It does indeed look like it is "reaching" for sunlight. What does the other side of the street look like in regards to trees? Is there a large tree or two that might be shading it in the morning? I noticed the first 2 feet or so of the trunk is straight as an arrow. This is another indicator of leaning for sunlight. You could try staking it, but long term, I bet it won't make much difference.

was there a prior large tree removed ???? i have some inkling of such a scenario ...

personally .... i wouldnt want a leaning tree that close to my house.. and they are not a favored tree for hosta peeps.. which i see from your post over there.. you are ... and they drop the fruits.. and they seed like crazy ... and the roots will eventually lift the lawn ... whats the upside???? ...lol .. i would get rid of it ... because i could do it for free right now ...

i am also not inclined.. to believe that you can pull back a solid in the ground trunk.. and basically train it to vertical .... unless you have 5 to 10 years.. for the trunk to thicken up enough to hold it ... i would not want to look at the trip wires for that long.. and that is what your heavy cabling is going to be .. trip wires ... this isnt going to be a couple strings ....

but i have a feeling.. just like the ivy.. you are going to tell us you can not live without this tree ... good for you.. go for it ....

ken

Looks like:

o Leaning to light.
o Too close to house.

Dan

My made up rule for tree planting:

A tree shall be no closer to the house than 3/4 the average height of the species for protection from storm damage. Very few people do this cause big symmetrical trees look so awesome next to their home. It's just not for me.

It actually isn't a favorite tree of mine. When I got it a couple years ago I didn't know much about them or how common they are. There would be a lot of other things that I'd prefer over this locust, but just based on preference for a different tree I wasn't going to replace it; but since there is a problem, I may get to pick something else for the spot. I guess I have to think about what I would want there....

Ken; Your right, I'm not going to want a mess of wires and steaks around for years. I don't even like having to steak a tree for a season. I was some how picturing this getting fixed in a season and thinking that would be tolerable, but since it is a long multi year fix, your solution of replacement sounds better.

I have tons of hosta to show off up there (have many more to add), I should have healthy trees that I like.

I did find the nursery yesterday with a Princeton Gold.. Slowish growing, likes some protection from late sun, half the size of a honey locust, very unique, don't know of any in town. It would be a much neater tree. Or a Korean Maple might be neat.

There was never a tree in this area. Closest was where the spruce was 15-20' away.

The other side of the street does block some early morning sun with the trees, but not that much.

I'd feel bad just tossing it, but I could re-home it to up north where it could do no harm. A bit frustrating at the moment to think about the effort required to move and replace it. I knew I'd have to eventually move that mess of Hosta around it. Oh well, I'll get over it.

Thanks for the evaluation. Better to get it out of there this year before it becomes a real problem.

Jamie

what are you talking about???

my peeps of GW.. shall i repeat... yelling.. since its been in about 1000 tree posts ..

PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GARDEN UNDER TREES SHOULD NOT PLANT MAPLES.. OR WILLOWS.. OR MULBERRY OR POPLARS.. OR ANYTHING 'FAST GROWING' ... have any of you seen this before .. lol ...

in the alternative i have said: I HATE MAPLES

yes.. i have a couple maples.. on my 500 foot square lot.. and they are about 250 feet form the closest hosta ...

go with oak.. and see if you can track down a variegated oak ... and plant it 20 feet from the house .. or concordia.. the yellow one ...

and if you find one.. DONT PLANT IT UNTIL FALL ... per your other post ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Cut it down and put a narrow conifer in there. Honeylocust is a tree that should only be used if you really need filtered shade.

They are an aphid and leafhopper magnets. They leaf out late and drop leaves early.

A worthless tree in my opinion.

That willow will likely touch your home in 25 years.

Would there be enough light for a conifer if it gets shaded late in the day?

I'm thinking I will do something like is shown in the link below for the willow once it gets larger. It is currently growing very rapidly. It looks like it worked out really well for them, the photos are on the second page of that link. I'll likely

It's not going to hurt anything at this point to wait till fall to remove, so I'll wait till it drops it's leaves and try transplanting it to our property up north where it will have lots of room to do whatever it wants without causing harm to anyone or anything. I'm sure I paid way too much for it, I know it was over $100 2 years ago when I got it and it was on sale.

Yes, I've seen the warnings about not growing under fast growing trees. I absolutely believe you that the vast majority of people have a lot of trouble growing under these trees.

I give my plants a bit more care than most people can manage... I just figure they are going to consume more resources than they otherwise would if they were under a slower tree. Just like the ones under the green ash consume more resources. Buying your miracle grow in 50# bags helps. I'm on city water, that's the parts that really sucks, prices went up again this year, could have months up to $300.

I always have at least a few hosta laying around that are not even in pots, just clumps maybe a bit of soil, with roots astray, many of those grow exceedingly well, that gives you an idea of how often I water. It rains or I water, daily, if it's hot, I water 2-3X (for everything that likes to be moist / wet). I have a little experiment going. I planted 1" tissue culture Stained Glass hosta in full sun in mulch only, 10 days out, all are looking good except for one that is dragging it's feet a little. Biggest slow down was they got burnt a little, but they are overcoming it. They do have excellent root systems and will eventually grow down into the soil. I wanted to see how rapidly they would grow in a very well aerated environment - mulch. -- The drive to test some of these things is carry over from some excellent results I've had with container growing in very fast soils as well as airoponics.

If it really gets to be a problem under some of these trees, I'll go to the root bag idea someone suggested.

I'll check out the trees you mention. Looking at things more tonight, I may not even need another tree up there to replace it, maybe a Empress Wu Hosta (giant) in it's place!

I will wait till fall to make the changes.

Thanks!
Jamie

Here is a link that might be useful: Willow Pruning

That southeast exposure is prime for just about anything.

Looks like its somewhat protected from the north and west. I'd try growing more unique plants in the front yard.

If you search "photo gallery" in the conifers forum you might see some things you really like.