Hi, I've recently been gifted a Chinese Elm and am not sure if I should be pruning it.
I live in London, and unfortunately don't have a good windowsill or outdoor space to keep it at this time. I noticed some sad looking rapid growths shortly after it arrived, so I bought an LED grow light in the hopes of giving it more light (and I rotate the tree every day)

I think it looks a lot better now (but maybe not?) and it has grown a fair bit. I'd like to prune it back, but the stems of the new growths are still green. Am I right in waiting for these to wooden out before pruning it back? (or is the plant still lacking light?)

Thanks so much!

Your elm lacks light, which it shows by producing long leggy shoots. It needs to be outside or it will die.

Ok thanks for your reply. Obviously disappointing to hear as I was told this was meant to be able to grow indoors
I unfortunately have no place to let it live outside for the next 1.5 months, so hopefully it survives till then ahh

Indoor tree is a term used by big commercial tree producers. It means less hardy trees that are protected in greenhouse in the winter or all off the year. It is not a term for trees that fare well in living room conditions. There are no tree that do that. Hence, indoor trees are the most challenging trees for beginners. If you are serious about bonsai, start with locally hardy species and grow them all year round outside. Just protected from occational extreme cold snaps.

Chinese elm can be a good beginner tree depending on where it is from and where you are located.

Place it in the coldest brightest room you have- no heating- windows open if possible.