tree has very heavy and concentrated growth from the ground to about half way up the tree ..... and I'm just wondering if it's time to say goodbye

==>>> as far as i am concerned.. yes it is ...

the top of the tree was severely damaged ... probably winter ... and it is suckering its brains out from below the injury ...

it is not uncommon.. for the damage.. to really hit home.. until the heat of summer ...

perhaps you could spend the next decade pruning it back into tree form ...

but in my world.. its would be a lot easier to be done with it ... and replace it ... perhaps with something a little more zone appropriate ... or i should say.. a little hardier ...

a pic might change my mind ...

good luck

ken

I had one damaged badly by a wind storm. Instead of removing it entirely we pruned back severly. In 3 yrs. it looks almost like it always did. They can regenerate in somewhat quick order. However that is down here in Z8 semi-dry Tx. If yours regenerates and then is bit back by winter every 3-4 yrs or so, it may not be worth the effort.

Secondly in more humid north Lousiana (wet Z-8), these trees get bigger, but seldom last past 20-30 yrs without getting some sort of fungus and dying. Have not ever seen one come back from that.

I had a young seed-grown mimosa (E.H. Wilson) frozen back to the ground this past winter. It has recovered to where it was last year at this time, and with somewhat more moderate winters I hope to see it in bloom in the near future.

The initial poster's tree was apparently decorative for over 20 years, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to plant another. If we strictly limited ourselves to plants/trees that can withstand the worst possible winters in our climate, we'd miss out on a lot of great gardening.

The tree is still alive and the roots were likely unharmed. Its form is surely damaged a great deal, but the tree will likely grow back with little trouble (save another brutal winter like last one).

For those unfamiliar with Mimosa (i.e. perhaps Ken, since its outside of his climate), they can grow back from severe damage pretty quickly.

This post was edited by famartin on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 21:21