On Sat, 02 Oct 2004 16:05:32 GMT, "Pam - gardengal"
in rec.gardens wrote:


"FACE" wrote in message
.. .

In August, I decided that several hardwood ornamentals I planted about 6
years ago were getting a little out of hand. Pretty much way out of hand
as
they are reaching wires, obstructing views, etc.

I moaned and groaned a while coming to a decision, which is to wait until
the sap falls and the leaves fall and then do some major surgery on them.
Since the major branches are out at 10 feet up or less but others and the
main trunks go up from there, I am thinking of cutting them back until
they
are not much more than 10 feet tall, and a fraction of their current
spread.

I guess I will end up with some relatively thick-trunked, short
thick-limbed
trees.

The other option is just cutting them down.-- something I wish i could do
with several of the 80 foot wonders around here.

Knowing what arborists ya'll are, this is the list:

Washington Hawthorne
Radial Crab
Sargentii Crab
Dogwood (at teast 15 years old)
Bradford Pear
Japanese Magnolia
Chaste Tree

And the kicker -- an evergreen:

Lebanon Cedar. (I have no idea how to prune that one shorter without
ruining the shape, but it is already a coupla feet above the main electric
line, and in it....wasn't supposed to get that tall!)


Any comments?

FACE

A little radical for several of them - you might need to consider removal.
It is not recommended that you remove more than a third of a tree's total
canopy in a single year - it is too stressful for the tree and can cause
considerable harm, depending on the genus.

The hawthorn, crabs and dogwood are not large trees to begin with. You can
take the hawthorn and crabs down a bit easily, but dogwoods resent pruning
and react with a production of medusa-like, twiggy growths at most cuts. And
if the tree is affected by anthracnose, heavy pruning will aggravate the
disease.

Chaste tree is actually a shrub and will respond to heavy pruning relatively
well. Not sure exactly what species you are referring to with Japanese
magnolia - it is an applellation applied varyingly to M. kobus, soulangiana
or seiboldii, of which the heights can very considerably, however most
deciduous magnolias respond well to pruning.

I'd remove both the pear and the cedar. The natural growth habit of
ornamental pears is upright and somewhat narrow in profile - a substantial
reduction in height will drastically affect its form and I doubt you will be
happy with the result. Depending on where you are located, Bradford pears
are becoming invasive and are considered inferior to other ornamental pears
due to weak wood and narrow crotches, anyway. Topping the cedar is just
plain not a good idea and keeping a tree that wants to grow to 40' or more
at around 10 feet is silly and will ultimately negatively affect its long
term health.

FWIW, unless you are considering hedging and suitable hedging material,
pruning to control height is not an ideal situation or expectation. In
general, pruning should be done to enhance form, to remove dead, diseased or
conflicting branches, to encourage fruiting or to open the canopy for
penetration of sunlight and for air circulation. In the future, you might
want to do a bit more research on what to expect on mature sizes and growth
rates of trees before you select and plant them and carefully consider
siting. How big did you expect the cedar to get?

pam - gardengal


Thanks for the reply. I am aware of the 1/3 rule. My first thought was to
remove them and my second thought was what did I have to lose by this
radical pruning attempt.

I know that the cedar can go to 40 feet. I was not going to try to get that
one down to 10 feet, just manageable, more like down to 18 feet where it is
currently about 24 feet. Grew faster than i thought.

Before I planted them i knew the other's as well, in general they should max
out at 25 by 25, with some variation...the bradford says it can hit 50,
though i've never seen one that tall. The sargentii was supposed to be 10 x
10 but it has exceeded that.

I may have to take down the bradford if it shows sign of brittleness which
does affect other Bradfords around here. To maintain it's shape will be
quite a chore since it is prettily pear-shaped which is where it gets it's
name rather than from any fruit.....or so I understand.

I have to say that "ultimately negatively affect its long term health." is
pretty silly when the alternative is cutting it down completely.

I do thank you for your comments.


FACE