the only andrea.. why no pic ...

i have left mine.. whichever it is.. to clump out...

mine did come from the nursery with borer ... after about 3 years.. i figured that out ... and treated with bayer systemic ... so all the original trunks are gone ...

i am thinking i may need to go thin it out.. but i havent spent any time this long cold spring looking at it yet ...

are the leaves on the babes.. the proper color ???

it does take a new trunk a couple 3 years to start getting white ...

ken

the only ken (FOR REAL lol)....uploading pics now (pics on here is sometimes so painful)

trunk is darker on babes, of course....but leaves look identical.

pics in about 5 min

Ok...pics. i just did a photobucket link rather than embed them:

Here is a link that might be useful: Purple Birch

it looks like it is planted too deep .. or that the mulch is too thick.. right at the trunk ...

leave a 6 inch or so mulch free area at the trunk ...

how grows monument circle???

ken

PPS got a cute little taxus baccata stadishii yesterday for 10 bucks. do you grow this? love it!

momma is fine.. as far as i know ... they are all dead to the ground still ...

i thought it was going in some homeless park??? though your front yard is fine ...

someone on the tour wanted to know what the ligularia was .. i told them i forgot.. and it was some plant like .. bulimia.. bulgaria.. bruggenvillia??? .... lol .. i wasnt even close .. lol ...

frankly.. with those pix.. and my trifocals.. i couldnt see the kids ... i prune trees whenever i walk by ... with the caveat that i can always do it later.. but i cant glue or staple them back on ... so i would wait a bit... but again.. i cant tell on those pix ...

ken

its in a small memorial garden in the front w/ a stone, etc, for Tom - my fella. it was going to go in a memorial garden in front of our community center...but the community center didn't happen b/c someone sucks. i dont have the energy to go into it. lol some day....

there are 4 kids. they are 18" and healthy.

mom looks healthy b/c her trunk is thick but she only has like 5 branches that are alive out of 30 so it's ugly as a mutha. if i want to put her out of my misery...is that ok or does it hurt the whole clump?

i think it would be fine, just maknig sure i'm not commitiing homicide. wow, nice spelling in that sentence.

by the way, did you know if you click on those pics, you can see them large?

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OMG .. pic two.. go snip off all those stubs you left on the trunk ...

yes.. i clicked.. whatever .. maybe it was pre-coffee ... seems clear as day now ...

here is the bottom line.. you CAN NOT or SHOULD NOT ... remove that much of the canopy on that small tree ... if you were to remove the big one.. you would be taking.. what.. 80% of the leaves???

maybe in a year or two.. but not now..

so.. go pull the mulch back.. and put away the saw .. and my God.. if you keep pruning that way.. we will come take your pruners also ... hopefully someone has a link to that pic about branch collars handy ...

i recall who the hate is about ... no need to go 'into' it ... now or later ...

ken

ken...i didn't remove the canopy...those branches on the "big one" were completely BRITTLE DEAD....cut off two years ago. yes i know about the collar but there was NO green so big whoop.

you are looking at 5 total trees in a clump.

there is "big" tree....about 5 branches still alive and no leader.

there are 4 healthy new trees growing from the roots...forming a new clump....the stuff you see at the base is not attached to the "big" tree. they are their own entities.

i am wondering if i can remove the "big" tree and just let the smaller ones grow???

can't figure out why it would hurt the smaller ones to remove the large one. am i missing soemthing?

If you prune improperly, the tree can't heal itself and pathogens have an opening. Basic stuff.

I'd say it is suckering due to Dan's Standard Line In These Situations.

Dan

I'm so confused.....

When I purchased this tree, it was dormant.

It had a few "suckers"/other trees/whatever they are coming up...they were literally inches tall when I got it.

In the Spring, only a few branches leafed out on the large tree. There were many brittle, dry branches. The leader also did not leaf out.

This did not happen this year....it was Spring two years ago. Actually looking back, it was three years ago.

I cut them off - yes the collars were long - but they were DRY...dead..completely. Improper pruning? Yes. but I was not cutting on live tissue that had to heal....i may as well have been cutting on a stick in the yard.

Since then, I have not had any new branches grow, etc. The SAME branches leaf out each year and it is as sparse as ever.

However, the initial tiny suckers/trees that are growing, continue to do well.

All i am trying to find out is if i can cut down the big tree and let the "suckers" grow...? Will they be the same as the original tree?

hope this makes more sense. i feel like i keep getting reprimanded for improper pruning and getting everything answered but what i am asking. lol

....anyone...?

Ok. If the main stem is dead or so poor it is not worth keeping then yes, cut it down and let one or more of the shoots grow. If they are not from below a graft (I don't know if this is a grafted type) then they will grow the same as the original tree. If the roots are in good shape and not buried then you will be surprised at how fast copious sprouts can grow. At this point you have nothing to loose as the main stem is not worth keeping anyway.

Thank you so much - that's what I needed to know! I don't think it is grafted - I don't see a graft union anywhere on the tree.

I appreciate your answer!!!

i dont think they are grafted .. though i have never searched out the true answer ...

they usually graft onto a more vigorous root stock ... which in my world would mean a green leafed plant ... since red tissue is less vigorous than green ... why would the root stock be pushing red leaves???? .. who would waste money killing red leafed trees to graft red leafed trees onto them ????

so on that logic.. what is coming up .. is the same named variety ... until i am told otherwise ...

now.. the 2 prime pruning rules are .. ALL DEAD WOOD IS REMOVED ... no hesitation ... and after that ... any crossing or injured wood ... after that is all removed.. you move on with other pruning rules ...

if.. and i didnt understand this.. your question can be simplified down to ... CAN I REMOVE THE LARGE DEAD LEADER ... then the answer is yes.. its rule number one ...

so when i talked of canopy reduction .. you should have understood that dead wood is not part of a live canopy ... though obviously .. i could have said it much clearer ..

does that clear up the mud any better???

ken

i will try to be more succinct next time. i thought i was...but i am a woman talking to a man. HAHAHA

thank you :)

have an awesome day!

btw, MC is coming out in it's full glory...it's so incredible in the spring! i'll send u a pic