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.

Eddy wrote in news:Yrqcp.104126
:


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...ey/treeinwind-
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.



Very nice view of the whole scene, Eddy.
I am envious, and if all you have to worry about is that tree I envy you
more.
I am no expert with trees, but isn't the tree in question very, or too
close to the one on the right of it?
How your garden must look in summer when in leaf! Is that little road
separating you from your neighbour? or is it yours? Either way it is a
dream.

Caz(cas)
Long suffering other half of Baz

Very nice view of the whole scene, Eddy.
I am envious, and if all you have to worry about is that tree I envy you
more.
I am no expert with trees, but isn't the tree in question very, or too
close to the one on the right of it?
How your garden must look in summer when in leaf! Is that little road
separating you from your neighbour? or is it yours? Either way it is a
dream.

Thanks for helpful reply, Caz. Yes, it certainly is rather close to the
three paper birches, which stand in a triangle just adjacent. But in
winter when the birches are completely leafless the deodar provides a
bit of green. All four trees help to somewhat hide an electricity pole
from the view of the house.

I've always known that the deodar would have to be nipped each year at
its top to ensure it doesn't get too high - and interfere with electric
cable and satellite reception - but now it's clear that even at the
current height it can't withstand the wind.

I've been surprised to read here so many responses saying, in effect,
"Just get it out!" My problem is hating to end the life of any plant
unless absolutely necessary, hence hoping somebody will say that deodars
bush beautifully if trimmed and cut! :-)

Eddy.

On Mar 5, 12:59*pm, 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...einwind-tunnel...

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.

I can't tell what it is from that picture but I do know that lovely
spot deserves a much better plant. Preferably not an exotic conifer.
You've still got a few weeks of the bare root planting season left.
I'd get rid of the other conifer you mentioned as well, you'll be
surprised how much garden will be liberate for something more
interesting and suitable for the situation.

Rod

Rod wrote:
I can't tell what it is from that picture but I do know that lovely
spot deserves a much better plant. Preferably not an exotic conifer.
You've still got a few weeks of the bare root planting season left.
I'd get rid of the other conifer you mentioned as well, you'll be
surprised how much garden will be liberate for something more
interesting and suitable for the situation.

Thanks, Rod. Any suggestions as to replacements? We're 253 metres
above sea-level here (cold in winter) and there's a great need for
greenery in winter.

Eddy.

"Eddy" wrote in message
...

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.)


I had a conifer which was blown over by high winds and it never really
recovered. Conifers have shallow plate roots and the feeder roots on the
side that was lifted were torn. I believe transplanting conifers is
difficult, if not impossible, due to the feeder roots being damaged in the
attempt.

Bill

Bill Grey wrote:
I had a conifer which was blown over by high winds and it never really
recovered. Conifers have shallow plate roots and the feeder roots on the
side that was lifted were torn. I believe transplanting conifers is
difficult, if not impossible, due to the feeder roots being damaged in the
attempt.

Yes, this is certainly true for this particular conifer of ours. I
moved it to where it is now because the previous owner had strapped it
to the side of the house to save it from keeling over in the gales - and
when I dug around it to see if transplanting would be possible, yes, I
found the root system was not deep or extensive and moving it was
simple. It's been in the new spot for three years now and it appears
the roots have not extended in such a way as to anchor the tree against
the force of the gales. Unfortunately there's no better sheltered spot
on the whole property!

Eddy.

On Sun, 6 Mar 2011 12:17:59 -0000, "Bill Grey"
wrote:


"Eddy" wrote in message
...

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.)


I had a conifer which was blown over by high winds and it never really
recovered. Conifers have shallow plate roots and the feeder roots on the
side that was lifted were torn. I believe transplanting conifers is
difficult, if not impossible, due to the feeder roots being damaged in the
attempt.

Bill


I have an Australian conifer that was blown over when it was about 15'
high. It still had half the roots in the ground so it was stood up
again and the roots were stamped down firmly. It is now about 60'
high. When the wind is strong the tree bends over at very unnerving
angles but, so far, the roots have not been pulled up.

Steve

--
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. www.justnn.com
Neural Planner Software. www.npsl1.com

Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
I have an Australian conifer that was blown over when it was about 15'
high. It still had half the roots in the ground so it was stood up
again and the roots were stamped down firmly. It is now about 60'
high. When the wind is strong the tree bends over at very unnerving
angles but, so far, the roots have not been pulled up.

Hi, Steve. Interesting info. Basically you suggest the possibility
that if I could afford to pamper this deodar for a few more years its
root system could get such a grip that from then on the tree could
withstand all gales. 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. So the options are to keep it at 18 feet
(in which case it will continue to suffer in the gales), or to reduce it
to a much shorter bush. But will the thing cooperate with such a plan,
that's the question! :-)

Eddy.

On Sun, 06 Mar 2011 13:19:59 GMT, Eddy
wrote:

Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
I have an Australian conifer that was blown over when it was about 15'
high. It still had half the roots in the ground so it was stood up
again and the roots were stamped down firmly. It is now about 60'
high. When the wind is strong the tree bends over at very unnerving
angles but, so far, the roots have not been pulled up.

Hi, Steve. Interesting info. Basically you suggest the possibility
that if I could afford to pamper this deodar for a few more years its
root system could get such a grip that from then on the tree could
withstand all gales. 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. So the options are to keep it at 18 feet
(in which case it will continue to suffer in the gales), or to reduce it
to a much shorter bush. But will the thing cooperate with such a plan,
that's the question! :-)

Eddy.

Eddy,

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

--
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. www.justnn.com
Neural Planner Software. www.npsl1.com

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.

"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

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

On Mar 5, 2:17*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-03-05 12:59:24 +0000, Eddy
said:
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.
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.

I can't be at all sure from the photo but it looks to me like a
Christmas tree. *Did you plant one out or did your predecessors? *With
some exceptions, I'm no great fan of conifers and as this seems to be a
rather wispy one, I'd get rid of it, if it were mine.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I just wonder why you want it. What are you hopeing it will do for
you?
It's not going to thicken much at the base, so is not going to help
your privacy.
I'd be inclined to get rid of it and to plant something more suitable