My Amur Maple tree doesn't look like a tree. I need pruning advice.
My husband says it reminds him of an unruly Forsythia. lol
It was planted 4yrs ago when it was a baby, 3ft tall..It was so skinny back then, but now it's gigantic. How do I prune some of the bottom branches so you can see its trunk? None of my other Amurs look like this. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Comments (12)
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Comments (16)I am well aware of what modern day experts recommend. I disagree. I have experimented for 40 years on every kind of tree in my yard. An open wound, like all unsealed drying wood, cracks. Water enters the cracks along with debris and causes rot. Bugs find the moist rotting environment enjoyable and take up residence. Next thing you know you have one of those trees that are all hollow in the heart. The experts say the tree shuts the wound off and everything's Ok. Well if you don't care how long the tree's life span is and it just has to live as long as you do, Ok, otherwise, it's crap! Just like collar cuts. Under the right conditions, with a branch at a good horizontal angle, they're great, but not every situation is ideal and when you have three or four branches intersecting a crotch to remove it's going to take close cuts and sculpting with chisels to get cuts that will drain and heal and not rot. Keep in mind, these new methods are designed for todays professionals who must temper perfection with time is money. Sterilization takes time. Reworking the cut with hand tools takes time. Periodically inspecting and renovating the wound takes time. Properly treating the wound takes time and an improperly dressed wound is worse than no dressing at all. If you can come up with a reasonable compromise then you have saved a lot of time, therefore, money. None of this applies to the home orchardist. He can do a little at a time and do it right. Remember, these same experts are the ones who prune maples in March along our highways and byways, instead of waiting until just after bud break which would promote an almost immediate callus to form, and no bleeding. Lastly, fruit trees seem to be about the slowest to heal and the most prone to fungal diseases, so any precaution, no matter how time consuming is warranted. Methods like clean, close cut and wound dressing were developed over thousands of years by the people who developed most of our fruit and nut cultivars from wild, inedible plants, the Chinese and the Italians. Even if my own experiments hadn't convinced me, I'd still ere in favor of the ancients!...See MoreNeed pruning advice for my peach tree
Comments (20)Note: I am the originator of this post and a self-taught gardener! From my understanding, it's a great thing to have an established v-shape already, so YAY on your pickens! I would start by pruning for the three D's - dead, damaged or diseased. Also, the smaller branches I would completely cut back 10-20'' from the ground. Also, be very cautious about when you prune in the spring. This past year, I pruned around my usual April 1st timeframe, and then we got hit with an untimely and detrimental frost that messed the entire growing season for so many plants. I'm in New Haven, Connecticut for reference. My peach tree got inflicted with a serious case of leaf curl and I thought it would die! I saved it by making a homemade anti-fungal solution of water and oregano oil. I also gave it one dowse of a water and beach solution as a Hail Mary since the harvest for the year was shot. All these leaves had turned brown and fell off. Then, the tree came back with a fury, more than I could've imagined, and made a full recovery sprouting new leaves everywhere. :) Next year when I prune, I will be dowsing the tree in my homemade oregano oil solution to hold back the spores that come with the spring season and could possibly reestablish a fresh case of leaf curl. It's good to do this as a preventive since they are so susceptible to the disease. I've read to remove and burn old leaves, but I haven't done this and am going to see how the solution helps alone. If it's helpful, I'm also going to try this method on my peonies that caught leaf blotch this year, too....See MoreNeed Pruning advice for my nectarine trees
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Comments (10)Still wondering if there were roots, or is it cutting without at roots? I put all my plants into quite a bit of sun right away - area that get sunshine from sunrise until about noon-, but it was quite earlier and sun is getting stronger now. They were moved into full day sun spot after about 2 or 3 days, and are there all the time. They got rained on quite a bit - we are having lots of rainy days this Spring - but they are potted in very gritty mix and I do not worry about drainage or any water retention. If your plant has roots, I would move it already into more sun (Just speculating, but am thinking it has been on the porch for at least 2 weeks?) I would move it where it gets at least few hours of morning sun, and moving into more and more every 2-3 days. Sooner it's done, better so plant can get all sun available until it has to go inside again. For leaves to grow close together to have more compact plant, only good light will help. Even if it doesn't have plenty of roots, IMO it should get more sun. Morning sun is good, and I would move it into stronger sun at least weekly. If you only have totally exposed spots, you can create some shade when needed by positioning bigger potted plant in front of your jade, or even something like a chair. Garden umbrella is great...I don't think wiring should make much difference in sun exposure, you want plant to grow strong limbs and los of leaves close together (but I never wired any jades...) I started to use gravel or rocks for topdressing because of squirrels - it does help a lot. I find chipmunk more of a problem, it hides more 'food' all over the place...I have some grass (or whatever seeds neighbour is feeding birds with) growing in many pots without topdressing, haha (my potted annuals and some big tropicals). Small sized topdressing doesn't really help....See More
BillMN-z-2-3-4
5 months agolast modified: 5 months agoI had to prune mine up this spring to get rid of branch stubs left by the rabbits. The snow was so deep, the rabbits were able to nip branch's halfway up the tree. And these trees tend to explode with branches in spring, going in every direction, up, down crisscrossing and along the existing branches.
Mine might have bled a little or even for a while but I really didn't pay much attention. And it would've bled from the rabbit nips even if I didn't prune.
You aren't going to hurt an amur maple (acer ginnala) by bleeding anyways.
Most people just let them go 'Au natural' and they produce quite a large, shrub like appearance.
It's the only tree in my yard that got zero supplemental water during the drought period for the last two years. On sandy ground with sand subsoil. There are several others in the neighborhood too that are unattended and still grow remarkably well.
A good portion of the leaves are gone on mine, but it just looks better, to me anyways.
eta: I don't know if I'll do any future pruning. The way these trees send out new branches, from everywhere along the trunk and old branches, it may be futile.When I think about it though, I was just trying to establish a single trunk on mine, so all it takes is to snap on a 'rabbit tube' to protect it over winter. ;-)
ilovemytrees thanked BillMN-z-2-3-4ilovemytrees
5 months agoBillMN-z-2-3-4
5 months agoAnyways, thanks for bringing this up ilovemytrees.
I would've completely forgot.
I had planned on raising the crown on mine another 6-8" this season.
2 ft. is generally high enough, most years, to thwart rabbits.
Got 'er done! ;^)
ilovemytrees thanked BillMN-z-2-3-4
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 months agolast modified: 5 months agoilovemytrees thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5ilovemytrees
5 months agoWhen I bought it they told me it was a multi trunk Amur Maple. Here's some closeups of the trunks.
BillMN-z-2-3-4
5 months agolast modified: 5 months agoBillMN-z-2-3-4
3 months agoJust to show how unruly these things branch, here's some pictures of mine when leafless.
Every branch you cut sends out 2 or 3 from the same spot and not in any direction that makes sense.
Now that I have the crown the desired height for my purposes, I'll probably just let it go. Once it leaf's out, things are so thick you can't even see the branches. And it's along the back alley anyways. :-)
Embothrium