That gun That looks better I’ll shorten this back in here Fine tin sharp pair of scissors so we Can do some Nice cuts on it it’s quite twiggy so you Often have to sort of get in there And trim bits out To make it look a bit more sensible a Few little bits that are growing up and

Down and Crossing over we can just get in there With the scissors and remove those And on this particular tree i think Actually this is the better front of the Tree Yeah towards you there but the way it’s Potted like that This branch here is coming too far Forward be nice if this Came around a bit more so let me just Get a piece of wire And i’m going to wire that round for you Okay it’s a bit of a two and a half mil Wire we’re just going to wire this Branch We’ll start the wire on the tree here Bring it around That branch and i’ll take the other Piece up and around and just anchor it Onto that branch further up the tree Like so just tuck it around like that And then follow this Piece of wire bring it all the way down To the end of the branch And any excess length we can just trim Back And now we can get this branch here and We can Manipulate it carefully and bend it in Down Like so So the front’s towards you so a little Bit of a tidy up here

On the surface and that’s a quick little Trim On a sort of commercial grade chinese Elm I mean many of you probably got trees Like this in your own collection Even if you just started off bonsai and There’s a little bit of Snobbery in bonsai when it comes to Chinese elms you know a lot of people Sort of dismiss Them because they’re sort of a cut They’re a fairly common Tree but you can see that one that i’ve Just shown you earlier of mine You know they’re a very nice tree to Grow they’ve put in the larger sizes To get a lovely flaky bark and uh They get they can look quite dramatic And nice as they get older So we’ll pop this to one side let’s We’ll get a different turntable in place And we’ll look at trimming this larger Example that the customer has brought Into us today at the studio Okay so this tree here on the right has Been brought in by customer to the Studio today Now we’re trying to plan what videos Yeah we want to do and what videos You ask us to do but we get trees like This to just appear Uh i was away yesterday working on some Trees for a client and

While i was away this got bought up for A bit of a prune It’s been quite quite overgrown i think The owner does a good job of watering it And feeding it and it’s quite healthy Putting on quite a lot of growth But it’s just been getting a little bit Too bushy in recent years This one here it probably started off a Tree this sort of size When it was bought from us 10 or 12 Years ago and it’s just grown And developed and now you’ve got Something this sort of size And it’s worth sort of pruning back and Tackling For the customer now this will be a Fairly drastic Prune back this is quite long this Growth And you can see we’ve got lots of growth At the tips But if you look back in the branches There are buds Further back in the branches here So there’s not a problem in cutting back To old wood on this tree And getting it to then develop and bud Out So what i’ve said i’ve spoke to the Customer about this And it’s quite willing for us to trim it Hard back and then we’re going to put it In the greenhouse

For about six weeks or so to get it to Build back and respond well And then we can bring it back out we can Show you how it’s uh How it’s responding and what it’s doing Now Initially when we look at this tree this Growth here Has got to come back probably uh Probably eight to ten centimeters all Over Once we’ve trimmed this back we’ve then Got to look at the structure of the tree Log We’ve got a lot of crossing branches and It’s all a bit of a muddle So i’m going to fairly drastically take It back So that i can see the structure and then We can trim out Uh branches and structure that we don’t Need So we’re left with better thing better Branches Going forward yeah so let’s have a look So we’re going to start off We’ll start off at the top um So let’s just get in and pick a branch Like this one here for instance yeah can You see i’ll do it this way around so You can see what i’m doing So these branches That are quite long these twigs i’m Going to trim it back initially

Like that a little bit of growth on it Doesn’t matter if we leave growth on it Or not There’s all sorts of latent buds in here That it’ll start to grow from so If i can get it back to that sort of Stage and then The next one along same thing with that Trim this hard back and i’m going to Work my way up the tree Just take it back to that sort of size I’m using a fairly large pair of Scissors to do this Because this is a bit more of a shearing Action To start with and then we can do a bit More refinement Once we’ve got it cut back so Up here at the top You can see that this branch is this Little twig here is cutting through There so let’s remove that Do As you can trim it as you trim it back Like this you can see a lot of the Structure and A lot of the structure on this is new Growth that’s Come up in the last few years it’s Probably a few years since we ever Trimmed it like this And it’s surprising how quick these can Grow So normally you would trim it

In more frequently so it has Been left to grow a little bit too much So it’s definitely time to tackle this You can see here i’ve cut it back you See these little buds here Just in a few weeks in the greenhouse They’ll be popping new leaf out So that’s an encouraging sign so there’s No problem with the health of the tree That’s uh that’s very good It seems to have quite a lot of health And vigor it’s just a little bit Misplaced at the moment Because it’s putting out growth on Foliage and branches That we don’t really need Around here at the back I said with this particular tree we’re Going to follow up on in a few weeks Time so I know some of you if you haven’t done This sort of work before You know you might be might be Shocked at how much is coming off and That’s why we’re going to do a follow-up Video of it To show you the reason where we’re Trimming the tree like this And also show you the benefits of while We’re trimming the tree Like this for the future So this branch here on the front of the Tree if you look it’s very strange the Way it’s coming out it’s

Coming out here on the inside of a curve It’s a very unnatural Form if i turn it around it’s actually Originating here at the back of the tree And it’s nipping through there Coming out the front and it’s obscuring The view Into the tree from this angle so we’re Going to remove that With a concave poo and i’ll get in there And cut it back Also at the start of that here though Can you see a scale of insects Yeah brown skeletons have a fluff behind It look There’s one here there’s a couple more Here they’re quite good at disguise Themselves see one there look And one here you can normally get a bit Of insecticide or something and Squirt them with a bit of insecticide or You can physically remove them with like A An old toothbrush or something so Obviously we’ll remove them But we’ll also give the tree a spray so They don’t come back So this bit we’ve cut back like that We’ll take it back more So we’ve not got that that That stub it’s a bit awkward to get to Snip it back like this nearly got the Cameraman there With a concave poo in it trim it back

