I live in Melbourne Australia so we experience quite a range of temperatures.
We are only about 3 weeks into spring and my Chinese Elm budded up nicely and then also leafed up nicely as well.
The tree is in an open mix so overwatering is pretty hard to do and the tree was fertilised at the start of spring (01 Sept) as I always do.
Over the last week or so the nice new green leaves are dropping off, some are slightly tinged yellow some are not, but not the thing that should happening at the start of the growing season.
I am suspecting a root problem as the tree has also been sprayed as part of my bonsai schedule so I dont suspect any bug or disease issues.
The thing that frustrates me most is the fact that the tree flourishing into spring life has indicated a healthy tree but clearly something is not right so I thought I would put it out there and see if anyone else has experienced a similar situation and may offer a solution for me.
Cheers
Glenn

Are you saying that the new leaves are dropping or are they the old ones dropping? If it is the old ones then that is fine. What did you spray with? Could that be part of the problem I wonder? Sometimes chemical poisons can damage the tree more than the problem. I avoid using any chemicals unless all other options fail. Have you checked the underside of the leaves for insects? Sometimes spraying does get all of them, and eggs are not killed. I am not thinking roots I am thinking something else is happening.

ok thats interesting what are you thinking? Thankyou for your reply by the way.
Have sprayed with rose shield for ornamentals about 2 weeks ago for fungal issues and now its in full leaf sprayed with Maverick for bugs and there are no eggs / insects on the leaves or underneath them.
Its the new leaves that are affected as ironically the few old leaves that are on it from last seasons growth are still on the tree seemingly firmly attached so a bit of a mystery.

Unless the soil is not draining well then that is not the issue. I think the tree is reacting to either the fungicide or the insecticide. I would wait a week or two and see if it recovers. Unless there is a problem it is better not to spray anything. For insects I use a soapy solution. and I don't have any fungal issues so I do not spray any fungicide. If you can do so without disturbing the roots can you drop it out of the pot just to have a look at the roots? I am assuming that the tree is outside in your garden.

Thats the immediate plan to wait a bit to see what happens and I have also taken the fertiliser off.
Because the tree was just repotted I dont really want to disturb anything and the roots although not prolific seemed to be ok. To be honest when I think about it the tree in the last year or so hasnt been the healthiest which is why I thought it to be root related but because it budded and leafed up so well this spring I thought it had recovered so yes I will leave it alone and see what happens in the next few weeks.
Yes the tree is outside where all bonsai should be.

Ah. Did not know it was just re potted. That could be the answer, Yes take fertiliser off, and wait. Sounds like it is a reaction to repot, I would not worry too much give it time and it will be ok. Just keep it watered and in a semi shaded spot, so it does not get too much hot sun, then once it has recovered it will be fine in the sun.

Thankyou fingers crossed