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bike2work

I messed up, please help!

bike2work
9 years ago

Hi,

I am a complete novice with garden.

I bought a fruit tree that I really wanted (Chinese hawthorn) early this year(2014) and planted it. Now it is first winter, I am thinking maybe I need to do some pruning. After I searched the net I found out I completely did the planting wrong.

All the information says the newly bought tree should be cut down to very short at planting but I just put the tree in a hole.

Now what should I do for this winter? Can I still cut it down as if this is a first year tree?

Thanks in advance,
Bike

Comments (13)

  • floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
    9 years ago

    I'm not sure what source would tell you to cut a fruit tree down when you plant is. If you cut down a tree very short you'll end up with a multi-trunked tree or bush. Maybe you found info on soft fruit e.g. raspberries? Or for planting a hawthorn hedge? Perhaps you can link us to the advice you found? A quick Google didn't turn up any such info for me.

  • bike2work
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi floral_uk,

    Here is an article by UC Davis : http://homeorchard.ucdavis.edu/8057.pdf
    They explained it very well on the top of page 2 (figure 1).

    There is a youtube video talking about the same thing:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQemD2PMIbI

    Thanks,
    Bike

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    i think you need to get to the fruit forum ...

    we tree peeps do thing very differently ... and topping a tree is high on the list of NO NOs ....

    fruit production pruning methods are extremely different ... as you can see at any orchard ...

    i didnt know H was used for fruit.. go figure ...

    ken

  • bike2work
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks Ken. I will move to the fruit forum. I am new, not sure which is the best place.

  • floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
    9 years ago

    OK - I see what you are talking about. That's information for growing open centred apples, etc. You are growing Crataegus pinnatifida, a species rather than a highly bred cultivar. As far as I can ascertain they do not need any particular training for shape, just removal of dead and diseased material. But I am sure there are people on the fruit forum who have grown it.

  • edlincoln
    9 years ago

    What are you trying to achieve? If you want an ornamental tree, the techniques may be different then if you want maximum fruit production.

    Sounds like that advice was intended to encourage lots of low branches that it's easy to pick fruit from. Discourage upright growth and encourage branches fruit will grow from. Useful if you want lots of fruit within reach. Not necessarily helpful if you want a classical tree shape. Also, the advice was for almond, apricot, cherry, fig, nectarine, peach, plum, pear, apple, and pistachio trees. You aren't growing any of those.

    Ask yourself this: Is there any reason they couldn't have grown the tree another year before selling it to you? If so, it can probably wait another year before getting pruned. You can always top the tree later, you can't undo it once it is done. Only real risk us the tree will get too tall. Are you worried it will get too tall for the location?

    Is it freezing there? Remember, don't prune this tree in freezing whether.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning Hawthorne

    This post was edited by edlincoln on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 17:35

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    9 years ago

    Congratulations, you made the best choice by not pruning at the time of planting and by not pruning the tree down to a very short size. What you may want to do, is to carefully study some pruning methods and apply them to the tree as it grows. Your goal might be (but doesn't have to be) to keep the tree down to a manageable size for harvest and maintenance.

    Pruning at planting or shortly thereafter would only make it more difficult for the tree to become established. There would be no advantage. Pruning the tree to a very short size would also be counter-productive unless you wanted to encourage a more bush-form, instead of a tree-form.

  • bike2work
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi,

    I am attaching a picture here. Main trunk is 4 ft, where the red arrow points. Tallest point is 5'8".

    My goals are to have a lot of fruits, and I don't want the tree gets too high.

    I am northern California, we hardly have any freezing time.

    I feel relieved by reading your posts. Seems I did't do anything wrong. But do I still need to prune somewhat during this winter for better growth?

    Thanks!

  • edlincoln
    9 years ago

    Depends on what you consider "better".

    No, you don't *HAVE* to prune for better growth. Trees in the forest don't get pruned. There may be a way to prune that will get you slightly more fruit faster.

    If you want to go for maximum fruit production, go to the Fruits and Orchards forum. Squeezing the most fruit out of a tree is something they know more about.

  • Fori
    9 years ago

    It looks like it's in a location where it needs to look nice as well as be productive, so don't give it the full orchardman treatment. :)

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    9 years ago

    How much sun does the tree get where it is? It looks possibly like a partial-shade location.

    Is that blue tag getting tight? You sure don't want to keep that on long enough to damage your tree.

  • bike2work
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    edlincoln, I didn't really think about too much, just a tree in my yard which should be nice to look at and produce fruits. But I don't want it to be too high, hard for me to maintain and pick. It is not like I am gonna sell fruits :)

    fori, yes it is a good spot. But I am afraid that it would get too high without the planting treatment :(

    brandon7, yes the sun should be plenty. Thanks for reminding me the tag. This year it didn't grow much. I will check it and remove.

  • poaky1
    9 years ago

    Sounds like you didn't do anything wrong yet. Pruning it to nothing would have been. So be happy for that, huh?