New Cork Bark Elm

[constantstaticx3]

Well I went to the Philadelphia Flower show today to view the displays and search for a new tree. I was prepared to spend a lot of money for a nice specimen with a developed trunk. Well I found one in the form of a cork bark elm. The trunk is about 1 1/4" wide just above the base and the root base is about 3" wide on the side in which I believe is the best front for now. I payed $60 for it and to me it was well worth it. My only problem for right now is that it has already leafed out and I would like to work on the roots, ie: put it in better soil and remove the unwanted and rotting surface roots. I am guessing that will have to wait till next year though. Although, I may be able to remove the dead roots for now.

My plan is to let the chop site heal for a few years by letting the branches around it grow freely. There is some kind of cement sealing it as well. The whole branch structure will be left alone while all the focus is on the roots.

Tell me what you think. Sorry about the pics I'll take some better ones later.

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These pics don't do the base justice. Trust me it is going to look great once I can remove all of the smaller ones that you see. I believe the base gets wider as it goes down and will look awesome after the repot.
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This last pic is of the chop site and the new leader to the right.

Tom

[Gnome]

Tom,

I remember you mentioning the show earlier but Was not aware it was this soon. I like the trunk and the root flare on your Elm. It is a little difficult to get a feel for the branches though.

My only problem for right now is that it has already leafed out and I would like to work on the roots, ie: put it in better soil and remove the unwanted and rotting surface roots. I am guessing that will have to wait till next year though. Although, I may be able to remove the dead roots for now.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it here before but I killed an Elm that had potential by too many re-pottings too quickly. Elms are tough customers but it would be a shame to lose this one, take care. I do think you could remove that one out of place root without any trouble.

Norm

[constantstaticx3]

Yes thats what I'm afraid of. I really have high hopes for this and I don't want to do anything stupid. I posted the same thing on BC to get more opinions.

I'll take some better pics of the branches later on today. There are two main branches that I think I could use but I might also remove them and start from scratch.

Tom

[constantstaticx3]

Ok, after some thought I decide not to repot this year. I have cleaned up the surface roots and trimmed the roots coming out the bottom.

Here are some better pics of the branches and one of the roots.

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Tom