Maybe it was crowded in the field. If that was the problem, given good light it should even itself out over time. It depends on what, exactly you are talking about. At any rate, shearing one side would not be expected to make the other side grow more. In fact, it might make it take longer to balance itself, removal of foliage resulting in slowing overall growth. Leaves make food which is stored and used to fuel future growth, when you cut part of a plant top away the total size increase is actually slowed as a result.

you have.. my permission.. to do whatever your little heart desires on your plant ...

that said.. i would leave it alone for 2 or 3 years.. to let it get re-established .. before you go whacking on it ... we need to regrow that root system.. before you go cutting off all the food making greenery ... which is what is under the blue ...

and frankly ... no.. you bought a FAT plant.. you can not make it skinny ... well.. i said you could.. but personally i wouldnt spend many hours per year.. with the sharpest, meanest tree.. trying to turn it into something it isnt ...

but again.. knock yourself out if it will make you happy ...

whats the deal .... bargain of the century??? is that how you ended up with this mis-shapened FA???

generally speaking.. pruning is done.. as the new spring growth begins to elongate.. snipping the new shoot early enough that it will reset buds for the following year ... if you remove all the buds on any given branch.. on a spruce.. that branch will die.. back to the next bud ...

a picture might help us define where you might want to go with this thing ...

ken

Sluice, that's great! Looks like 'Fat Albert's wife finally got him on that diet!

Yes it was a good deal. Here is the tree. The left side looks great, I just need to shape up that right side.

{{gwi:638499}}

OMG!!!!!

LEAVE IT ALONE ...

me thinks you doth protest too much ..

i cant even suggest what i though based on your words alone ... lol .. 3 foot wide on one side.. and bare on the other.. yikes ...

see link for its potential ...

also cut/paste the link below.. find the database [along the top line] .. and insert fat albert in the cultivar name.. and find its annual growth rate at .. hey its blank .. whats that all about .. lol ... but then look in the left margin and go to the CONIFER INTRO ... and learn all that stuff .. there is also a pruning tutorial at the site... maybe under topics ...:

http://www.britishconifersociety.org.uk/bcs/index.php

anyway.. as the beetles said.. LET IT BE ... at least for a year or two ...

and i hope you have plans for a good mulch cover ...

was the planting depth proper??? now is the time to fix it, if not ... it looks a little deep.. or the soil mounded up a bit .... bark can not tolerate being underground.. so we should insure that it is planted at the same depth as it was prior ..

thats a beauty ... dont try to injure it with too much love... it technically has a 100 year life span.. and will grow perfectly in full sun.. and balance itself out ... if you can just let it do its own thing ...

good luck
ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Does this depth look proper? I think the angle of that other photo didn't show well. I hope this one id better. Top of root ball is definately above grade. Thank you for the assistance.

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Agree with leaving the top alone. Also looks like there is dirt over the top of the root-ball.

It is advised that you plant the root flare no more the 2 inches above grade. In this photo you can't tell where grade ends or begins. Obviously planted to close to a competitor that prevented it from growing evenly.

Sluice...other then the fact it is a spruce fill us in a little more. What is species/ cultivar name and how was this thin pencil shape accomplished. Not a sheared plant for sure.
This process was begun at a very early age to achieve this look. Then again maybe you are pulling our leg although I surmise this look could be achieved with a 'Pendula Burns' that is candled every year.

Dave

Sluice - What type of spruce do you have that is trimmed so narrow but still dense looking.
I love it.

Dave and Sam, that's a species Picea pungens, in Jerry Morris' garden. Dave, you're right, the pruning began long ago and as Ken mentioned, the spring growth is pruned each year (except for the leader).

Greatplains, congratulations on your new planting!

I'd leave it as well, Get some mulch around it and watch it get better every year.

Greatplainsturf, I'm a little confused. You buy a tree from a tree farm and now you want to prune it right away. Had you no choice?
You also buy a Spruce with the name 'Fat Albert' and you want to try to keep it narrow. It's planted back by the fence. Aren't you partially growing it for privacy?

Like the above posters said, I'd mulch it and leave it alone.
Mike

It seems that you can candle-prune a tree only as far as the ladder reaches. So after many years the upper branches grow unpruned and the tree looks then like with a ball or pear on top. I have seen such pictures here on this forum. Imagine how this slender spruce in above picture will look in 20 years. Though candle pruning will help to keep a tree from becoming too fat at the bottom.

hi ...

dave.. it is a fat albert ... sluices plant is not relevant to the OP ...

planting high is OK ... what we are concerned about.. is the little mound under your tree ....

