pruning a Larix --- lets teach this badboy a lesson

14 years ago

first get really angry at it ....

next .. lets look at it from both sides ....

ok.. looking east .. ok that is irritating ...

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next.. looking west.. and really getting pissed off ... you will recall.. that its root mass failed and it started tipping to the right in this picture.. most likely from me digging on the house side.. or pulling out a prior stake ...

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ok.. lets get in close and see if we can figure out where we are going with this.. but i got to tell you.. by this time.. i am contemplating cutting it off at ground level and killing it.. i am really pissed off ....

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now.. lets lop off some of the top .. so i can get rid of the twine and stake ....

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got rid of the stake ... lets figure out where the last cut will be.. i am feeling better about it now.. it does not have to die ... lol ..

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refresh my memory what this was ... #1 ...

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ditto ... #2 ...

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and.. after the final cut... being winter.. i am not going to try to pull up a frozen branch.. i will leave that until spring.. when it is pliable .... or i might leave it like it is.. and let it figure itself out ... but i doubt that .... ken

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Comments (13)

sluice
14 years ago
Nice trunk chop! Thanks for showing us how it's done.
ricksample
14 years ago
You've done the right thing... that would bug be growing up at an angle over that retaining wall. You should let it grow a couple more seasons to see what it does, maybe it'll stay more as a ground cover without the stake and just start crawling on the ground over the wall which could be neat.
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coniferjoy
14 years ago
Nice job Ken!
Why don't you show the rest of us the cut off part which is lying at the lawn, just a few feet from were it came from... :0)
gardener365
14 years ago
I agree, couldn't have been done better.

Dax
tunilla
14 years ago
Actually,I quite liked it's shape. Giving up on the weirder-the better? T.
coniferjoy
14 years ago
Ken, I bet you put the trunk somewhere in your garden to let it rot so the mushrooms can grow on it, right? :0)
dcsteg
14 years ago
Now you will just have a big blob growing every where just trying to figure what it is and where to go now.

In the 1st photo It looks like you waked the leader off earlier just as it straighten itself out for vertical growth.

I much preferred the leaner doing its upward thing.

What are you going to do with Daubs Frosted growing over the wall that needs attention?

Dave
noki
14 years ago
I'm confused also... isn't it supposed to lean and be weird?
dietzjm
14 years ago
I agree. It was a very cool looking tree- now its just a stump. Its yours to do with as you please, I suppose.
Cher
14 years ago
You put up with it longer than I would have. Weird is fine but not what I would want as a focal point there. Get rid of the rest of it is my opinion.
Cher
wisconsitom
14 years ago
Ken...back away from the larch.......now!

+oM
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
14 years ago
So was it reaching for sun? Maybe a Y shaped support near the bottom instead of the stake would have been less annoying and still supported it.

I'd certainly let it be for a year or two just to see how it reacts. Not sure about dormant buds on a larch but if branching covers the stub it might look ok.

tj
coniferjoy
14 years ago
The thing is that it will not so look nice at this moment.
But now it's leader is gone, the "food" will be spread among all the branches which are still there.
It will make several new leaders which can give it a very special shape.
Ken has to watch and see how it will develop this comming growing season.
I hope he will show us some pics again in October...we all would be surprised then...