It looks like the main leader had some damage but a side bud is now taking the lead and it is starting to sort itself out.

tj

Hi again Jason. I'd let the tree sort that out for now. You may be surprised at how well these things can go when we do nothing! then again, a year or three from now, you could end up with dual leaders. It happens and NS is prone to do that now and then. If so, and if it were my tree, I would indeed get my pole pruner out and either remove the less-desirable one-usually the shorter one or the one that is less centered-or shorten up that same leader. Just shortening up a branch on a tree will cause it to slow down. This will allow the other branch which you want to be the leader to take over, even more perhaps than it already was doing or going to do.

Hope that makes sense, but bottom line, you have no need to do anything at this time.

+oM

what they said... 100%

but in my own words ...

there is only one leader there ... but some side branches are trying to overtake dominance ...

some selective shortening of such would be good ...

wish i had my photoshop on this laptop ...

the only question.. would seem to be.. how do you get up there ... even a pole saw is not going to cut it ... lol ... so it would be a pole saw on a ladder ... crikey ...

did you have it moved by duded with big tools ... or did you do it yourself??? .. if you did.. tell us the story ..

ken

Thanks for the feedback. I had a local landscaper move the tree. He had 4 guys and a bobcat and just dug it up. He was only willing to take on the job if I had him do some other projects…..said it wasn't worth it to him to invest all that labor and not sell me anything. He also said there was no guarantee or warranty on the tree….that he didn't know if it would survive or not. That was about a year and a half ago, it seems to be doing pretty well. There's one side that's fairly thin, but I think its due to lack of direct sunlight to that spot.

They had me water it heavily the day before. We have a very dense clay here in central IN, so it's tough going. The root system they dug up was much wider and not as deep as I would have thought. Looked like a big pancake. Perhaps that dense clay was a blessing in that the whole thing held together nicely. It was only moved about 30-50 feet, so it wasn't far to go.

I'll post more pictures once it gets some new growth this spring.

As for getting up there….It's fairly close to my deck, so if I had to I'm thinking standing on the deck railing with a long pole saw might get me there. Or ladder on the deck. It would be an adventure in any case.

drink a lot of beer first... it will cushion the fall .. lol ...

i like your guy .... based on what you said ...

the roots sounded like they were supposed to be.. what did you expect.. it had nothing to do with the clay .. alomst all tree rotos are within the first foot ... or so.. regardless of soil

if i could figure out how to post a pic .... i would prove it to you

ken

You do appreciate Norway Spruce grow tall and spread wide - a height of 80 to 100 feet , and branch extensions of 15-18 feet from basal branches is common. If you can reach the leader from the deck now, in a few short years the lower branches will take over the deck.

Here's an updated picture of this tree that was transplanted 2 years ago now. It looks like its doing OK, but there are lots of pine cones at the top weighing the branches down. As someone noticed before, it looks like the leader died at one point and the other branches started to take over until all these pinecones formed. I now have a total of 5 Norways and 2 Blue Spruces in my yard, and another Norway (that I also posted about) lost its leader as well. I've heard this can be from an insect, but I would be curious to hear what you guys think. Also, should I be concerned about all these pine cones? I've heard that can indicate distress.

It looks OK to me. It's still adjusting to it's new location.

Those are spruce cones and they don't indicate a serious problem at all. The tree is still settling in.....and doing a nice job of it.

Mike

lol.. how can a spruce have a pine cone .... lol

ken

don't be a smart guy

I know its crazy, my apple tree also produces pears. For whatever reason you hear people talk about pine cones more often so I deferred to the more common cone without thinking - sorry if I offended anyone! haha

Spruce are in the Pine Family so it's not so wrong as we might think.

Mike