Same as with the redbud you select a shoot and tie it snugly to a stout stake that will remain upright for as long as needed. It does not matter if the shoot is weeping at the start, as long as you are able to bend it up.

Look for one near the center.

Choose a stake or pole that goes as high as you want the tree to go.

the problem is finding a stake that is 25 feet tall .. eh???

ken

Posted by calliope 6 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 15, 13 at 9:31

I have long wondered if that is the case. So, the weeping is a genetic error?

I have always imagined: maybe, if I grow them upside down with hanging container, then, the tree can grow straight and fast. When it reaches the desired height, then I grow them head up ... certainly, the container and the support for the container has to be large, tall and sturdy.

a non grafted.. rooted weeping cherry will achieve height.. given decades...

as my unnamed variety .. bought in a plastic bag in 2000 ... does ...

but it is not an aesthetically pleasing plant... and but for 5 acres ... would have been culled.. long ago ...

ken

In Japan, the weeping cherry is highly valued and considered very beautiful. I think the weeping form is associated with the "Monono Aware" meaning beauty toward sad conditions. Anyway, it is a literary notion that is difficult to understand.

The established one I saw in Michigan was not growing straight because it was planted right by the house. In a way, though, it was very graceful and beautiful.

I love this tree.

Okay so I went to pick the tree up. It is definitely grafted. Since I don't have a stake that tall I will tie it to the tallest thing I can find in order to try to get some height on it and then will go from there. Thank you for the article, it definitely helped out. Now the pruning tutorials I see online discuss either training it into the umbrella shape or letting it arch. Does anyone have any photos of larger trees in leaf (not bloom) with each pruning type? I won't prune this year or next but would like an idea of what I am going for. Calliope, do you have any photos of your crabapples out of bloom?

One of them is a malus Mollie Ann. It is not top grafted, ergo the mention of pruning to develop a scaffold to work with its situation. It's an octapolid clone and assumes its pendulous habit as it matures. The other is Oekonomierat. It is also considered a natural weeper and not top grafted. I also did some scaffolding work with this one. What and how I trained mine would not be applicable to what you do with your tree. Basically, whatever height your top graft starts at will be how tall your trunk will remain and you cannot really train one of the pendulous branches to assume an upright form to add height. Any height it assumes will be from the pouf of branches on the top graft, and some are flatter than others. Staking and pruning in your situation is just a moot point, you won't be staking any higher than the understock trunk, and your pruning will be like the smaller 'named' crab you didn't buy. I will be glad to show you pictures of my trees, with close-ups however. You will see that the weeping effect is quites soft and I allow it to hit the ground if it wants and make no effort to control the flow. They will never look like the living umbrellas of the current craze, nor do I wish them to. First two pictures are the Mollie Ann, its habit and the branch angles at the trunk. The last picture is the Oeconomierat habit.

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As with some other weeping forms of trees individual specimens may slowly add height by mounding up with one branch on top of another - or once they build up enough energy (presumably) may commence hoisting themselves up feet at a time, with branches that grow up and then over. When I had a double pink Prunus pendula do this the new habit was a big improvement over over the original mushroom shape.

Yes,that is what it amounts to. The additional height will be the pendulous branches and they mound upon one another to gain any additional height. You don't try to gain height by training one pendulous branch. It will always try to grow in a pendulous manner. You got a pretty generic label for your weeping cherry, and it may/may not go to twenty feet....many labels will be all over the board as to height even on named cultivars. Top grafted trees are not notoriously long-lived, so let the tree rip and see where she goes.

Thank you tons! The information is greatly appreciated and explains tons! I feel much better about getting this tree. We shall see what happens. Thanks again!

Calliope, thank you for the photos. I definitely love how you let the branches sweep the ground. Much more comforting to the eye than the bowl haircut looking ones.

Actually you do tie in a single, centrally located branch and train it up a pole if you want the main trunk to go higher, without waiting for the tree to get taller on its own.

With weeping forms weeping branches are often all that is available to work with. You have to select one before it gets too thick and stiff to bend.

This post was edited by bboy on Mon, Sep 16, 13 at 13:34