Nice, I like Nyssas very much.

For me the trouble has always been the first winter and then clear sailing after that.

Keep the pics coming throughout the year.

supposedly Tupelo tower can handle the colder winners. Here in Union County, New Jersey we are in zone 7a.

I will keep the pics coming. Blackgum are great trees, some people confuse them with the sweet gum trees. When I asked my local nursery if they had any Blackgum trees, he told me people don't like the spiky gumballs , I informed him that was the sweet gum tree not the black gum tree.

pull back the mulch off the bark ..... and insure that the root flare is at soil level ...

below is a planting guide ... if you missed anything.. right now would be time to call a redo ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

I love black gums. The Lowes of all places carried three of them last year, among the standard maples and oaks, which surprised me. Mine love water and got GREAT fall color, even though they are in part to most shade. They grow fast in 7a down here in GA, and have an interesting twisting branching pattern that adds winter interest. Mine seems to spend years alternating between shooting up its leader, and the next year branching off from the past year's growth. I would buy three more of these trees in a heart beat.

If you want your tree to develop more of a central leader, I would suggest slowly trimming that front branch back a little bit each winter until you eliminate the branch entirely. It looks like it is trying to become a second leader.

the Blackgum seems to be doing OK. About 4 weeks after planting it half the leaves fell off, we had a storm and was very windy...but then more leaves grew in. Still have 2 branches which are bare and the leaf on the top of the tree came off. Picture below was taken June 21, about 8 weeks after I planted her.

June 25

i planted a T Tower.. love it! I planted it in late may and i swear it grew 16" in this first year!

Thanks for bringing this post back up. I might have to order one myself!

Here it is after 3 years...at least 9 feet tall now.

The fall color was mediocre first fall but outstanding last fall. Brilliant red. I have mine planted in a seasonally wet spot. Spring is saturated and moist rest of the year.

I hope it gets a bit wider. It's very narrow now. The growth slowed in 2019. Maybe a few inches.

Thinking about adding a tupelo tower to my yard. I currently have wildfire and green gable. How’s your experience been ? I know there is plenty of options for other cultivators. The place near me only has Tupelo tower, wildfire, and green gable. I’ll explore elsewhere if people have has sub par experiences

I ended up removing mine. Bad spot I guess.

@splaker How come?

It was barely hanging on. pretty much near dead. Sparse leaves very anemic

Nice!

Thanks for the update.

:-)

That’s some great fall color John !