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Conifers
bill_mn_z3b

Does C. Nootkatensis 'Pendula' need staking?

last year

Hi,

Been looking everywhere to find out if my young Nootka cypress pendula would need any type of help to get started growing vertical (Last season, I did support it some to get a vertical trunk started).

This year, it's hard to know what to, because all the shoots, that start at the same time, sort of droop.

Do these trees need staking or other method before they will grow on their own?


Below, the two top stems were pretty equal, but the one on the left, just outgrew the one on the right and then of course, was heavier and bent downward, allowing the shorter one to sort of stand more upright. It makes me wonder if the left, longer one was supposed to be the main, upright leader?

I know eventually, the tree will take care of itself, I just don't know if in the early stages, I should be determining which shoot goes up, or if it doesn't really matter.



The only stakes on it now are the ones, leftover from last season, in about the middle of the trunk. These were there so a strong wind wouldn't possibly break the tree off at the graft.


I added another stake, a little higher up because the tree wants to lean towards the sunny side, where the branches are more numerous, so the extra weight on that side makes it lean (or maybe I'm letting the wrong branches flop, and I should try to get more branches to bend to the other side of the tree).

Help me out here please.

;-)

Comments (5)

  • last year

    My ’Green Arrow’ looks like that every year but ultimately grows staight.

    tj

    BillMN-z4a thanked tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
  • last year

    Thanks, tj!


    I believe the reason it was so troublesome last season was; it came as a 3ft. tall, thin, whippy, overfertilized, potted 1 gal, grafted plant.


    This season, I haven't supported the shoots at all and after that longer shoot folded over to the left, the right side straightened up, from around a 45d angle to almost 90, virtually overnight, as it shows in the first picture.


    So, it appears this tree is at the point of being on its own then, but I thought I'd better ask anyways.


    I'll leave those middle stake on until next season, should be at least a 4-year graft by then. I would surmise.


    Thanks!

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  • last year
    last modified: last year

    Looks healthy. The central stem looks straight and I think that's all you need. I still have the stake next to mine's trunk, but took off the tie. I might return the tie very loosely before winter when the gales start.

    BillMN-z4a thanked bengz6westmd
  • last year
    last modified: last year

    54" tall (to the topmost bend). ;-)

    My middle stakes are a good 12" from the trunk and I'm using a stretchy nylon material, tied from the stake to the trunk, this allows the tree to sway a little when the wind blows.

    That extra middle stake, a little higher up, will come off end of summer. The trunk has lignified well since spring and the new growth appears to be taking final shape more rapidly, between growth spurts, than it did last season.

    Gale force winds! Yikes!

    We do have occasional TS winds that bend even some of the larger trees over to ridiculous angles and sometimes cause damage but right in our area, no hail or wind damage, so far.

    Generally, during change of seasons, we have straight line winds (40-50 mph?) but I'm finding the south side of the garage and house to be the most protected areas I have in my yard.

    Big thing this season is, we haven't had the long, extended dry spells.

    Not an overly high amount of rain but enough to keep things growing.

    ;-)

  • last year

    Great idea beng!

    After I thought about it, if the winds aren't so bad, I took all the ties off of my weeper.

    What better way to give the tree some extra movement, so it will naturally lignify faster?

    I'll have to remember to retie it if a TS comes on the horizon.

    The lean is almost gone anyway, so I might just wait until end of summer to tie it up again.

    Thanks.

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