Red Bud Maple
I planted a red bud maple 3 years age. It is doing beautifully but is only growing one sided. (see picture). My husband wants to trim the branches on the side that is growing because he thinks that side is taking up all the energy. Is this the solution, or should we just leave it alone and wait for the other side to kick in? Thank you.
- Attachments
-
-
rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Well, I don't have any particular expertise and I was hoping someone would show up who does.
But leaving it alone and waiting for the other side to kick in is not going to happen. Some combination of circumstances has caused your tree to grow that way. Does the side that is thriving more get more hours of sun a day? Does water drain more towards the roots on that side?
Anyway, you could try your husband's solution and give the small side a chance. But if there is something driving this, even that won't work in the long run.
One place I lived, we had two identical smoke bushes on either side of a walkway. They were only about 6-8 feet apart and started out the same size. But the way they were positioned, the morning sun hit one of them a couple hours sooner each day. After some years went by, the one with more sun was twice as big as the other and the discrepancy was getting bigger, because it was now shading out the smaller one. So I cut the big one way back and left the small one alone, so they were once again the same size. The bigger one went "yay, pruning, I love it"
And promptly started growing back faster than ever. Eventually we got rid of both of them...
But leaving it alone and waiting for the other side to kick in is not going to happen. Some combination of circumstances has caused your tree to grow that way. Does the side that is thriving more get more hours of sun a day? Does water drain more towards the roots on that side?
Anyway, you could try your husband's solution and give the small side a chance. But if there is something driving this, even that won't work in the long run.
One place I lived, we had two identical smoke bushes on either side of a walkway. They were only about 6-8 feet apart and started out the same size. But the way they were positioned, the morning sun hit one of them a couple hours sooner each day. After some years went by, the one with more sun was twice as big as the other and the discrepancy was getting bigger, because it was now shading out the smaller one. So I cut the big one way back and left the small one alone, so they were once again the same size. The bigger one went "yay, pruning, I love it"
And promptly started growing back faster than ever. Eventually we got rid of both of them...-
ButterflyLady29
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1030
- Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 9:12 pm
- Location: central Ohio
Judicious pruning of the main branches might help but there is more going on than what you realize. Prevailing winds, sunlight, trunk damage, root constriction, any or a combination of these or more are causing this particular tree to grow this way. Do not prune it now. Wait until after the leaves drop so you can see the best places to trim the overly long branches back. Also, pruning in late summer will cause the tree to send out new growth which will not be properly matured before winter hits. Those tender branches will not survive if the weather is very cold or winter is very long.