Sara, thank you! I just saw the photo of your trees on a site - the conifer society I think. I was intrigued by your grove of ” totems” I think the caption labeled them. How neat to hear from you in this site. We planted our Peve Minaret In 2014 when it was @ 4’ tall. We fell in love with the soft ferny ”needles”. We also had a challenge with poorly draining clay soil & were told this cypress would do ok in wet. As you can see, it has more than settled in! We also wanted a defined edge of our yard when the 2 story next door was built with only a 5’ side yard next to our 1 story with @ 18’ side yard. The only pruning I’ve done is to limb up as I like to see the neat trunk bark, & rubbed off new growth to keep it clean. I’ve also nipped a branch end here & there & cut off one of the 2 leaders for a single top. I’ve also cut a surface root I saw with a small knee as it was too close to neighbor’s cement. It also has small knees behind it under my fence about 5’ away from trunk. I now need to keep it within its boundaries of my gate & neighbor’s sidewalk. I see that I should’ve sited it in the wider section of my side yard but the maple in front of it was already in place. Those 2 shrub stubs you might see to left of tree cut down are coming out. They were Little Rascal holly that suddenly had lots of leaf dieback so decided to remove. For my Peve, I wondered if I can prune top to control height & I see from your reply answer is yes! I’m stumped though on how much to prune & general shape I should aim for. Will multiple branches emerge from each cut point? It’s so different from pruning a maple! I’m in zone 8 & assuming Jan - Feb is the time to prune since tree will be dormant. Any advice you want to share on timing, shaping etc will be most appreciated!

When I was considering doing this and I asked other ACS members the kinds of questions that you are asking their advice could pretty much be summed up as 'just whack it.' I prune at the end of the dormant period. Yes, each stub results in multiple branches. You can't hurt this thing; if you decide you don't like the look, just let it be and it will push and push and never look back. This is a good one to practice on as it buds readily from old wood so you can't do much if any permanent damage. Now I will say that my husband was horrified when I did this but he eventually came around. The grove is near the driveway and I get many comments, mostly positive, but not all!

Thank you Sara. When the time comes next February or so, I will venture forth with confidence, my cleaned pruners in hand. I’m not sure I will be able to ‘just whack it’ right away, but I’ll certainly be more aggressive than in past. From my picture, I can see that my tree is off balance too with longer limbs on left side - looks like I’ve been trimming right side all along so that I can fully open the gate. A few years ago we visited the Oregon Garden Resort in Silverton, OR. I chatted with the conifer garden manager about their Peve Minaret & he also assured me this tree is amenable to pruning. Their specimen was a very symmetrical & young tree so I wasn’t confident enough to do more than a little shaping, Your husband’s reaction to your artistic pruning made me laugh. I think your result provides great natural architectural interest. And, one just wants to get close to them to see the many little minarets & touch the foliage. I’ve always been a perennial, fern & Japanese Maple lover but since moving into our new home in Vancouver WA I’ve discovered the beauty & range of conifers - especially the dwarf & pygmy varieties so great for small spaces. Thank you again for your help.

There are a lot of ACS members up there. Covid has curtailed everyone's travel, otherwise I would have been there this year. I like to make a yearly pilgrimage to the PNW. If you haven't been to Cistus, that is a wonderful source for really unusual plants. Conifer Kingdom in Silverton gives a discount to ACS members who visit in person (and they have tons of stuff that never appears on their website). Also, Western Evergreen, Stanley and Sons - you are in nursery Mecca!

Whack away...:-)

Sara

Cistus on Sauvie Island - that‘s a new one for me! I just spent some time on their site, showed my husband, who said to tell you - Thanks a lot. 😆 I‘ve heard him telling others that when I go into a nursery my eyes seem to glaze over and I seem in a trance like state. Such a kidder he is. I tell him there are vices much worse than having a passion for gardens. What I do know is guests to our home often remark on the sanctuary and beauty in our back yard and the abundance of birds so I know that the results of my efforts are enjoyed. I do move plants around or give away if they aren’t doing well. I had overplanted when starting our yard in our new built home so at 5 years in I called the dig team of our local Master Gardeners and they were happy to dig up the too large hostas & hydrangeas & really excited that I had all the plant tags. They can command higher prices at their annual fundraising plant sales for plants with ID tags. I was excited for the reason I had to need to visit nurseries - more plants & this time with more knowledge about ‘right plant, right place’. Sara, Thanks again for your advice and info.

" God Damn The Pusher Man "

Steppenwolf, Hoyt Axton & Easy Rider! Now that’s a blast from the past. Thankfully my

”plant lust” is a healthier addiction. 😆

Right On !

ron

We share it

I used to call my local specialty conifer nurseryman my 'dealer'. Then he started texting and calling me when he got new shipments in, at which point he officially became my 'pusher'! As KW says, there are worse addictions!

