I just planted a red sunset maple and, while the bottom 2 feet of its
trunk is perfectly straight, the remaining trunk (10 or so feet) is
leaning somewhat. There is a crook or knot (or whatever you call
it--it almost looks like a swollen finger joint) in the trunk where it
begins to lean. Is is better to have the bottom part of the trunk
straight and let the top portion lean, or is it better to lean the
bottom so that the top part is straight (since the trunk is bent,
there is no way to make whole thing perfectly straight)? Also, would
it be too late to fix if I need to (the tree has been in the ground
for about 3 weeks now)? Finally, is it possible that this will all
even out as the tree grows and the trunk thickens?

This is the first tree I've ever planted (so I have no idea what I am
doing) and it's going to be the centerpiece in front of my house, so I
want it to look good. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Brian

do a 2 point staking around 4 feet to get the top portion of the tree going straight
up and as the tree increases in girth the "bend" will slowly disappear. what
happened was the central leader died back and a side branch took over as leader. in
time the demarcations disappear. I ordered 3 kousa varieties and all 3 came with a
dead/clipped off central leader stub with one side branch taking over. they looked
hunchbacked and I was not pleased at all.
Ingrid

(Brian) wrote:

I just planted a red sunset maple and, while the bottom 2 feet of its
trunk is perfectly straight, the remaining trunk (10 or so feet) is
leaning somewhat. There is a crook or knot (or whatever you call
it--it almost looks like a swollen finger joint) in the trunk where it
begins to lean. Is is better to have the bottom part of the trunk
straight and let the top portion lean, or is it better to lean the
bottom so that the top part is straight (since the trunk is bent,
there is no way to make whole thing perfectly straight)? Also, would
it be too late to fix if I need to (the tree has been in the ground
for about 3 weeks now)? Finally, is it possible that this will all
even out as the tree grows and the trunk thickens?

This is the first tree I've ever planted (so I have no idea what I am
doing) and it's going to be the centerpiece in front of my house, so I
want it to look good. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Brian



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Thanks for the advice!

wrote in message ...
do a 2 point staking around 4 feet to get the top portion of the tree going straight
up and as the tree increases in girth the "bend" will slowly disappear. what
happened was the central leader died back and a side branch took over as leader. in
time the demarcations disappear. I ordered 3 kousa varieties and all 3 came with a
dead/clipped off central leader stub with one side branch taking over. they looked
hunchbacked and I was not pleased at all.
Ingrid

(Brian) wrote:

I just planted a red sunset maple and, while the bottom 2 feet of its
trunk is perfectly straight, the remaining trunk (10 or so feet) is
leaning somewhat. There is a crook or knot (or whatever you call
it--it almost looks like a swollen finger joint) in the trunk where it
begins to lean. Is is better to have the bottom part of the trunk
straight and let the top portion lean, or is it better to lean the
bottom so that the top part is straight (since the trunk is bent,
there is no way to make whole thing perfectly straight)? Also, would
it be too late to fix if I need to (the tree has been in the ground
for about 3 weeks now)? Finally, is it possible that this will all
even out as the tree grows and the trunk thickens?

This is the first tree I've ever planted (so I have no idea what I am
doing) and it's going to be the centerpiece in front of my house, so I
want it to look good. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Brian



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.