If at all possible, remove it entirely in one go. If it appears that a
disproportionate amount of feeder roots are on the large root, and removing
it would seriously weaken the tree, then yes you have to promote feeder
roots elsewhere while reducing sap flow from that heavy root. Is the root in
any way part of the final design?

David J. Bockman, Fairfax, VA (USDA Hardiness Zone 7)
Bunabayashi Bonsai On The World Wide Web: http://www.bunabayashi.com
email:


-----Original Message-----
From: Internet Bonsai Club ]On Behalf
Of Dave G
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 10:50 AM
To:
Subject: [IBC] Zelkova question


I bought a Zelkova that I planned on chopping to do a broom
style. It has a
very nice 1" thick straight trunk and the grower chopped it already to
about 18" for shipping. When it arrived I noticed that it has one very big
root on one side of the tree that will never work. My question is
do I keep
it in the 5 gallon pot and chop it now or maybe do a wire tourniquet first
to get a better root system than chop it in a year or so. Any ideas
suggestions would be greatly appreciated

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