JQ, I would head back those two competing leaders, to a side bud or small branchlet. At least in going by your pic, it does appear that apical dominance has been lost somehow on this tree.

Anyone with more DR experience....perhaps you have another take?

+oM

its a conifer.. but a tree is a tree ...

it doesnt matter what kind..

subordinate the competitors ...

hard to go much further without a real picture ...

just do it ...do NOT go waiting for a pic.. then running home.. posting.. then not being able to get back until fall.. etc..

JUST DO IT

ken

My metasequoia has always grown out of this and I dunno if I ever saw one with dual leaders at MOBOT, Tower Grove, Seacrest...the one in Cincy (Rowe?), Denver Botannical or Dawes.

So after they grow taller than you can prune I wouldnt worry much.

Now I know you (and I) would be just better served by picking a winner because I can't see it hurting that fast a growing tree.

IMHO, prune it and don't look back.

My female counterpart significant other bought an Ogon over the weekend to replace another tree. The top several inches HAD competing leaders.... but it doesn't anymore. ;-)

Arktrees

They accept pruning very very well. Remove the other leaders.

Thanks all!

Guess who's cleaning their bypass shears in anticipation for this weekend? THIS GUY!

I'll still snap a pic to show the before and after ... but anything you say in response to said pics will not hurt my feelings one bit.

Hey...crisis averted. Looks like nature took care of things and the brown branch on the right of my drawing twisted its way vertically and is very much the main stem now. No pruning needed after-all.

{{gwi:338540}}

{{gwi:338541}}

Excellent. Good to know these are so good at sorting themselves out like that. Our just planted Ogon that I had pruned to a single leader, was de-leadered by a bird, and is doing much the same.

Thanks for the update,
Arktrees.

Mine looks like it might go multiple-leader each yr, but somehow sorts it out. Same with pond and bald cypresses.

Many are over 20' tall now (DR is 30'), so not anything I can practically do anyway....

The 'ogon' I planted in my yard is such a pain. The 'ogon' on the other hand is so floppy i have to stake and train the tree like a vine. I hope it'll add to it's girth more this year. I don't wan tot have to stake it for 4-5yrs! It truly looks like a side-branch that was stuck in the ground.

At least the species at my parents' house seems to have a more upright/stout habit. They were both planted the same year and are both about the same heigh, but a completely different form/structure.

My Ogon had the same branch like structure for a year or so. Now it looks like a tree, a thin one but still a tree.

It holds its top up straight enough but it seemed weakly rooted so I used this three pronged side lasso method to "stake" it. Right now, going into year three I think, I have bent the stakes so far towards the tree I don't know if they provide any support. Next windstorm we get now its leafed out I will check and see if there is any reason not to remove them.

you know what the moral of this story is....'

there is really never any hurry to deal with a tree ...

think about it.. watch it ... but you can always come back later and take care of it ...

but you cant staple them back on.. if you make a bad decision ...

and really .. 90% of the time.. the tree can take care of itself .... my only goal.. BESIDES DAMAGE REPAIR ... is lifting the canopy high enough that i can walk under them.. w/o having my hat or glasses knocked off ....

there is no tree ... that can not.. sort itself out.. and re-establish a leader ...

ken

I just wanted to share how much it changed on its own in two seasons with no leader intervention by myself. Just unreal the growth I got.

Wow. That one is growing up up up. Thanks for the update.

I'm looking forward to seeing if my dawn redwood matches that type of growth two years from now.