Would someone mind sharing if there is a way to get my flf back to the condition that it was in when I first brought it home? For the most part its been doing well, does not appear to be growing. When reduced to its elemental form, elevating your tree to a higher state of vitality is going to be a function of how good you are at providing cultural conditions in the plant's sweet spot, instead of close to or beyond the limits it's (genetically) programmed to tolerate. So, it can be done fairly easily, but you'll need to make some adjustments if the decline is to be reversed. If a plant is truly not growing, it is not making more energy than it's using, and that's a bad place to be ..... for a plant. When I brought it home in September it was much fuller near the base of each secondary branch. I have a good handle on watering and it is in a well draining mix from a greenhouse. When it was deemed time to water I would do so and then within a day or two it would drop a few leaves. This trend continued until I started adding foliage pro to each watering. I’m really annoyed by that because I was assured that the tree had plenty of fertilizer in the pot, I can even see the little green balls all over in the growing medium. I am thinking that I could have avoided it losing the ~30 leave it lost slowly after each watering before introducing foliage pro, back in December. Since using foliage pro I have had zero leaves drop. Some nutrients, like nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and magnesium are mobile in the plant. That is to say the plant can "steal" these nutrients from existing foliage and move it to where it's needed to support branch extension and growth of new leaves. Other nutrients, like calcium and several micronutrients are regarded as immobile in tissues and must be in the nutrient stream at all times in order for normal growth to occur. If the FP fertilizer curbed leaf loss, it's a good bet the leaves were being exploited for their nutrients and other bio-compounds prior to being shed. I would like to know the best time and if someone could also give me an idea on where to make the cuts for the hard prune that would be great too. I live in Chicago and all posts I’ve read say that late June would be best for a hard prune. I’m willing to do a hard prune, I’m excited to do it and see the rewards. I just need more information on how to do it properly. Good to see you come pre-armed with some knowledge of how to work with the plant's natural rhythms in order to help the plant recover faster from any extensive work you might do - primarily repotting and hard pruning. I think we're gradually changing minds with regard to the idea that a plant's foliage is sacred and not to be cut off under any circumstances. Growth is often viewed as so special that the plants appearance is sacrificed on its altar. I would do the pruning around Father's Day/ Summer Solstice. As soon as the plant starts to back-bud - you can repot (if it needs it, and it probably does). The pruning will be really easy and possibly done in 2 stages, depending on how close to the trunk the foliage is on each branch. Why not send a set of 4 images of the tree, rotating the tree 90* for each subsequent image in early June. Basically, you'll choose the leader, then prune all second order branches back to 1 or 2 leaves. The leader will be one node higher than the second order branches. A hard pruning represents a setback for the plant because you're removing growth that's been paid for. Living in CHI, you'll want to let your tree grow wild (unpruned or pinched) from Sep 1 to at least Jun 1. Then, pinch religiously from Jun 1 to Sep 1, such that when ANY branch shows a 3rd leaf that's open and moving toward maturity, pinch that branch back to 2 leaves. Soon, you'll be removing branches to let light and air movement into the canopy because it's too full. I have to do that to ALL of my trees older than a couple of years for health and to slow growth. BTW - your tree appears to have a very good basic structure to build on - so, good choice. Al

bboy, thanks for responding. Since canes don't last "forever" won't it cause problems just to have one main trunk? I was thinking that I need somehow as the years go by to let additional canes grow to replace the ones that might get too old to support growth. I thought this might be less awkward with more than one main trunk. This is my stumper ? with trying to think about how to do this. Other stumpers I haven't yet figured out :)

lots of pix .... beware ... here is art defined ... first.. let me disabuse you of ever having a straight leader ..... here i have painted on an idea of what the trunk on this one looks like ... the top of the poles is about 12 feet ... i am getting a bit carried away here... why not ... ignore the slip and slide .. also note that there are two weepers sold under the name larix xxx pendula ... there is Larix decidua 'Pendula' and Larix kaempferi 'Pendula' .. with good pix Resin can ID yours for you ... though it really doesnt make a difference ... the only reason i noticed .... is i realized that my two plants were different.. doing different things at different times .... go figure on that ... though it is basically inperceivable to most people .. note the posts.. and the big rope ... clothes line actually .. i like it big.. because it calls me to it.. i tighen and loosen them often .... and big rope is easy to untie and retie ... look close and see the last tie... a piece of nylons way near the tip ... about 3 inches from the top of LAST years growth .. i do NOT tie this years growth EVER ... you will break it .... and that is why the trunk bends back and forth over time ... BTW .. this tree is extremely pliable .... you can bend old growth.. within reason rather easily .. and you can bend it a bit.. then wait a few weeks and bend a bit more.. etc .. no one says it HAS TO BE bent all at once ... or you can let one go down.. and start another up ... as i said.. this is a 10 year project.. you will end up with something so UNIQUE .. that garden friends will drool ... i have seen some one basically do what i am doing.. about 8 feet apart ... and then connect the two poles.. and train it into an arc ... lol .. now that is getting carried away ... the rest are extra pix for you to study .. and get some ideas about what to do ... good luck ken

An acorn happened to sprout in a mini garden about this time last year, in a perfect spot right at an edge. As soon as it started to grow past the first set of leaves, I cut the tip out & have been constantly picking at its' leaves, tearing them in half. It has not gotten any taller than it was, about 3" tall, and now has 3 branches. The naturally smallish leaves of this species seems perfect to cultivate as a real mini tree in a mini garden. I have no idea how many yrs it will take until it starts to look like a real, shrunken oak tree... An update on the tree from the first post of this discussion. Finally, I think it will be time to take a few cuttings this summer so the canopy is more even at the top.