Rod Out back wrote:

All,

We have a Lemon-Scented Gum in the garden; about 30 feet tall. We thought it
had died in the drought, but we notice that 4 weeks after the rain, the tree
is shooting again. It is a tall, narrow tree, and the trunk divides into 2
about 12 feet up, and then both divide again about 6 feet further up.
The tree doesnt look all that well; the shoot isnt vigorous, or cover the
majority of each branch.

The decision has been made to lop it to a less dangerous height. This
decision was reached before this drought, as I understand they are prone to
shedding the odd limb. I have been told they have a tendency to split where
the branches divide. The current height means if it sheds a major section,
we will be repairing the roof we only had replaced some 3 years ago.

My question is whether we should remove the tree entirely, or lop it. If we
lop it, where is a good place to lop? All the re-growth is in the upper
branches; none of it is below the second division of the 2 major limbs.

It will be sad to lop it; the Rainbow Bee-Eaters use it as a base when
having their morning insect catch. However, I also note they dont mind the
large Coolibahs the other side of the garden as well, so maybe they'll
survive...

snip

Cheers,

Rod.......Out Back

Rod, I'm not a tree surgeon so please take my comments with a grain of salt, OK?

My Mum and I planted a Lemon-Scented Gum about thirty years ago and it's now
about - oh - forty five feet tall. It *does* drop branches regularly, especially
after a heavy storm. It also drops branches for absolutely no apparent reason!
Sometimes I worry, because my Mum is now in her eighties and I have a vision of
her puddling about in the garden and getting walloped by a humungous gum branch
when she's not expecting it!

Like you, though, we see zillions of birds using the tree (it's much more
popular than the _E.ficifolia_ and _E.cladocalyx_ nana nearby!) and so we're not
about to prune or lop it in the foreseeable future. Luckily, our Lemon Gum tree
is far enough from Mum's house that it would need to fall over before it damaged
anything (except Mum, of course!)

I'm thinking that if you lopped yours just at the dividing point (about 12 feet
up), it would either coppice (as Jade has suggested) or die. Either way, you'd
have done as much as you could and given it its best chance. I don't like the
idea of the forked trunk - if the tree *is* unwell, it could very easily split
down the middle and smack you on the head one stormy night!

Mind you, IME, Lemon Gums can often look a bit disreputable, especially when
there's been a heavy Christmas Beetle (etc) season. They're lanky by habit
(lemon gums, not Christmas Beetles...) and if the canopy gets a bit roughed-up
can look as though they're about to keel over, even though they're perfectly
healthy! Could there be any suggestion of termite infestation inside the trunk?
If not, I'd give the tree the benefit of the doubt and just lop it. If the worst
happened, you wouldn't have to wait all *that* long for another one to grow to a
respectable height.

Dunno if this has been any help, but do let us know what you decide! :-D

--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia