William, we have to know where you live (NOT your
Address, just your general locale). This give us an
idea of the type of information that would be best for
you and your tree.

I live in northern California. My elms are outside
and dormant. So if you have a green, growing elm, I
can't help you.

Kitsune Miko

--- William Driscoll wrote:
I have been wanting to get into the bonsai thing for
a long time. I have
tried it in the past but, just couldn't leave the
damn things
alone......Which isn't good. My question is...My new
tree is about 5 yrs old
and just received it from the nursery and there is a
lot of new growth.
LONG new growth. I was hoping someone could give me
a few pointers on how to
trim this wild thing down so It doesn't look like a
bush....


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+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail
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+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

I have been wanting to get into the bonsai thing for a long
time. I have
tried it in the past but, just couldn't leave the damn things
alone......Which isn't good. My question is...My new tree is
about 5 yrs old
and just received it from the nursery and there is a lot of
new growth.
LONG new growth. I was hoping someone could give me a few
pointers on how to
trim this wild thing down so It doesn't look like a bush....

Your best bets (in descending order of worthiness):

1. Find a local bonsai club and join. Take your tree there and
holler, "Help!"
2. Post photographs (all 4 sides) in the "Potensai Section" of
the IBC gallery (accessible though our website -- address below)
and ask for suggestions. (Read the guidelines for posting
pictures.)
3. Buy a bonsai book or two (book reviews also are on our
website), read them a couple of times each and strike out on your
own.
4. Follow sight-unseen advice given here.

Now, before we give too much of that sight-unseen help we need to
know where you live, and a little more about the tree. Is it in
a bonsai pot? (Are there rocks fixed (glued) to the surface of
the soil?) Or, is it still in a nursery pot? What kind of soil
is it growing in -- coarse or very fine? Has it had any bonsai
training? How large -- height, trunk thickness, etc.-- is it?
(Who says it is 5 years old?) Is it upright, twisting, slanting,
cascade, etc.?

New growth sounds promising. Assuming it is coming off the tree
in long spikes of leaves (typical for this species), you can cut
these back as short as you want (down to a pair of leaves, if you
like), depending on what the design of the tree is (or what you
want it to be) -- which is why it is hard to give sight-unseen
help.

Oh, yes:

5. Get some more trees! As you have discovered, people with
just ONE bonsai tend to love it to death.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature
encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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++++Sponsored, in part, by Jarbas Godoy ++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++