So, I posted about a Chinese elm with dry leaves a few days ago - here's an update... It went downhill, I took it to the garden centre it was from for some advice, they said it likely dried out during lockdown, that mixed with the change of environment essentially was killing it I gave it back to them, really hoping they try to salvage it rather than chucking! It's a shame, being a general garden centre they couldn't really offer me any advice. Definitely learned from that one - no more general garden centres for bonsais!

So, I went to a proper bonsai nursery yesterday and got this beautiful Chinese Elm and received good advice on how to look after it. They said that I can call/drop in if there's any issues, and take it in when it needs pruning or repotting, which won't be for a long while I know. It's looking healthy and happy! I did forget to ask about when it was last fed..I've got some liquid bonsai food, I believe they should be fed around every two weeks? Correct me if I'm wrong!

Looking forward to hopefully learning lots from you experts about these amazing plants

That is a reasonable looking tree. Keep it watered, and fertilise once a month. You could do some pruning of the long growths to bring it back to shape

m5eaygeoff wrote:

That is a reasonable looking tree. Keep it watered, and fertilise once a month. You could do some pruning of the long growths to bring it back to shape

Thanks for your reply and advice! With regards to pruning, it is safe to do that now or will it upset it having only been moved to its new home yesterday? Also, am I right in that when pruning the basic idea is to get it back to the original kind of triangle shape and cut any branches that cross over?

Give it some time to settle in, get to know the water needs, .. Look at it, and decide afterwards what you need to prune. Tree looks fine now.
Btw: fertiliser is not food. Sunlight is food for a tree. And to save you some money: there is absolutely no need to buy expensive bonsai fertiliser, any ordinary general fertiliser from the garden center or supermarket will do.

lucR wrote:

Give it some time to settle in, get to know the water needs, .. Look at it, and decide afterwards what you need to prune. Tree looks fine now.
Btw: fertiliser is not food. Sunlight is food for a tree. And to save you some money: there is absolutely no need to buy expensive bonsai fertiliser, any ordinary general fertiliser from the garden center or supermarket will do.

Thanks so much for the tips! I was definitely wary about pruning too soon, so I'm glad you clarified that!

Sorry another question (they just keep coming!) So this guy appears to be loving his new home so far! I've attached a photo - as you can see currently on the table - dog to the left means I don't want to risk having on the ground. It's been around 25 c this week, south facing garden so feels very hot during the day. Quite open too so gets a lot of direct sunlight. Will it need shade during the hottest part of the day? Parasol is there if needed!

Looking at the picture I can't tell East from West. Here is something to be aware of.

The tree likes sun. The sun can shine on that brick wall and then the wall radiates heat for hours, and the heat might not be good, depending on how close to the wall the tree is. The heat will bake the water out of the pot in no time, so be aware of that.

Ivan wrote:

Looking at the picture I can't tell East from West. Here is something to be aware of.

The tree likes sun. The sun can shine on that brick wall and then the wall radiates heat for hours, and the heat might not be good, depending on how close to the wall the tree is. The heat will bake the water out of the pot in no time, so be aware of that.

Hmm good point, thanks for your input! I'll definitely keep an eye on that, my only other option really, in the short term at least, would be to keep inside on a table I have near the patio doors leading to the garden, or window sill (both south facing).

I'll have a look at the light in other places of the garden throughout the day tomorrow (the perks of being at home for lockdown!) to see if anywhere else would be suitable, sunlight wise. I'm guessing I'm aiming for direct sun morning and late afternoon? As you can see it's a pretty open garden though with no other raised areas, so really not sure where would work!

This type of tree needs to be outside, all of it's life. Does sound like good deal, nice tree too.

Spot wrote:

This type of tree needs to be outside, all of it's life. Does sound like good deal, nice tree too.

Thanks for your reply! Yes I do intend to keep outside, just want to make sure I don't fry it! I'm taking hourly photos of the garden to see the sun pattern. Hoping this may make it clearer where a good position will be!