Pruning of young Chinkapin Oak

last year

I'm located in central Indiana, zone 6. I planted a Chinkapin Oak, Quercus Muehlengergii, as a 3 foot whip in September of 2021. Chinkapin is native to Indiana although I have never seen one in a landscape and rarely in the wild around here. I've populated my landscape with somewhat bigger, more mature plantings over the years...this one was an impulse purchase when I saw it on a clearance rack at a local nursery. I thought it would be fun and a learning experience to grow something from a whip.

I know the first few years it needs every leaf to provide energy for root growth. However last fall, the leader tip shot up and formed a "Y". The "Y" is about 4' off the ground. Is it too soon to start reducing the right side of the "Y" or even remove it to promote the left side as the main leader? To me, it seems this angle is a little tight and too low to the ground and will eventually need removed, I'm just curious on others thoughts on timing.

The first pic is the spring after planting, the second pic was a few days ago.

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Comments (4)

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
last year
If it is growing well you probably could snip off the secondary leader.

A compromise would be to trim the secondary back a little.

In my yard w/o the fence I leave lower branches on as a deer deterrent. I see a fence to that isn't as issue I assume?
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Joe Williams
Original Author
last year
This tree is actually outside the fenced in backyard. Deer are not an issue in my neighborhood.
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BillMN-z-2-3-4
last year
With that type of tree naturally having an open, rounded form, you might want to let it grow for a while before lopping off branches. There's no hurry to do anything with a tree that size.

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/quercus-muehlenbergii/
restorephoto
last year
My 200-year-old (give or take) chinkapin oak in our back yard in NE Indianapolis. It doesn't show up well in this October 2020 photo, but there is a young (12' or so?) in the foreground near the left edge of the photo. That sapling is growing quickly into a nice chinkapin in its own right. I've had to remove a couple of chinkapins in the front yard. I still have three out there, but one is on top of the gas line and needs to be removed as well. It and the other remaining pair are probably 12-14' tall now. One has somewhat reddish fall leaf coloration, but other seedlings with the reddish color haven't retained that coloration after 2-3 years. The parent tree has never had any hint of red in the fall color, just somewhat dark tan color in the 48 years I've been watching it.