Hi all.
so, i have been going through my plants (as some know) and finding that some are in desperate need of help. This time it is my wee Taxodium. I got this 5 years ago at 1 year old and it has been hiding ever since, hardly watered and certainly not looked after. When dragged out it has the original trunk that is dead (obviously) and there was about 3 inches of green. after a week in water it has grown quickly and happily. There are new shoots that have come up from the heel of the secondary stem and the roots are looking healthy again albeit very cramped. I have looked around at various pictures and it seems that the usual thing is formal upright for these guys with few exceptions.
But where to from here?
Thinking that i take off the dead piece at the base of the new stem and then take off the new growth about half way down as it shows. Should i also be taking off the side shoots as well or leave doing anything else? Anything else that could be suggested or should i leave it alone for now and deal with it later?
Yes i am a serial impatient person.
Ta heaps. P
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Long term project by the looks of it so not for the impatient. But here goes my suggestion... I think you should do a trunk chop to where the lowest branch which is shooting up is located. Then let it grow over the next couple of years at lease so that the not only does the cut heal and give you some taper but also your base of the trunk brings to widen. I have had mine for over 4 years now and all that it is currently is a trunk which is beginning to flare. There is also a good thread on how to get the root knees also which is worth reading. But wouldn’t do that until the tree recovers fully.
Akhi wrote: ↑May 20th, 2020, 5:43 am
Long term project by the looks of it so not for the impatient. But here goes my suggestion... I think you should do a trunk chop to where the lowest branch which is shooting up is located. Then let it grow over the next couple of years at lease so that the not only does the cut heal and give you some taper but also your base of the trunk brings to widen. I have had mine for over 4 years now and all that it is currently is a trunk which is beginning to flare. There is also a good thread on how to get the root knees also which is worth reading. But wouldn’t do that until the tree recovers fully.
Thanks Akhi.
Does that mean actually taking it right to the first stem n the left (below the start of the dead trunk) and get rid of the long one altogether? if so should i do it in winter/spring then try to get several cuttings out of it to try to grow? that gives the shivers, however is on the cards. It is already back budding so that makes the shivers a lot less. I want to see if i can save as much as i can too ie by cuttings.
Hi Paul,
Don't be afraid to cut it back hard. Three and a half years ago I bought a swampy at the local garden shop. One and a half years ago I cut it back hard
2018.12.15 e.JPG
Since then it's taken off again and I've cut it back again. This last pic was taken in April after a third haicut.
2020.04.29e.JPG
As long as you keep up the water to them they just keep growing. They back-bud all over the trunk when cut back.
Good luck with it, Cheers, Frank.
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See pic attached. You should cut it just where the thin long growth starts. The highlighted section is what I would cut out and the thin branch that remains you should wire up straight so it becomes the lead growth.
Akhi wrote: ↑May 20th, 2020, 10:13 pm
See pic attached. You should cut it just where the thin long growth starts. The highlighted section is what I would cut out and the thin branch that remains you should wire up straight so it becomes the lead growth.
Oops here you go try again now... the red line at the bottom where you cut and the arrow towards where you wire the banch so it grows straight up and heals the cut.
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Raging Bull wrote: ↑May 20th, 2020, 7:41 pm
Hi Paul,
Don't be afraid to cut it back hard. Three and a half years ago I bought a swampy at the local garden shop. One and a half years ago I cut it back hard 2018.12.15 e.JPG
Since then it's taken off again and I've cut it back again. This last pic was taken in April after a third haicut.2020.04.29e.JPG
As long as you keep up the water to them they just keep growing. They back-bud all over the trunk when cut back.
Good luck with it, Cheers, Frank.
Thanks RB. That is a great help to see how the cutting and movement can help. it is aways such a fear to make such a drastic cut but great to see that it can work well.
Oops here you go try again now... the red line at the bottom where you cut and the arrow towards where you wire the banch so it grows straight up and heals the cut.
Akhi it is al good this time. With the combo of your cut lines and RB's example i feel that i can now confidently snip away and help the little guy to realise his potential.
Awesome direction all.
Now let it grow for a couple of years and then cut it back again to leave a trunk about twice the height of the thick older trunk that's left now. Then repeat a couple of years after that and you'll find you have a nicely developing taper on the trunk.
Raging Bull wrote: ↑May 25th, 2020, 9:36 pm Now let it grow for a couple of years and then cut it back again to leave a trunk about twice the height of the thick older trunk that's left now. Then repeat a couple of years after that and you'll find you have a nicely developing taper on the trunk.
thanks Raging.
I will also use his info for my Mexican cypress as well. usage have to wait for a few more branches to come up. it is only a wee one and not the well chopped when it was sent but a year or two of TLC will see him through.
Thanks again. P
so not for the impatient. But here goes my suggestion... I think you should do a trunk chop to where the lowest branch which is shooting up is located. Then let it grow over the next couple of years at lease so that the not only does the cut heal and give you some taper but also your base of the trunk brings to widen. I have had mine for over 4 years now and all that it is currently is a trunk which is beginning to flare. There is also a good thread on how to get the root knees also which is worth reading. But wouldn’t do that until the tree recovers fully.
I want to see if i can save as much as i can too ie by cuttings.
Now let it grow for a couple of years and then cut it back again to leave a trunk about twice the height of the thick older trunk that's left now. Then repeat a couple of years after that and you'll find you have a nicely developing taper on the trunk.
