is there a limit to weirder the better

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

16 years ago

Abies koreana ...

any clue whats going on??? i think i know what happened .. but want to hear your theories first ...

i think i have to fix this one ... don't you???

i hope i get replies to this.. i haven't been getting them through GW lately ...

ken

{{gwi:830259}}

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Comments (15)

pineresin
16 years ago
It's started to grow tesque.

Resin
Fledgeling_
16 years ago
Yes it is indeed very grotesque :P
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dcsteg
16 years ago
Hi Ken,

It looks like the central leader has lost its dominance. If that's the case growth slows and the crown will spread. If you think its weird now wait till that occurs.

Dave
botann
16 years ago
A pretender to the throne!
And a crooked one at that.
Some things never change.
If, or when that grows together it will leave what my logger friends would call a 'Spike knot'.
I'd cut it out. Either that, or watch it suffer for thirty years.
wisconsitom
16 years ago
There once was a grouping of large Norway spruce at a nursery I worked at in the 1970's. One day I was looking at them and noticed that one had a double trunk starting about half way up. These two leads were twisted around one another from that point to the tip. It seemed not to phase the tree. It was as large and vigorous as the others.

I've since noticed, when I'm back in my home town, that that group of trees is no longer standing.

+oM
dansgrdn
16 years ago
Hi Ken, Wow that's some seriously contorted growth. My initial reaction was to say just trim out both leaders and train a new one, but that would probably leave a pretty large knob (for lack of a better term) in that area. I suppose you could choose a leader, trim the other out and see what it looks like next year. It's a tough call on which one to choose though. One is more centrally located, but has more spiralling growth. The other is offset but is straighter. Good luck with whatever you decide, but I agree it does need some intervention. Dan
User
16 years ago
Just testing email.
pineresin
16 years ago
Maybe having leaders spiralled round each other reduces the risk of splitting in storms?

Resin
Embothrium
16 years ago
Erotic garden art.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
Original Author
16 years ago
hey ... i am not getting mail thru GW ... or return posts... so if i miss anything... or not reply to a post thru my members page... don't think i am not willing to reply ..

anyway ... my theory as to what happened...

there was a freak ice storm ... on 5 acres... it affected only 2 trees .. a shingle oak ... crushing out 10 feet of its leader.. and a white pine.. bending it 90 degrees ... i thought nothing else on the property was hit ... and there are at least 50 much smaller conifers over there ... both trees were impacted at 8 + feet..

well this abies was just about the right height... just 20 feet from the others.. and in the first pic.. you will note a back branch that is still bent ... i am thinking the leader that bends in front of the other leader.. and the smaller in back.. were bent by the ice ... but i didn't notice.. and that spring.. they just resumed their upright growth ...

the twisting is at the limit of my ability to get up there.. i will probably take out the least twisted ...

what i cant figure out.. is how i got ice accumulation at height .... but not at a lower level.. so as to impact other plants... mother nature.. frankly.. is unpredictable.. and weird.. go figure on that...

perhaps there was an under current of moving air.. but up 8 feet ... the air was dead enough to accumulate ice.. who knows..

ken
karinl
16 years ago
If you just cut the straight one and slip it out of the other one's grasp, wouldn't the twist more or less straighten itself out as it puts on girth? Besides, in keeping with your philosophy, why have a straight leader when you can have a wonky one??

KarinL
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
Original Author
16 years ago
wonky??? .. i like that one.. i am going to try to use it in a sentence today .. lol

i dont think it matters which is cut out.... i just like the amount of wonky lower lateral growth on the one i noted....

all i have to make sure .... is that i dont fall off the ladder.. as noted.. by next year.. i wont be able to do anything about it... this is like the third time.. i have had to take out duplicate leaders ...go wonky on that ...lol

ken
conifers
16 years ago
You're wonky alright...

I'd choose the one with the strongest and biggest bud cluster at the top of the leader. I'd also rub off any buds that might still show below this leader or keeping the ones that will help to keep the tree growing as symmetrically as possible. Choosing buds that will keep the tree as best to it's current form. Sort of a way of pruning...

Dax
pineresin
16 years ago
That's all this year's growth, so it can't have been bent by an ice storm. My guess would be partial wilting in a hot dry spell in summer, with the shoots drooping over each other, and then straightening up around each other when they picked up after rain.

Resin
Luv My Conifers
16 years ago
Wow, that's one wonky looking Abies koreana! lol

is there a limit to weirder the better

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is there a limit to weirder the better

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5Original Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5Original Author

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