How to prune this tree?
mattp321
5 years ago
This is a crepe myrtle I started about 4 years ago from a root sucker. I transplanted it into my hellstrip a couple years back. I haven’t pruned it at all. It’s maybe 6’ tall?
photos are looking at it from both directions.
how can I make this thing look good? I want the crepe myrtle look where you have 3 trunks with some space in between them, and then on top of the trunks a ball of leaves and flowers in the summer.
thanks for any advice. It might be hard to see, but there are multiple stems coming out of the ground.
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mattp321
5 years agoRelated Discussions
How to prune pear tree?
Comments (2)If it were my tree that is so overloaded that branches are breaking, I would first remove all the smaller/inferior/sick/damaged/chewed up fruit to lighten the load and fatten up the remaining fruit with a bigger share of sap. They make good compost. Next, I would tie low hanging/heavy branches to upper/stronger branches to take off some of the weight. Also, ten foot long joints of galvanized steel electrical conduit sold at Lowe's can be used vertically to tie low hanging/heavy branches and pull them upward to lighten the load. I would not cut off branches without having a reason for doing it. After all the fruit are harvested and the branches can go back to normal life, just check out the load of baby fruit each Spring and remove enough of them so that the tree will be able to handle the load when these babies become giants......Plan 'B': just put out a sign by the road welcoming squirrels/possums/raccoons to quickly decrease the fruit load. They do a marvelous job....See MoreHow to Prune Grapefruit Tree from Seed
Comments (11)Your grapefruit tree will need to get to 15-20 feet tall before it has any chance to flower. You can carefully break the top over and it won't die and continue to provide food for the tree and a bud lower down will take over as the dominant tree. This was done to force a grafted bud to grow. I have done this to seed grown trees to move the point of growth downward while leaving food producing leaves intact. I use this to reflect all the light back on the tree until it is all used up. I get from 3 to 5 times as much light on my tree than your setup provides for your tree. You can mimic what I am doing by shining a CFL spot light down on your tree so that much more of the light hits your tree's leaves. My goal is to get maximum growth through the winter to put a nice size tree into the ground in spring.Tree is about 11 months old since bud break shown in the first picture above. As your tree gets bigger you can shine spot lights from each side to aim at the lower to mid levels of your tree. Trees grow where the light is. My bucket light setup is not the answer for you and your tree. I grow my citrus trees outside when they don't fit in my bucket lights. 6b Steve...See MoreHow to prune this Lilac tree
Comments (29)Could these trees be forced to grow a bit taller than normally recognized? The area is essentially like a 3-sided trap. Left side is covered and over-hang by a 4-story high maple; back-side is the giant 3-story high cedar hedge; front-side is the deck and house (again, 3 stories due to walk out basement). And there they are 3 of these Lilac-ish trees stuck tight in there. Were actually 5 of them too. I suppose 20-30 years ago the area would have decent sunlight when original owner first planted them, definitely not now....See MoreHow to prune tree with multiple branches near the root to save trunk
Comments (3)what is your plan with this thing.. will it be going on mother earth.. or remain potted forever??? as you can see here.. they are not small plants for pots: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=Podocarpus+Gracilior&iax=images&ia=images the potential lifespan for this conifer.. is counted in decades ... i suspect you have some instant gratification issues with wanting to prune it.. to shape it ... whats the hurry ... lets figure out why it lost its leaves previously ... how you can do better ... and lets leave the pruning shears in the house for a year or two ... and best of all ... lets figure out how to plant it in mother earth.. or how to properly get you set up with it living in a pot long term ... more facts please ken...See Moresam_md
5 years agoI should also mention that some selections are naturally more upright than others. Here is 'Biloxi' in Annandale VA. Notice how it varies from previous pic.
To answer your question, think of how lovers carve a heart in a beech tree. If they come back 20 years later the carving is at the same height.
mattp321
5 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years ago
Sara Malone Zone 9b
5 years agomattp321
5 years agoTook a shot at pruning... first time doing this... the leaders look too “wide” or too spread apart to me:
perhaps more will grow out of the base in the future?
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sam_md