where are you ... how big is it ...

and why do you think it needs water.. in winter ...

is it mulched??

whats your soil type...

after all that.. sure.. you can prune it up ... but a pic might change our minds ...

ken

HI Ken, I'm in the Toledo area.

It is maybe 6 feet.

It doesn't need water now, but was planted in the fall and the nursery recommended watering through the spring since it is newly planted.

It is mulched

Soil is sandy on top and then clay about 2 feet down.

Picture to follow.

Small conical evergreen conifers seldom enhanced by limbing up. Usually the opposite, in fact.

Nevertheless people keep doing it, everywhere. (I've seen extreme cases referred to as "Calgary Palms". It's probably driven by what has been called the "Savannah Mentality", wherein humans supposedly have a biological imperative to turn inhabited outdoor space into grassland with widely scattered, parasol like trees).

I always wonder would these same parties display a Christmas tree inside their house with an exposed trunk?

Some trees have a trunk worthy of looking at.

I have limbed up a lot of conifers to get more room to plant an understory. The garden has been overplanted since almost the beginning.

I think the point you're trying to make is that a lot of people limb up trees when there is no need. Fully furnished to the ground as if in an arboretum is ideal, of course. Few have the luxury of adequate room. Making a tree look like a cone on a stick always reminds me of the green plastic trees they have on beginner model railroad sets.

Your comparatively young and/or small conical conifers would look a lot better if they didn't appear as though perched on poles. Old, mature, spreading, round-topped pines that have been mostly discarding their oldest, smaller, lower branches on their own anyway - and have colorful and textured looking bark - are a different story.

If I bought your place tomorrow I would saw down all those Hinoki "flags" in the section shown and keep the rest the same (for the moment), the azaleas and etc. looking great with the Deodar behind.

Somebody subjected a mixed (one of this and one of that) conifer collection of some vintage in Woodinville to the same kind of conspicuous limbing up at one point so that what should now be a nice local feature and resource was instead basically destroyed.

a 6 footer .....

put on a hoody ... some good garden gloves.. and go under there an look ... while your under thee.. in early april .. INSERT FINGER or use a small hand shovel to FIND OUT if it needs water ..

watering .. winging it .. is not approved when clay is in the soil ...

imo ... soil moisture needs to be maintained.. thru late fall ...

a conifer ... needs moisture.. but does not like soggy soil ... a good deep drink .. and then NEAR drying before the next deep drink ...

do not prune.. just for the sake of looking ...

in my MI sand .. just 25 miles north of you ... with cool long springs ... it might not need a deep drink until late may... and then once a month thru late sept .. unless there is a long deep drought in july/august ./.....

but i would be under there.. checking the soil ...

no guessing with watering.. on a new transplant ..

btw.. was it ball and burlap... or pot??

ken

The best looking conifer I've ever seen limbed up was a grouping of Pinus resinosa. They're on a northern Minnesota homestead, and I couldn't help but stop when I drove by. The owner was Minnesota nice and explained they were estimated at 150-200 years based on family history of the farm. They were all of a 100' and devoid of branches the first 60'. They made for a slender silhouette that was simply beautiful.

Replace water bag with DIY 5 gal drip irrigation bucket with I'd hose and problem solved... Well, u also have to get the root flare to the surface as well, if planted too deep it will die, no oxygen

http://bucketirrigation.blogspot.com/2012/10/bucket-irrigation-1.html?m=1

guessing at the need for water ... in a soil with clay ... is a POSSIBLE death sentence ...

one needs to learn.. how water moves thru the soil ... that starts with a perk test ... and then inserting finger.. and finding out ...

no one.. can tell someone else.. how to water in the soil on that persons garden ...

ken

I think we could benefit from a photo of the plant.

Keep in mind, I'm not talking about taking limbs off in anything excess of 2" off the ground. The tree was planted and then more top soil was added around the tree to try and level it off with the rest of the flower bed. The only branches that would be coming off would be below the soil line. The morons that did the soil work actually covered the lowest branches and packed the the dirt down on top of them.

"The morons that did the soil work actually covered the lowest branches and packed the the dirt down on top of them."

Then this is something you need to rectify immediately!! And not by pruning! Planting too deeply - with soil piled above the root flare - is a recipe for disaster, if not now then certainly down the road a few years. While still in or barely out of dormancy, dig and lift the tree so that the root flare - where the trunk widens into the root spread - is at or preferably slightly above grade.

Buried limbs may still need to be removed, due to the damage that might have been caused to them by having a layer of soil and mulch piled over the top of them for the past 6 months.

I agree with gardengal. You may actually have to replant it, because if they done this, they may have filled the planting hole with miracle grow soil instead of your native soil. You can tell by digging a small hole with a spade near the tree.

Native soil was used.

The branches were buried for hours at the most. Uncovered and cleaned off.

The tree was planted at a correct height and then soil was placed around it at 2" max.

Good. So your problem is solved now? I'm a bit confused.

If planted "at the correct height" and then 2" of soil added, it is no longer at the correct height :-) Soil, not mulch?? There is a big difference and even mulch should not be piled up against the base of the tree.

Yeah, everything you say makes it sound much, much worse. It would surprise me if this tre lasts five years. Raising the soil level around a tree after it is planted rots the trunk and suffocates the roots. The branches shouldn't be below the soil line. Blue spruce are very picky about humidity levels and prone to disease.