Thankyou

did you fert it??

trees are made.. to bend and blow in the wind ...

none of us favor topping a tree... or branches.. because the tree is growing properly ....

i would suggest that your impression.. that a tree growing is top heavy ... is you forcing a preconceived notion on how the tree wants to grow... they are pretty good at taking care of themselves... and they normally shouldnt need a haircut ...

of course.. fert'g can screw up the natural growth cycles of a plant ...

pix will REALLY help ...

ken

No I hav'nt used fertilizer on the the tree.

Everything grows extremely well here in Tasmania. If you put your thumb in the ground it would grow. I actually don't like to top trees either but this particular tree is supposed to grow upright and narrow . I was told because it is a deciduous tree that it needs to be pruned after it has lost it leaves. This I believe strengthens the branches. I just don't know how much to prune off. But thankyou for your comments.

Upload a pic for some specifics.

In general yes, I like late winter pruning. That way I have had a few months to look at the structure and think about it. Prune rubbing branches, co dominate leaders and branches which make it difficult to mow.

Use google to learn about branch collars so you figure out where the least harmful places to cut your tree are.

Remember it is easier to cut than to put back on!

I am utterly unable to compose an analogy for this scenario.

First, if branches lean downwards when extra weight is added, such as on deciduous trees shortly after a rain...how shall I put this politely?...this is normal, to be expected, and back away from the pruner! And the keyboard!

Second, just because a tree has branches that bend when young, slender and supple, does not mean they will do so as the young wood matures, grows in diameter (caliper), and the physiology of the plant changes.

Your trees aren't going to be as narrow and straight-sided as folded patio umbrellas. They are also going to get much bigger than them.

It reaches about 45 feet in height with a 15-foot spread in 20 years in a typical urban landscape setting

http://www.jfschmidt.com/crimsonspire/index.html

I have received some interesting comments, some very considerate and helpful. While others have been , well you know the spirit in which you made them, so I have decided to give a bit more information on the tree I was enquiring about. It is a new form of Prunus cerasifera with a FASTIGATE habit, iIt is ideal as a screening tree especially where lateral space is restricted. It will grow to approx 6mtrs high by 2metres wide, with a compact uniform habit with the branches almost parallel to the main trunk. This Last description is why I asked about what to do about the branches that are hanging down on the sides, as though top heavy. All this information I obtained from the nursery which supplies these trees here in Australia. See photo below. Apologies the photo is not the best.

All the references I can find to this tree are from Oz so maybe people elsewhere are not familiar with it yet. I would do as earlier suggestions said and leave it well alone for at least one full growing season. In fact I'd leave it alone altogether other than removing any future damaged bits. You can always remove material in future years if need be. It's a Purple Leafed Cherry Plum and they are not renowned for thick, strong branches. It is bound to flop a bit after rain, especially soft young twigs which have grown fast.

You so much for you're helpful and positive comment. I have trimed on tree of a couple of branches. But was careful not to be too brutal. The brances were flopping over the pathway. But I will leave the others as you have so nicely advised. Again THANKYOU

Probably a renaming of this one, which has by now been planted in some numbers in my area - many of those here look like the pictures on the card you photographed.

http://www.lakecountynursery.com/lcns%20sell%20sheets/CrimsonPointe.pdf

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=PP19,564.PN.&OS=PN/PP19,564&RS=PN/PP19,564

The habit of examples seen here varies, with some being quite a bit broader than others - even at nursery sizes. Snipping here and there to try and maintain comparative uniformity should be inconsequential but if yours start to splay open or otherwise depart from a compact and narrow appearance in a serious way it may not be feasible to keep going over the whole thing at frequent intervals - a hedge-like or topiary effect being the eventual outcome.

Unless you wouldn't mind the work involved or an artificial (stylized) look being produced. Purple-leaved plums will certainly tolerate close pruning, a street tree planting near me has been changed into a cartoonish, sort of Ming tree display by the current occupant of the adjoining property.

Interesting info. Embo. I haven't seen this one locally so far. I'll probably see it all over now.

Depends on if anyone there ever imports it and puts it on the market - something that may never happen. We have a number of different kinds that are or have been on the market here that have never become prevalent - or even present at all, it would seem - in Britain. (Since there is extensive participation a good place to look for signs of a retail presence of any particular plant is The RHS Plant Finder).

I haven't seen any columnar purple-leaved cultivars mentioned by A. L. Jacobson in his book Purpleleaf Plums (1992, Timber Press, Portland). Jacobson is a careful and thorough researcher who spends years preparing each of his titles, combs through dusty old nursery catalogs in the basements of university libraries, studies live specimens in arboreta, botanic gardens and nurseries, and even buys examples of plants of interest and grows them himself, in his garden or house in order to make his own observations. So it is pretty safe to assume that if his 1992 book (apparently) doesn't have anything about them narrow habit purple-leaf plums were basically unknown before the same general period of time that the Australian and Lake County introductions both appeared. Suggesting that an Australian company imported the American tree, with them or another firm putting it on the market with different naming there. A way to check would be to look for any historical information about the Australian stock that may be available.

These people are selling it here, as Crimson Pointe. Fastigiate trees. They refer to it as a 'new introduction'.

Notice the reference to 'Nigra', worded as though 'Cripoizam' was derived from it - which if you look at the patent information I linked to it is not. They would compare to 'Nigra' because that is the familiar pink-flowered, deep purple cherry plum of Britain. Whereas here the dominant ones are 'Krauter's Vesuvius' and 'Thundercloud'.

The OP could actually get actual help with an actual foto of the actual plant to assess whether it actually needs pruning.