Do I have to return the Seiryu?

20 years ago

I have been looking for a special tree to highlight the front corner of my house, replacing a 20 foot laurel that I have pruned into a gigantic bonsai sort of affair. I love that it's green all year round, and shades the 2nd story windows, but the yearly massive pruning to keep it in check and how much shade it casts is getting to be a bit much. Some neighbors have a Japanese maple that is as tall as the 2nd story, very light and airy (just the trunks, really) down below til about 12 feet up where it forms a triangle sort of branching effect about 12 feet in diameter, so I thought a Japanese maple might work in this spot. Went to the nursery today and FELL IN LOVE with a 10 foot tall Seiryu--the leaf color (I so like that it's not all red), the fine texture of the leaves, the color the bark. I've paid for it, and am waiting to get a vehicle to pick it up.

The guy at the nursery said that it would grow mostly vertically, topping out at about 15-18 feet and that branches with leaves would grow mostly up, not out. But what I'm reading in the forum is that the width will be almost that as well and that pruning it to do otherwise is not advised. All the sites I've looked at don't seem to include the width.....

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Comments (2)

myersphcf
20 years ago
I have a smaller one about 7 ft and it does not seem columbar but moderatly spreading in fact the eastwoods cd show one in DC that looks similar in shape to one of those newer thornless golden locust trees the name skips me and with similar SMALL leaves it actually seems similar in many respects)airy and spreading ...NOT thick .So i think that info is wrong ...maybe not as wide as some large weeping jm's but not "tight" either ( although the eastwoods cd says otherwise) ...I would NOT consider this a gigantic tree though most rate it at 14-20 AT MOST feet. As with any tree I would NOT advise putting it too close to your house unless you like to trim alot and if real close the tunk area could over time "push" your foundation ...but I wouldn't worry about the roots ...they are not the type to do much damage David ...
drcindy
20 years ago
I also have a Seiryu that is about 6-8 feet tall; it was in a 15 gallon pot. It is fairly new, as it is a replacement for an older, bigger Seiryu that I lost to snow damage last winter. That Seiryu had some spread on it, but it was certainly not as wide as it was tall. It was a beautiful specimen, planted on the front corner of my 2nd story home, and airy enough to see through it. And the fall colors were spectacular. So now I will have to wait for this one to grow up. My Seiryu is a bit closer to the house than I'd like, only because of space limitations, but the first one had no problems with that. The replacement actually has one side that is fairly "flat", so I placed that side facing the house so no branches would brush up against it. Good luck- you will not be disappointed.
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