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Arizona Gardening

Palo Verde (Desert Museum) - Bends Over like Willow - Pruning?

13 years ago

My son lives west of Phoenix and had a Palo Verde planted by a nursery in December. He was expecting a small tree with intersting branches that spread out in odd shapes and make a canopy. (Pretty much like every Palo Verde you see in every yard and landscaped area.) He got a tall, spindly, "willow looking" tree. The tree is about 12 ft tall, skinny and all the limbs are growing straight up. There are only one or two main limbs and just a few smaller limbs. The tree actually bent completely over after a storm earlier this week. He was able to strighten it back up but the question is.......should/can the tree be pruned to produce less likelihood of wind damage and a shape more like he was expecting or should he start with a new tree? (Obviously he should have called the nursery right away but that's a moot point now.)

Featured Answer

grant_in_arizona

13 years ago

Sorry about the damage to your son's tree. Not fun. I have to say, I am not a big fan of 'Desert Museum' palo verde trees. I know they are the "in" and trendy tree right now and are being planted everywhere, in commercial settings especially, but I think they are awfully lanky and gangly and subject to a lot of wind damage. They're popular because they grow very quickly, and low litter and generally thornless, but that quick growth makes their branches shoot up and look boring and weak (to me). I know, I know, a ton of people have them and love them, and I think the best ones are ones that get regular pruning and not too much water. I'm not saying I'd never try one if I ever moved to a new garden, but I would expect to have to prune it a lot to keep it looking nice and to keep it from getting storm damage and honestly, I just don't think a lot of plant sellers are telling people that part.

Your son can prune his to try to create a shape he likes and that's a decent approach. I've seen some very nice ones around town, but again, they're getting regular pruning to thin them out and to make interesting branches. If he replaces it, I'd suggest getting a non-hybrid native Palo Verde if possible.

In any case, he can defitely give it a good haircut and see how it progresses. Thinning out and removing a lot of the thin branches will help its appearance for sure.

Good luck to him. Let's see what our other members say too.

Take care,
Grant

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Comments (7)

Joyce Shaw
9 years ago
What makes a tree look nice,they are all diferrent. Planted in my back yard they are excellent sand and wind filters. I prune minimally, water minimally and have no wind damage. My spindly starts are pruned slightly more to keep branches closer to the trunk until the trunk reaches a good thickness. One I did stake for a few months. It is cooler under the intermixed canopy in July and August. It does not look like a city tree but that is not what I was after. In town, the ones pruned and watered fall over and need years of stageing.
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How successful is one liable to be using a volunteer for trying out palo verde, it is from in-laws yard and put in mine a few months ago and growing vigorously. Can growth be controlled to manageable size withholding irrigation and pruning? I am destitute from paying to have trees removed because of growing so large they become susceptible to wind damage, have in the past had three microtheca eucalyptus and four shoestring acacias removed for that reason and three queen palms because of age and other problems. This is getting too much for the pocketbook. Miss the shade and the trees though. How severely can one prune without losing a palo verde, in fractions, say up to 1/3 or 1/2? And will they survive after establishing, without irrigation in E Valley Phoenix area? I sort of think the eucalyptus and acacias might have been controlled by eliminating irrigation after mature, is this true? graysmoke
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This is Parkinsonia aculeata. It is very different from P. x 'Desert Museum'. (P. x 'Desert Museum' is a hybrid with three parents, on of which is P. aculeata). I have both and love both of them, but 'Desert Museum' is easier to deal with. The P. aculeata has those very long leaves - 'DM's are tiny. Also, 'DM' blooms for about 4-5 months copiously. P. aculeata has a much shorter bloom time and the flowers are not as abundant. And it also has HUGE thorns, whereas 'DM' is thornless. Finally, as you have figured out, P. aculeata does not make the neat crown that you see on 'DM'. I've pruned both of them in the same way that I prune anything else - eliminate crossing branches, shorten overly-long laterals that have the possibility of becoming too robust, etc. The P. aculeata is more dramatic and weepy; the 'DM' is definitely better behaved. If you want it to look like 'DM', it ain't never going to do that. 'DM' is also reputedly more frost-hardy but both do fine in my zone 9b. It doesn't need much water - that's not the problem. It's likely dropping leaves early just because it's getting adjusted to its spot. Both my P. aculeata and my P. x 'Desert Museum' defoliate completely in the winter - the 'DM' is just much less trouble as I don't have to collect and dispose of the leaves since they are tiny. One of the most wonderful things about these trees is that glorious green bark all winter long. If you can live with its awkwardness and possibly prune it a bit for shape I think you'll be ok with it. But if you really want the other look, go get a 'DM' and be done with it. It's the most popular Parkinsonia for a reason!
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Joyce Shaw
9 years ago
If the main branches are cut back a few inches it will encourage more lateral branching.
MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
9 years ago
Joyce, do you have a diagram? I'm seriously literal.
Joyce Shaw
9 years ago
Am computer illiterate so no diagram. If you take your main trunk and just clip it straight across that will encourage side branching. If the side branches that you like grow out instead of up you can use string rope or... To tie it upwards using your trunk as its support. It will not take long for these branches to start growing in the direction you want.look at established trees to see the look you want. I have mine so the secondary branches come off at about 3 or 4 feet. The wind and sand is terrible here. Before my trees I thought we were having multiple earthquakes it hit the house so hard. Not anymore. The hotter weather keeps the shoots from trimming less numerous. Ii worked slowly, 3 years to make my final trims as even the large branches are easy to saw. Good luck, beautiful trees for me.
Joyce Shaw
9 years ago
After the roots are established cut back on watering. After a few months I went to monthly,watching the leaves, if they dropped I knew it would need more watering (mine didn't). It does not need fertilizer either. Both will make growth you already have explode. May not want that until after you get lateral branches.
jsp7057
6 years ago
Just seeing this now as I am noticing the leaves on my 1.5 yr old DM Palo Verde are getting dry and dropping off, and I came here for help. Looks like I should water more frequently. This tree has grown very fast and I am nervous about pruning it but the suggestions here seem good and maybe I will try cutting back the main branches by a few inches! Thanks for all the good comments.

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