This is the Chinese Elm. A great starter tree, because it makes a lot of hedgelike leaves and stems. It also can be a good tree to make cuttings from, to start new trees or to give as gifts to friends.
An interesting feature of this tree is the roots. A couple years ago, one of the roots split off the main tree. It grew leaves and decided to grow in parallel with the mother tree.
It looks like this tree is due for repotting. The soil is cracking apart into tufts of moss and peat. The soil line has expanded above the rim of the pot, causing rainwater to flow off the soil instead of into the pot where the roots are. The rock layer is no longer visible.
Although most of the soil has turned into moss, this is not necessarily bad. Many people grow bonsai trees using mostly sphagnum moss, or they use moss as a beautiful top dressing mulch because it resembles grass growing under a tall tree. Moss is like a sponge, because it retains moisture keeping it soft and wet, yet it sheds excess water before it puddles. However, it retains moisture so well, that water can stagnate and lose oxygen. Often the deepest layers never dry out completely, and roots can suffer from rot when not allowed access to fresh oxygen and air.
I prefer to let the soil dry almost completely by using a mostly rocky, pumice soil, and manage the amount of water the tree receives directly.
ID: 0005
Nickname: Peach
Type: Chinese Elm
Age: 6 years
Grown: cutting
Last repotting: early summer 2017
Wired: never
Past articles featuring this tree:
Last month the leaves stopped growing even though it is still Summer and very hot.
This odd tree operates on its own schedule no matter how good the environmental growing conditions are. After four good months of leaf growth, it's gone into the next phase and started to develop more mature leaves. Once the tree shifts into the next cycle, it can take weeks or months before it will ease into leafy growth mode again. The branches are already thickening up, leaves are turning deep green and glossy. The tree is already starting to store up energy for winter dormancy.
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