Ok, question for you tree experts. I've planted lots of trees in my lifetime, and mostly I know what I'm doing. But a couple years ago, I noticed that one of my young mexican white oaks was looking very top heavy, so I started trimming a few branches on top. Well, I accidentally cut the leader branch off. I cussed and fretted for a good while. So now the poor little tree looks squatty and is growing out laterally, but doesnt seem to be growing taller. Will it ever grow a new leader branch and start growing upward, or will it just be a short, wide tree forever? #grownostr #trees #permaculture #permies #gardening
Discussion
I think that you have to direct more energy into the top. This way it will only grow there. But I am no expert...
And maybe alot of food for the tree.
Yes it get fertilized regularly. Looks healthy, its just the shape thats not right.
i know when i've grown cannabis, you can nip out the leader and it forms a 4-way, so to resume one to be the leader you have to cut the other 3.
it's always gonna have a kink where this all happened but it should start to ascend more if it's not dividing the top growth between 4.
I think you may be right, I believe if you start to trim back the lower branches, it will start to stimulate growth towards the top
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i made an answer before but i will just summarise it:
when you pinch out leaders, you have multiple competing leaders instead.
to resume more upright growth, pinch out the competing leaders. i mean, prune them off, all but one.
Ok, sounds like a strategy. I'll start working on that. Thanks😊
it should work. most plants that try to have one leader can be made to grow more squat by cutting it off, and the nearest next several leaders will become a little council of leaders. logically, if you remove the competitors one will get all that leader juice and return to vertical.
The sides will replace the top eventually will have multiple “leaders”
I have an olive tree that the young leader once broke off of. I was able to train another leader with a malleable branch that was closest to the original. It's still a little squatty but the shape is good and it's growing well. It's been maybe four years. It's still a young tree so still wait-n-see. It's worth trying, I would think, on yours.
Thanks, i should try something like that.