Mike Lyle wrote:
Joe Shmoe wrote:
Hi all, so the general concensus is that I can leave the long branches
and the tree shouldn't suffer ?

I prefer how it looks currently, and didn't want to prune it, but
several people who have seen the tree have commented and said it
should be pruned back to a more othodox shape.


The tree is 15m away from the nearest house which, while not ideal,
shouldn't cause me any problems in my lifetime (i hope).

Does anyone know what the growth rate for this tree is? I'm looking
forward to it getting bigger.

50 feet from a house? (Perhaps not /your/ house..? What about paths and
drains?) No, it won't be a nuisance in our lifetimes, but one should
garden or farm as if one's going to live for ever, so I'd have it out
before it gets any more lovable. Slow-growing of course, but this is a
forest tree, not a domestic shrub.

Also, especially as oaks are under threat, it won't be long before they
slap a preservation order on it, then you will neither be able to remove
or prune it!