Should I prune the tops of these dragon lady holly

last year

Hi all,

We planted some dragon lady holly last year to provide some additional screening along a narrow space by our fence. I thought I read that dragon lady holly are compact growing trees that didnt neer pruning but our dragon lady hollies seem to be growing in differnt manners. Only one kept its normal tree shape with slight tip (left one in first pic). Others have a single super thin leader shooting up that doesn’t seem like it’ll ever grow wider (2nd pic), and some that have a few leaders growing from the top (3rd and 4th pic). I wanted to check if I should prune off the thin branches in the trees in 2nd, 3rd, 4th pic (basically top the tree?) to try to make them look like the left one in the first pic if I want to have a thick, full growth for hedging or just let the trees be. And if pruning, any tips would be greatly appreciated, esp for the ones with multiple leaders.

Thanks so much in advance!

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Comments (6)

BillMN-z4a
last year
last modified: last year
I'd let them be.

Generally speaking, pruning is used to reduce the size or shape of a tree. It doesn't sound like you want that. Otherwise removing dead, damaged or diseased branches is recommended.

Give those plants a few years and they will fill out nicely. They look healthy and are growing beautifully. Once they get larger than what you want, then you can shape them as desired.
Am thanked BillMN-z4a
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
First, these are shrubs rather than trees so forget about any leaders.....they don't apply. Second, as a BLE shrub, they can be pruned as and when required or you think necessary. Most websites indicate that Dragon Lady does require some periodic pruning attention to maintain that pyramidal form.

I'd lop off that long uppermost growth whenever it started to bug me. It should encourage some additional fullness through the body of the shrub.
Am thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
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kitasei2
last year
What is BLE?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
last modified: last year
Broad Leaved Evergreen
Am
Original Author
last year
Thanks everyone for the tips, super helpful!
Am
Original Author
last year
@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) I ended up deciding to try to prune the leggy leader becaused I wanted to encourage more fullness and try to shape these before they get tall enough for me to need a ladder. I chopped off over half of a long leader till when I think I saw sprouts (first pic). Do you know if this is the best thing to do (i.e will this encourage the bare stems with single leaves below to also sprout branches and thicken up or should I cut all the way up to where I am hoping the bush will start to thicken up. Also I did an angled cut same direction as the last bud but wasnt sure if thats what i should do whek topping a branch? Also any recommendations for how i should trip bush in second pic would be super helpful! Not really sure what I should do since there are three leggy branches growing from one middle leader. Should I pick one to try to train as leader and cut off the other two? Thanks!