Not until you show a pic of this beauty!

we do not prune/trim .. recent transplants...

get it in the ground.. when appropriate...

and .. MAYBE.. think about trimming one branch in fall ...

and maybe a second.. the following summer ...

if you wanted immediate gratification.. you should have bought one already in the form you wish ..

otherwise.. it needs a year or two.. to get established.. and grow roots.. before you go cutting off all the food machines.. aka .. leaves ..

otherwise.. we need a pic

ken

There are many discussions in this forum on pruning this tree over the years. Some searching should find them.

Most Seven Sons grow very bushy and need severe pruning in the early years to create a tree form. If yours has a 2 1/2" caliper already, I suspect it has been going through a lot of training already. They readily generate several trunks.

That certainly sounds pretty big already. I planted mine when it was quite small - 3' or less. It was a shrub form and I pruned out the weaker stems right away to make a single trunk form. That pruning certainly didn't slow it down any, but I wouldn't have done that if it had been a larger plant to begin with. I wanted it to be a small tree but to also fill in a relatively large space, so I've left it to branch quite low down - it only has 3-4' of clear trunk. That means I have to keep lopping off bits of branches to keep a path clear. I lop off any bits that start blocking the path any time during the growing season. It seem to be a very tough plant because it's not bothered at all by my erratic pruning!

It's one of our favorite plants because it makes a beautiful show in September just as the Monarch butterflies are gathering for migration and the tree is a butterfly magnet! I miss my garden in winter so I welcomed this thread as a reason to look at our pictures of this beautiful tree in our garden. I'll bore you with a few pictures :-)

This is a picture from 2009 - it's a bigger tree now but this is still one of our favorite views of it:
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Bejeweled with Monarchs:
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Such a beautiful tree...!! I'm sure yours won't disappoint and, in your zone, you should get the pink display after the flowers fade - the growing season here is too short for that, but it's still well worth growing here.

I'm still eagerly awaiting this 2.5" caliper Seven Son Flower. Since they are mainly multi-stem they don't seem to put on alot of caliper. Your specimen could be up 15 years old...although 8' is pretty short for a specimen that old.

Thanks everyone. It is being held at the nursery until the weather improves and I can get them to plant it. I don't have a digital camera but it would make sense to send some photos for clearer direction. I can't do that now until next Saturday - the place is open to the public only on Saturdays.

From the sound of this thread, it sounds like I may have made a mistake in buying a large one, yes? I should have started small and pruned as it grew? Is there any hope - well you cannot really say until I send a photo.

The nursery here, Plant Oregon, was surprised I wanted a "tree form" stating they had never heard of this plant being pruned that way; it was not available in the form I wished. I hope this is expense is salvagable and to see you back here next Saturday. Danka'

It really depends on how well devoloped the radial branches are and if they will allow for you to get the form you want.

If it is very bushy you may be in luck. Odds are you'll have a multi-stemmed tree though.

It doesn't make sense that they never heard of a 'tree form' unless they where thinking of single stem. One of the best features of this plant is the peeling bark...you want to limb up to show off that feature.

I wish I had an updated picture but this all I had before I moved away a year after planting it. It struggled a bit with its northwest exposure. Thing is lush after a drive by this past spring.

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Here is my heavily pruned Heptaconium and bark

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The height is going to be an issue soon to thin out some of the top. If I don't thin it out, it will flop a bit with the weight of the leaves.

(the wires are nowhere near the tree. deceiving shot)