I have a confession to make. I hate pruning the crabapple tree. It's such a confusing mess of branches, growing every which way. For example, in the photo below, do I remove that branch that is heading straight up?
Or is that taking out too much? Should I leave part of it, the side shoot?
And then there is this mess of crossing branches.
It's hard to figure out where to start, and where to stop. There just isn't a strong element of structure here, unlike with other trees, where it's obvious what should go and what should stay. If I prune too much, there will be a plethora of watersprouts to contend with next year. Oh, cruel tree, where is your form?
It's hard to figure out where to start, and where to stop. There just isn't a strong element of structure here, unlike with other trees, where it's obvious what should go and what should stay. If I prune too much, there will be a plethora of watersprouts to contend with next year. Oh, cruel tree, where is your form?
* * *
My review of The Gardener's Color Palette is up at Carpe Geum. Stayed tuned for the results of the Great Houseplant Census of 2010.
21 comments:
This is a terrible puzzle. I wish I could help you. I will be back to see what others say.
I am always faced with that same puzzle.
This is a textbook example of trees being allowed to run riot when young and therefore growing into ill disciplined and raucous adults.
I have spent the afternoon looking at about 400 equally badly behaved trees and pondering what to do with them all.
My solution is to be bold as one should always remember that nothing ever died from a haircut.
Except maybe Samson.
And that wasn't really the same thing.
Good luck
I am in the same fix with a "dwarf" apple tree that is no longer so small. Don't know where to start!
I don't even attempt to prune and hire it out...The arborist who trims the big trees takes pity on the small ones! gail
Really? Just let it be! Every crab apple I've known had a very nice branching structure all on its very own without any prunning -- provided someone didn't prune it when small and screw it up. Unless you want to harvest fruit from it, or have some specific shape you want it to be -- let it grow!
If it were my crabapple I think I'd prune that branch. It looks like it is developing a strong leading presence and may upset the balance of the structure you already have. I am like you in that crabapples can be so messy to prune but in my humble opinion you've done a great job-you've got a good structure there so you are doing something right. Thanks for the tip on shade gardening. It is most hard. I've looked high and low for smilacina and not had luck here. I hope to add it and a few more plants to brighten it up a bit.
James - it's not my fault! Actually, it is my fault for choosing a tree from the nursery that didn't have a central leader. It was a gift tree & I had to get it from one particular place, and this was the best of the bunch. I will try to be bold and do my best to fix it up.
Gail - I'm too cheap to have the arborist work on a tree I can prune myself. It may be a mess, but it's my mess.
Greensparrow - but what about all those crossing branches? If I got rid of them all, there wouldn't be much left of the tree, but leaving them isn't good for it either.
Tina - I think I will take that branch off. I can't believe Smilacina isn't more widely available.
We just trimmed my daughter's fifty plus year old tree last spring. Really, now is the time to prune but we're headed for another snowstorm. Take off all of the sucker branches (they do come back, ugh!) Try to stand back and squint, and take off everything that looks like it is not contributing to the shape of the tree, branches pointing straight up, etc. Good luck, I know where you are coming from!
Just be aggressive, is the only thing I can say. I already have on my "to-do" list for the weekend: prune the shrubs!! It's Viburnums Gone Wild at the McGarden. Luckily I kind of like pruning; it suits my compulsive nature.
A branch going straight up seems wrong for most ornamental trees, doesn't it? I can remember someone from Morton Arboretum advising our garden club to prune trees like Crab Apples to form spaces large enough for birds to fly through. I think of that sometimes when working on the smaller crepe myrtles.
And if I weren't already nuts about you that "It may be a mess, but it's my mess." line would have done it, MMD.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Definitely a couple of competing leaders there, MMD. Start with them.
I'm inclined to agree with James A-S. And to illustrate, here are two anecdotes:
#1: When our eldest two were tiny, our six-year-old cut off all, that's ALL, of his four-year-old sister's hair: right to the scalp. My little bald one then comforted her aghast mother, saying: "Don't cry, Mummy. It'll grow." Don't worry, MMD. It'll grow.
#2: Canadian garden guru Majorie Harris once wrote about pruning: "If you aren't horrified by what you've done, you probably haven't gone far enough."
Ah, Spring! It's a good sign when there are pruning questions. Haircuts all around are in order at my place.
I dont know much about pruning trees and even pruned (okay, Murdered) my Crepe Myrtles each year. Then found out (by observation) that you do not have to prune myrtles for them to bloom! I am a garden by trail and error gal and since leaving the Myrtles to Nature, they flourish each year with more and more blooms for me to enjoy.
I had a dilemma with a strange limb on my hubby’s Bald Cypress tree. I snapped pictures of the odd limb and took a poll on the blog for comments to make the decision whether to prune or not. It was about 50-50 so the Saint said to leave his tree alone. The limb remains today…
So basically, I cannot help you with your crabapple…
I agree with you on the Valentines Day flowers! Roses are so over-rated and I think a pretty Dicentras would be much more suited as the Heart Day Flowers!
MMD, You need to visit Noelle, Right Now! She's just posted on pruning fruit trees. http://www.azplantlady.com/
Pruning is a terrible business. I'm so afraid of taking too much that I always take too little. Much easier to prune a rose bush, but at this point no pruning is going on at all.
I love pruning. It is hard to take out too much. Yes, branches growing straight up are water/sucker branches and can go. Branches that rub on one another weaken both and the tree as a whole. You only need to cut one of the rubbing branches, picking the one that's most twisted or wonky looking as the one to remove.
I would struggle as well. I struggle with just pruning little shrubs like forsythia.
I haven't a clue how to help, MMD, but it looks like you have plenty of other expert advice to help you. I'm still trying to figure out if my crabapples have a fungus and need to be sprayed this year.
When in doubt, prune it out! That is my motto and I have been accused of excessive pruning but the results have always been fine. If you remember that you are trying to allow light into the tree for developing fruit and air circulation, you will be less afraid of removing a good portion of the branches. Just look at the portions rather than the whole starting with any crossed or diseased branches and moving on to those straight stems. You go girl!
Gatsbys Gardens - thanks for the advice. I'm just afraid there won't be any tree left.
Diane - Viburnums Gone Wild sounds fun, but slightly scary. It's easy to get carried away when pruning, when one gives in to those OCD tendencies.
Annie - "large enough for birds to fly through is a good rule." I'm going to aim for Chickadee-sized spaces, rather than Canadian Goose size.
Helen - thanks! The Marjorie Harris quote is brilliant. I guess I've done some pruning right around here.
NellJean - I guess pruning is a harbinger of spring, albeit a very distant one.
Skeeter - if laissez faire works for you, great. I have a need to prune (yes I'm a bit compulsive).
Shady - thanks for the link, I'll check that out.
Commonweeder - I have taken too much off of shrubs, but I've yet to kill one. Trees, however, are a whole other matter.
Monica - they're all twisty, so I guess I should just flip a coin.
ROR - Forsythia is easy - just buzz it all down. (Just kidding.) Forsythia is one of those that you go to the base & cut off the oldest trunks/stems.
Rose - I'd call an arborist now to look at them. In fact, I need to call an arborist now about spraying my Magnolia.
Layanee - got it - when in doubt, prune it out! I keep saying that to myself. Over and over.
Post a Comment