IF it is all part of the ball of roots that came with the plant.. but the trunk is as exposed as it was before.. you should be all set.. EXCEPT when you try to water it.. and all the water runs away.. instead of watering the root ball ...

so you either pull back any additional soil you added on top ... or you go 2 feet out from the trunk .. and add a levee of soil.. so that when you water ... the water will pool around the area.. until it has time to soak in ...

conifers.. like a a real good drink.. throughout the root zone.. and then usually prefer to NEARLY dry in between waterings .... you check that with your finger ... or a small trowel ...

IN MY SAND.. i might ONLY water a transplant like this once a month ... once i insure it has PROPER water thru the rootball .. AND AFTER I HAVE PROPERLY MULCHED IT [you didnt answer if that is the plan here ...]

once we establish it is PROPERLY PLANTED... we then need to insure it is PROPERLY WATERED for about 2 years.. until it can regrow the root mass it needs to go basically free range ... but for EXTREME drought ...

its future is all tied up in those tannish buds you see at the tips.. if those make it thru winter.. they will explode with growth.. and quickly fill out the tree ... and all they need right now.. is water ...

to forestall a future question.. it should NEVER NEED TO BE FED ....

does that bring you up to speed.. ask if not..

its been a pleasure ... you are welcome

good luck

ken

ps: mulch should not touch the trunk either.. keep it back a few inches ... and make about a 2 to 3 foot circle of good mulch ... perhaps about 6 inches past the little levee/moat ... here is a picture to show the general idea of how to make a moat to retain water ... this one a hill ... if i can find the old post ... i will kick it up on the list.. [help me if you can]
{{gwi:638502}}

here is a pic of a hoopsi and its annual growth from a one gal pot
{{gwi:205545}}

and the last pic of a properly mulched bed.. with another picea pungens in the middle ... a green one that flushes out yellow in spring .... go figure on that ...
{{gwi:363199}}

check out the link ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Ken..I didn't partially care what kind of spruce it was...Just trying to give the person a little advice about planting height.

Also "sluices plant is not relevant to the OP"....Neither is sand which you seem to have truck loads of.

Come on...go have another cup of java and add a shot of Jack Daniels to mellow you out.

You should know by now threads are compromised by irrelevant subject matter. Yours & mine included. Let it go.

Dave

Ken last photo what's the pine.. Uncle Fogy ??????????????????
Do you have scions for Frank & I from P.res Aurea ???????????

Dax

See no indication of specimen asked about being deformed by crowding. The other, sitting in the puddle I would not have with the crown immersed. Better to have the tree on a little island with a moat around it for the water to collect in. If the water sits for a long time whole planting should be in better-draining soil.

The sheared beanpole looks like there is a deer problem on the site. Hardly a pleasant effect.

last photo pine .... wate's golden ...

bboy ... that is the initial watering AT PLANTING .... it was gone in minutes in the sand .. and you would have seen the little island you refer to [perhaps at the linked post] ...

in a perfect world.. the conifer is planted at the depth of the undisturbed soil .. so that as the mulch and moat break down in a few years.. it remains at proper planting depth ... i cant say it works every time.. with settling and all .. but that is the intent ...

BTW .... greatplain ... dont recall where you are.. if you ever said.. but when i see that brick red soil.. i think GA clay ... if in fact that is clay.. planting high is perfect ... did you perk the hole prior to planting .... do you know how fast water will move out of the dug cauldron ...

dont know where you are going with all that dave.. but have a great day .....

ken

Ken, he's in Mid-Oklahoma where I am and that OK red clay is far worse than that GA clay.

Makes things tought to plant correctly for sure.

mark

According to the nrcs the soil is Renfrow Silt Loam. See discription in link: http://www2.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/osd/dat/R/RENFROW.html

Tree has now been mulched for those who asked.

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil link

naming the soil type doesnt get you too far ...

dig a hole as big as a 5 gal bucket.. use bucket to fill hole with water

find out how long it takes to drain ..

that is a perk test ...

conifers and trees would prefer that it drain rather quickly ...

if it stays there for hours.. it might be a problem ... and would be indicative of a lot of clay ... in said case.. we plant high .. roots need air as much as water ..

but if you dig a clay cauldron that does not drain.. you are developing a bog or swamp .. which trees will not like ..

drainage is imperative in learning how to water a given plant ...and soil structure is really hard to interpret with words only ...

your spruce will need a lot of water relatively speaking for a year or two .. but we can not have it sitting in water ...

ken