Like that And then we’ll put a little bit of black Balsam Wound sealant on it just to Just to hide that right now Because we’ve now cut the tree back And the front of the tree’s in here and We’ve took it back can you see we’ve got Some Strange branches in it we’ve got the Ones that are most strange This one here that’s very straight And then this one here this one’s coming This is the top of the tree this one Look This one thinks it’s the top of the tree And it’s not doing a bad job of filling In here but this structure is really not Very good so we’re going to be a bit Harder with it now we’re going to start Thinning out some of these branches now This one here This this offender is actually coming From down Just there so take that back Pull that out this straight one is Coming from here and cutting across the Tree And the top of the tree here coming up Here up here And then this shoot here i don’t need We’re going to cut this back like this This one’s growing up too much that’s Growing up too much

This one’s a bit thick It’s coming off this shoot in here Like that this one’s growing up too much This one’s awfully heavy so we’ll try And take out some of these Thick lumpy sections So we’ve got more delicate foliage That we can use this one here is quite Thick as well Where’s that coming from just here let’s Take that whole knuckle Out like so this one here Is coming off that stub and cutting Across the back of the tree And there’s also a stub on the top there That one’s removing This is growing up too much this is too Long this is growing up too much This little section here this bit here Can come off this is going back into the Tree That’s a little dead stub here So let’s just take that back This piece here going back into the tree So this piece And then there’s some sort of collision Between these two branches Probably this one would be the one to Remove And this little stub we’ll leave some of These Twisty ones here for now just Shorten it back a little bit more like So

Back down to this branch this has grown Up too much And here And this section This stub here is just dead until when You cut through it look that bit there Shorten that back and this little bit In here has died off probably just got Shaded out by all that other growth And by trimming it like this we’ll get More light into the tree It’ll grow a lot better stronger Like so This lower branch this wants to come off This stub here and this branch here they Want to be removed So this piece here And then this section on top This bits going down too much Funny bit of growth here a bit too thick And lumpy Same with this section just here And then with this length here this Wants to come back a little bit more So we’re gonna chase that back into here Up on this left-hand side of the tree we Haven’t trimmed that yet So we’ve got this section here going Down too much To come off like this This piece is here’s dead so is this Stub Can you see here the color of this bark And this is

This is a darker more red color this bit Here has died off This section here is growing up too much Too thick and lumpy And then see if we can just Sort these bits out This bit off this branch growing up too Much A bit of a jumble in here let’s give This a bit of a trim To make a bit of space and this back Branch here A bit the same there there’s a branch in Here this is growing up Let’s get that rid of that you really Can’t believe the buds on here if you Look in here though These buds here popping all over Yeah really should be interesting to see How this tree Responds i think it’s going to uh It’s going to be a phenomenal response To this pruning i think we’ve just We’ve just caught it at the right time You know it looks like it’s raring to go To send some new growth out on these Branches Really it really is This branch here this is a bit too Upward growing I suspect a lot of these branches i’m Taking off About five or six years old you know we Probably gave it a bit of a trim

Last time it was potted and then it Probably hasn’t been trimmed To this sort of degree Since then and of course because of a Quick growing tree You know the good thing is they can Develop quite quick But the bad side of that is that If they’re not trimmed back enough they Grow quite quick and they can sort of Get away from you In a in a quite quickly as well Now we still still deserve the right to Give this a bit of a trim You know once it starts to leaf out but Depending on how it responds and and how It buds If we just stand back so we can have a Look We’ve got a more triangular silhouette To it We’ve taken apex down we’ve took out the Two or three Growths that were trying to be the apex Of the tree We’ve took out a lot of growth that was Growing up too much And crossing branches try to keep some Movement in the branches You know these could go back even more To these main branches But we’ve kept a bit of this character Where we can but Took out the sort of the branches that

Are sort of more offending To the eye this is a little strange one Here actually But it comes out here comes along that Main branch Twists returns goes back up on itself So that’s probably let’s take that Little one now out Yeah and i think once we’ve taken that Out we’ll We’ll call it a day at that for now and We’ll see how it responds So those cuts that we’ve made on the Tree We’ll put some wound sealant on again On those anything gave a sort of Four mil in diameter we’ll just pop a Bit of wood sealant on Just to hide them disguise them to Promote Healing and sealing on those cuts And this tree at this time of year now We’re Reaching the end of may we’re just Starting to get a few sunny days up here So we’re going to put this into a Greenhouse And uh it’s quite warm humid environment And we expect to see this tree uh Sending more and more buds out in coming Weeks And i think within sort of four to six Weeks Here in the uk this should this should

Be Full of new leaf and maybe Six to eight weeks it should be we Should be in a position To uh give the customer a call And tell them they can come and pick up Their tree from our nursery here And it should be looking they’re looking A little bit different A little bit uh less unruly and a bit More organized And it should be good for like the Following few years and once It’s back to this sort of Stage and organization hopefully It will also be easier for the owner To keep it under control you know going Forward With a little bit of help from us it Probably means to come up to the To the nursery on a more frequent basis So that we can help them trim it and Take it forward so there we have Charlie’s own Poor pruned and tidied pop it in the Greenhouse And uh we’ll bring it out in a few weeks Time and show you how it Got on so please give us a like and Subscribe to our channel So that you don’t miss out out on any Updated videos Following on with this tree and many of The others that we’ve done

Thank you