Sara, an update - yesterday was unexpectedly dry & sunny so I did it. That is, I just “whacked it”. 😱 My husband set up one of his smaller Little Genie ladders (2 sided & stable) & spotted me while I worked on the top. I did start at bottom with the longest branches to establish shape & size & paused often to consider. I removed @ 1’ from top, all the little twiggy branches coming out of main branches & aimed for a symmetrical A shape with even branching at each level overall. Bottom branches shortened quite a bit. It had shed most of its needles so I did clean the rest off first for a clear view of framework. I’m always surprised at how soft the wood is on this tree. I’ll aim for posting an after picture later today. Thanks so much for your advice - you gave me the courage to prune rather than a nip & tuck here & there!

Yes we want to see photos! And also remember to post photos once it leafs out.

The first pic of this tree I posted with my original questions gives a better sense of width & bulk of tree before my adventures in pruning yesterday. I took your note of limiting height to what you can easily reach on your ladder. Next year I shouldn’t need this heavier ladder. My neighbor thought it was funny that it was me on the ladder & she snapped that pic. I’ll post another when my Peve wakes up in late spring. I’ll be curious to see if it has an abundance of “minarets” with the new growth. My next pruning job is the maple in foreground.

It's going to be fun to watch it leaf out. You are likely going to get congested growth where you cut, so you may need to trim a bit. But whatever you do, it can grow out of it if you don't like it.

Yes, it will be interesting to say the least! It’s the top I’m wondering about. The only prior top cutting I did was a few years ago when It looked like 2 leaders growing up so I cut the smallest & least straight one off. I wonder if any of the branches around the top center will need to be cut shorter so they don’t attempt to become the leader Because they’re almost as tall. I didn’t cut any branches completely off - I shortened all of them & cut the twiggy or weak growth off each Or if they had a “fork” I cut the weakest side of fork off. I’d read that the branches naturally ascend as they lengthen & that was pretty obvious on the thicker branches. I didn’t want to shock the tree any more than I might’ve already done but I was thinking I might need to do some shaping cuts come spring. As I recall, it came to life so late this past spring that I worried about it. I’ll be sure to post its awakening! I’m looking forward to spring for sooo many reasons as I’m sure everyone is!

My Peve Minaret started to leaf out and we had had a cold snap and everything turned brown. the lower 2/3 is green but the top 18-24" looks dead. I'm assuming I should just leave it and wait? Or should I lop off the top when it's dormant this winter? I'm on Vancouver Island.

@g_girl3 Wow - a cold snap! Hard for me to imagine in my Vancouver — WA! We’re still having record highs - only 90 F today. Define cold snap - I looked at Vancouver Island, BC forecast & showed mid 50’s F at night. Oh - but you’re saying it started to leaf out then a cold snap - did this happen last spring? What’s that top look like now? It’s not green so it just never grew after cold snap? Is that top the only & central leader? Assuming I’ve figured out the timing of cold snap & current condition of tree - here’s what I’d do. Yes, wait until tree is bare before pruning. But, since you’re pruning top off, you need to figure out where the new top will come from. Peve wants a central leader for top. My tree had multiple top leaders & I chose the best & cut the rest off. After that I did wind up lopping off the top to keep it at 10’. I must tell you I no longer have my Peve Minaret. It wanted to be larger than the tag said it would be & it sent roots with knees popping up everywhere. The available space for my PM was limited forcing me into annual pruning. I didn't prune to the same extent that Sara Malone - who posted pics of hers in this thread. My tree came out just a couple months ago & was replaced with a fastigate Yew. If you have the space for the PM it’s a great tree & I loved the ferny looking new growth. We fell in love with the beautiful speciman we saw is why we got it.

Yes. The cold snap was in the spring, early June. Right when it started to leaf out. I lost all of my apples on my tree as well. Frost did them in. This is the tree now. Last year it looked so pretty and now it’s trying but looks rather pathetic. The top splits into a few leaders.

@g_girl3 Oh my - not a good look. How long has this tree been in ground? Did your tree have any longer side branches or were they pruned off?

FALL 2020

Summer 2016

You can see the 4 year growth in mine & why I had trouble keeping it in bounds. This is why I’m asking how long yours has been in ground & about branching. I had been cutting branches back as well as the top to control size,

No. It’s not a good look. It’s been in the ground 4 years now. And has done great. I tried to find pics from last year and couldn’t. I did prune them back so it was more pillar like as the side branches were wonky. It looked like it was going to do awesome then the frost. I’m hoping next season it bounces back. It’s been so healthy.

I’d let your tree go through winter & give it another chance. You certainly have the space for it to grow. I don’t know what the lowest cold limits of the tree is. If it comes back in spring, I wouldn’t prune any of the side growth - only the top & make sure it’s dead wood being cut off - scratch the bark. The highest branch should start pointing skyward to make itself a new top leader. I remember that my Peve always was the last tree in my garden to show any spring growth - it made me wonder each year if it was dead.