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Sun, Dec 4, 11 at 0:51
| There is a private school that I've done a bit of pruning at a few years ago. There are several trees at the edge of a parking lot. Some are Norway Maples and the others look like Harvest Gold Crabapples. They have a trunk diameter of about 6 to 8 inches. The maples don't look too bad so I think some thinning may help them last a bit longer. However, the crabapples have been topped annually for years and have been left alone for the last 3 or 4 years. All that is left of the trees are stubs with massive watersprouts. Typically I'd just cut them down when they're that severely damaged but I'm fairly sure they won't go for that. Any ways to save the trees and reduce the risk of branches breaking? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Examine the topping wounds and remove any rotten stubs. Some entire limbs may need to be removed. Try to reduce the number of shoots emanating from just below the heading cuts, and try to eliminate the ones with the poorest attachments. Topping is a bad thing, but its effects can be minimized with proper follow up, especially on young vigorous trees. |
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| I'm always surprised that ornamental Crabapples are pruned as if they were in an orchard. What's wrong with treating them as a ornamental tree? Mike |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Dec 4, 11 at 10:34
| pix would sure help ... can they be properly pruned.. further back?? ken |
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- Posted by AspenAcres 5b BC (My Page) on Sun, Dec 4, 11 at 13:42
| The watersprouts attach to large bulges from where they were cut. I'll try get a pic later but for now the link below shows what the trees basically look like. Mike, I agree that it's very strange crabapples are often topped. They look great when left alone. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Topped Crabapple
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Sun, Dec 4, 11 at 13:56
| AA, it is hard to rectify this. One additional thing to look for is the "best" of the suckers. Leave these and remove the rest. The problem with pruning out suckers, and more generally, branches, from sucker-producing species is that this primes the plant to produce more of the same. Therefor, seek to remove those which are most damaging to good structure while trying to leave as many of the others as possible. Timing of said pruning can help or hurt too. Generally, middle of the growing season sucker removal is less apt to provoke the generation of more suckers than say, the normally best pruning period of late winter/very early spring. +oM PS........I just call them all "suckers" whether originating at the base of the tree or up in the crown somewhere. It's not a helpful term I know, but I consider "water sprouts" even less accurate. |
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