A video update of this tree is displayed at the bottom of this article .
Time seems to be flying by right now! I had intended to do a short post on how I take and look after Trident Maple and Chinese Elm cuttings…but something unexpected took priority.
My most prized Japanese White Pine, that I purchased for £45 in 2001, took a definite turn for the worst. The needles started to brown and fall off the tree and the new candles started to brown at the tips. Never having had to deal with health issues on this variety I naturally panicked and assumed it was Leptographium (Root Rot) or Dothistroma (needle blight). The first is generally excepted as the bringer of death whilst the second can be treated with fungicides.
I did consider over-watering as another possiblity and moved the tree to a drier location. The candles did not improve and I chose to do an emergency examination…
Over the course of about 2 months the needles continued to brown and then fall from the tree whilst the juvenile candles that had looked so green and healthy also started to brown off. This had progressed to nearly 85% of the existing growth before I realised I had a problem.
Too many other trees and I took this one for granted…
I pulled back the topsoil and immediately noticed a very fine white web-like substance covering the root area. I assumed this was some deadly root rot and assumed the tree would die so I removed the tree from its pot to establish the extent of the problem.
Having removed the tree I could see that the entire root system was affected by this white substance. I removed as much of this as I could and looked for any live roots. Having cleaned it up as best I could I repotted it into a larger ceramic and left it somewhere shady to die 🙁
I wasn’t convinced that this fit the description of either of the diseases mentioned but still had no clear idea of ‘why’?
I watered the tree once it was newly potted and then left it alone. In truth, I was convinced it was dead / dying and had given up hope. I was still unable to find any similiar pictures of this type of root rot online which was a little frustrating.
One month later over 70 % of the candles have returned to green vigour and are opening up. I have lost a number of smaller branches to this problem but I am feeling optimistic. I have changed the watering habits and am now allowing it to dry out more than previously – was over-watering the real issue?
Feel free to comment if you have any firm ideas or experience of this problem – especially longer term treatments. I am hoping it was just the volume of rain it received in the Spring. With this trauma managed, I moved on to my nursery stock Japanese White Pine that had been purchased in 2015 for £9.99.
Right now is definitely the time to look at wiring and pruning. You are specifically looking for the moment when the needle sheaths have dropped as your indicator. The rules I apply are the same as discussed in my Scots Pine post.
Root over Rock - Chinese Elm Pruning
In 2019 I finally treated myself to several completed ‘root-over-rock’ Chinese Elms. I had always promised myself that I would invest in some premium bonsai once my nursery sales had increased. Spending over £600 for just two tree’s was my biggest ever outlay but well worth it 🙂
Yesterday I spent nearly 3 hours pruning one of them so I thought you might be interested in some before and after images.
If any of your Chinese Elms are looking this way then now is a pretty safe time to prune them back to your desired shape. All of the normal pruning rules apply but just be sure to leave it in a shady place for a few weeks to allow the newly exposed leaves time to acclimatise.
Happy Bonsaing and enjoy the summer break 🙂
