crooked Blue Spruce, Prune?

Dan0

Hi,
About two-weeks ago I planted an 11-foot Moerheim's Blue spruce on my property. THis tree look like it's top was broken off early in life and one of its brances took over and formed the top 3 feet of the tree. This looks good and its hard to even see or tell without pushing back branches. My problem is that now a 2-foot, 1/2 - 3/4" diameter branch on this one is taking over and growing up but to the side.
Should I prune this branch off? If so how much of it should I prune and when should I prune it? It is changing to Autumn here now but should I wait unit the tree is established?
I'll post some pictures tonight.

newguy18

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old schooler

Dan0

Here's the pics: Remember it was only just planted so needs time to recover from months of burlap and falling over?

newguy18

don't prune it,leave it alone.the tree will be fine,in time it might straighten itself out.

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old schooler

treeseer

Probably, but splinting it carefully may up those odds. re the 2nd leader, it depends on whether you want a classic conical shape or something more irregular. Stability's about the same with eiter.

Knotahippie

If it was my tree I might subordinate prune the lower stem by 1/5, so it dosen't get too big.

Codominant stems like this can split out or become unsightly later.

Now is the time to cut a stem like that, If you wait to cut it (3"+) it can injure the tree.

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newguy18

You need to study more,any time you prune it is an injury,reduce what by 1/5th?the tree?

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old schooler

treeseer

no i think he's talking about reducing the side leader.

Knotahippie

You bet.

treeseer

Why 1/5 and not more?

Knotahippie

Angle of pic...Could cut 1/3, can always cut more, but ya' can't put it back.

Eric Frei

DanO,

Could you please get bigger pics and load them here and not to another hosting place.

we can go up to around 200kb and 800px wide, hit the little paper clip thingy next to the smilie face in the text box tool bar when typing.

More help here. How to post| add a picture or file| embed picture

We need to make sure there's a co-dominant and it's competing for apical dominance, could be just a branch on an angle.

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MTS247

Make sure that tree is not too close to those powerlines. it will grow quite large and it would be a shame to have it ruined to maintain clearance.

Dan0

I made sure it was far enough from the power lines.

Here are the same pics only bigger. I'll try taking more later.


Thanks for your advice.

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newguy18

I beat Ekka to it.

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old schooler

Dan0

Newguy18's biggest red circle is where I believe the tree was broken off earlier in life. From there a laterial became dominant.

Eric Frei

Well, it's still a little hard to tell WTF is going on there.

I think you're saying that the branch marked in blue is competing for dominance right?

If so I would prune back with secateurs to the little branch as shown with the blue line.

I also circled in yellow another kink with a ? ... what's that one about? If it's the same sort of deal then do similar as the blue branch, snip back a bit to a small lateral.

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Dan0

I'll get some more pics from a few different angles.

newguy18

That big red cicrle in the center off the tree looks like it was topped to me,looks to clean to be a break.

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Garry Brockley

This tree looks like it was poor nursery stock damaged and untrained go with Ng and Ekkas ideas this tree is going to need work for a few years.

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Dan0

OK, I tried to take some pictures from a few different angles in hope you guys could see better what's going on. I've marked a questionalble branch with green tape. Because it couldn't be seen clearly in all the pics I've added a red line pointing to it.

taken almost FRom the FRont

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Dan0

FRom the right side:

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Dan0

FRom the left side:

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Dan0

From the back:

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Knotahippie

You could cut new leader (red line) and establish a more aesthetic leader (green line) but if unmaintained could result in original problem (yellow line).

By cutting the top it kinda' ruined the structure...but it's not all bad.

If it was my tree I might try to train the existing leader to be more vertical, instead of opening another wound at the old cut though.

Looks like wind and light might be affecting this tree (orange line) and over time may be a bigger problem. Heavy winds?

I'd probably plant a few more to have a little grove there, maybe one to hide the other...just a thought. Conifers do well in groups.

A group of trees tend to help with utility bills too .

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Dan0

The tree hasn't been planted long enough for this to have any affect. I'd rather say that it was neglect and the time spent falling over while its roots were wraped in burlap at the nursery.

Where it is now it'll get lots of sun as well as wind. The lower parts of this tree should fill out nicely when it starts getting sun next summer and is rooted well right? I just have to get the top straightened out.

Knotahippie

Sometimes trees are planted in a hole and not a bowl...this can cause interphase problems, high wind combined with phototropism can possibly lead to a leaning state.

Mulching with pine/conifer chips would be real good for root development and give it nice finished look.

Dan0

When planting it, I tried to keep the trunk as straight as possible. Some branches were damaged from falling over at the nursery and is what gives it the leaning look. These should grow in now that its planted right? Actually it wouldn't look so tilted if it weren't for the very top.

It hasn't been exposed to any high winds since being planted but its coming.

Thanks

newguy18

The only trouble with cutting a new leader is there isn't a decent lateral,hence making it a very high maitnece tree for the rest of its life.Everything else in your post is good,espically the grove.

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old schooler

treeseer

So splint it! You know; like a broken leg.