Pls can you identify my bonsai?

ponker · White Belt Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 3 Location: london

Hi
I received this bonsai as a present yesterday - it came with no care instructions or identification.....

Please could somebody help me in identifying what it is, and indeed any other information that I need to know to take good care of it! (i.e. when and how I should prune it - It looks like it needs it)

As you can probably tell, I have never owned a bonsai.

Thanks so much for any help

Here are 2 pics:

ponker · White Belt Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 3 Location: london

oops sorry, here are the pics!

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk62/the_ponker/bonsai1.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk62/the_ponker/bonsai2.jpg

yamadorinige

Hi Ponker, welcome to bonsai help!
What you have there is a Chinese elm(Ulmus parvifolia). There is a sticky post in this forum that gives detailed information on this species.
One thing to note with Chinese elm is that they are very often sold as indoor trees, they really need to be grown outdoors. If kept indoors they will produce a lot of soft leggy shoots as yours has.

Stymie

Hi ponker, what a nice name.
The long, new shoots on your Elm should be reduced to leave only two or three leaves at the end. Choose the last leaf which faces outward or downward. This will improve the outline of your tree and increase twiggyness. Water just enough to keep the planting medium moist at all times. This will not be necessary when there has been rain of course.
When it has settled into its new location (around three weeks), you can start to feed it with a balanced fertilizer diluted to half the strength suggested on the packaging. This should only be given when the medium is already moist and may be repeated at two week intervals through to September. Keep talking to us and ask anything at all to do with the tree. Its the perfect tree to start bonsai with. =Don.

ponker · White Belt Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 3 Location: london

wow - thanks for the help, I didn't expect a reply so quickly!!
Very Happy

Stymie

Trees very often need quick attention. You came to the right site. There's a wealth of experience and friendliness here. Say hello to Kew for me.