I have a very young albizia (called Thomas) planted in my garden, it's only about 1 metre high. It was going well until we got hit by a freak hail storm (we don't normally get hail here), which completely denuded it and snapped off its leader.

It was a stick for a couple of months, however, come spring it's put out quite a bit of new growth. How do I get it back to tree shape as opposed to bush shape without its leader? Can it grow a new leader? Also I don't want to remove leaves now seeing as it has so few, but at what point should I start remove lower growth again?

Thanks!
Alex

I feel as if I'm there now, standing in your yard with a blindfold on. I'm not sure where I am (Where are you?), or what your tree looks like (Can you post a pic?).

Also, do you know what species Thomas is (and I assume Thomas is just a name you gave it rather than a cultivar name)?

and its up to you to PRUNE IT back into the shape YOU WANT ... to guide its future.. as one might say ...

its your tree.. teach it a lesson ...

pruning does NOT hurt a tree .. they have no feelings ...

ken

I don't have a photo of Thomas right now but I can take one when I get home. Right now he's a metre high stick with some tufts of leaves growing out (except at the top, no leaves at the top :( ) but the canaries seem to like him.