Chris Hogg wrote:
Have a look at http://www.azarboretum.org/plantlist/deodara.htm
and http://www.avtreefarm.com/files/Deodara%20Cedar.htm

Excellent, Chris. Many thanks. That information advises that it will
clearly bush - if the pruning starts while it is young. So I guess I'll
see how well it will bush if now substantially reduced and trimmed. But
there is hope. Many thanks.

Eddy.

Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
My mother planted the same sort of conifer as mine but she kept it
trimmed down to about 10' As a result it has grown into a huge garden
filling bush. None of the conifers have needed to be pampered and they
grow very fast. I have never been able to identify the conifer, even
after wading through a long list and pictures of Australian conifers.

Steve, thanks for this. I have another conifer, a traditional
"Christmas Tree", which has to come out, probably just before next
Christmas so it can do a final turn in the living-room, because I've
learned from people in this newsgroup that there is no way it will bush.
But it's great to learn today that there are other conifers that will.
My only problem now is that this conifer is not a very young one, so I
could be too late. But we shall see. Come May I shall start the
trimming!

Eddy.

On 05/03/2011 12:59, Eddy wrote:

Hello All.

The extraordinary gales whistling through Shropshire from Wales several
weeks ago were too much for the thin 18-foot conifer in this photo.

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...ind-tunnel.jpg

This conifer just could not withstand the wind and once the gales
subsided it was left standing about 30 degrees from vertical! (It was
easy enough to straighten it up again, largely by stamping heavily on
the ground on the side from which the wind had hit it.)

As this tree is only going to grow taller and thicker and encounter
greater difficulty in the gales of each autumn and spring, it seems to
me I only have two solutions:

1. Keep it at its current height and support the three with a diagonal
post from behind, so that while the top may bend backwards (temporarily)
in harsh winds, the root system won't be pulled at again, and once the
winds stop the tree will be left fully vertical again.

2. Reduce it to a height of about six feet, and trim its branches, IF
this kind of conifer will accept such cutting and IF it will then bush
and fill itself in.

What do you advise?

Is there another solution?

There's another conifer, of a different sort, nearby, which is currently
only 6 feet high and which will grow into a very high and wide tree if I
let it, but that cannot be because of proximity to the house. However I
know that it is one of those conifers that you CAN trim and shape and it
will "bush". But as for this one (in the photo), I have no idea.

Many thanks,

Eddy.


Hi Eddy,

Having looked through all the other posts and also learned why you need
an evergreen in this situation, my suggestion would be to(once again)
move this conifer to another site. Plant it well, stake it well and
give it a windbreak during winter. If you still need to shorten it,take
out the leader sooner rather than later. Cut the leader (main central
stem) back by 1'(30cm) lower than your intended height, as this will
ease future pruning.

For the site in front of your 3 birches, I suggest planting a Yew tree
(Taxus baccata). This is very hardy, fully evergreen and immensely
prunable. You can cut it right back to the trunk and it will reshoot.
It is much used for topiary and the smartest of hedges. You could shape
it into a very attractive feature. Maybe plant three and train it into a
smart crescent hedge to deflect the wind. You could then put a bench
there for the summer :~). Yew is also attractive to wildlife ...
although tricky if you have livestock.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

"Eddy" wrote in message
...

.. The trouble is I can't afford to let this deodar
get any higher than its current 18 feet, because of power lines and
satellite dish interference.

Eddy.

Your mention of powerline worries me a bit! At What voltage do the
powerlines operate ? (HV or LV) You don't want to even get close to these
and if in doubt contact your local electricity provider so that their
linesmen can do the lopping with the intention of preventing any flash over
between the line and the tree. They will have a vested interesting in
having a fault free system.

Bill

"Janet" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

"Eddy" wrote in message
...

. The trouble is I can't afford to let this deodar
get any higher than its current 18 feet, because of power lines and
satellite dish interference.

Eddy.

Your mention of powerline worries me a bit! At What voltage do the
powerlines operate ? (HV or LV) You don't want to even get close to
these
and if in doubt contact your local electricity provider so that their
linesmen can do the lopping with the intention of preventing any flash
over
between the line and the tree. They will have a vested interesting in
having a fault free system.

At our previous place the power people came round every few years to
check trees within reach of powerlines. We had a very ancient apple tree
whose crown was mostly obscured by a 30 ft rose. Although the tree
seemed to have reached mature height and stopped growing the inspector
insisted it was a safety hazard and condemned it. When his contractors
got it down they showed me some top branches which had been invisible
from the ground; they were not just dead but charred black from
electrical discharges. The current had been jumping to them, several
metres distant from the overhead cable.

Janet

Clearing trees/branches from flashover distances is important. Consumers
are quite rightly miffed when the power goes off because of a fault caused
by trees hitting the lines.
The power companies aren't tree surgeons and usually they are only concerned
with clearing threes/branches to a safe distance from the lines.

Bill