Cunninghamia lanceolata ‘Glauca’ bush

4 years ago

Hi all. I have a Chinesefir that was purchased as a small cutting-grown tree a few years ago. It has taken it up until now to finally realize it is no longer a branch and put up some vertical sprouts. With that being said, should I cut off all the other non-vertical branches to allow more energy to the vertical leader? Note the horizontal branches are not coming off this leader. They are coming from the original trunk.

Thanks,

Kyle

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Comments (2)

davidrt28 (zone 7)
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I have a post about a related issue, and in fact was about to post an update on a Thujopsis undergoing the same 'transformation'.

No need to cut anything off other than any branches that are competing to be a vertical leader.

Oh wait I sorta misread what you are saying. Yes if the original knot of branches wouldn't form a leader but one is coming up from the ground, I would slowly favor it by selectively trimming the originals over next 2-3 years. I have never had that happen with a cutting grown plant though, conifer or BLE.
Kyle (East TN, 6b/7a) thanked davidrt28 (zone 7)
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years ago
every leaf is a food making machine,.. needles are leaves ... cutting any some off reduces overall energy that the plant can make ... so under that logic ... you might stunt the plant ...

you mention it was a babe when you started.. you really dont tell us how big it is now.. so its hard to determine if canopy removal is significant ... relatively speaking ...

whatever you decide.. you dont have to cut them all off at once ... you could one per year for years ... or shorten them.. etc ...

maybe a pic will get you better info ...

ken
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Cunninghamia lanceolata ‘Glauca’ bush

Comments (2)

davidrt28 (zone 7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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