Uprooting Gum that Won't go Dormant.

[Bretts]

I have several gums growing out in air pruning pots. A year ago I realised one had rooted into the ground. I probably should have done something about it then but I liked how fast it was growing. I have noticed that the trees never really go dormant and one option to force dormancy is to drought them.
That was the plan but this tree is well established in the ground now and has a ready supply of water from a leaking down pipe as you can see in the picture.

I only plan on separating the pot from the ground but was after advice on which Gum repotting technique I should use for this.
Should I cut all growth of the tree and singe with flames or one or the other?

gum.jpg

[Sarge]

I have the same problem the more I cut the thing the more it grows

[FlyBri]

I only plan on separating the pot from the ground but was after advice on which Gum repotting technique I should use for this.
Should I cut all growth of the tree and singe with flames or one or the other?

Gday Brettles!

If you are just planning on removing the roots which have grown into the ground, I don't expect that you'll need to worry too much about pruning the tree. Assuming that you've kept the water up to the potted section of the roots, they should all remain viable, and the 'air pruning' pot should have helped to create fine roots throughout the pot. If this is the case, what you are doing is less like major rot work than it is like removing a ground layer.

Of course if there are masses of thick roots growing through the pot into your little swamp there, it might make you feel better to remove some of the foliage. You might approach this in a number of ways: you could choose to remove a portion of the foliage (maybe ⅓ to ½) by selective branch removal, or you could trim each individual branchlet back by about the same proportion, or even consider a trunk chop leaving a few lower branches intact. Your choice should be dictated by your design for the tree's future (in this case, the rather large leaves point to a big tree).

Once you have moved the pot and severed the roots in question you will be in a better position to decide if (partial) defoliation is necessary.

Good luck!

Fly.

[Bretts]

Thanks Fly I will go and cut it out as best I can and take it from there.
Cheers!