Where to cut this tree? Post your photos

[JoeWilson]

I'm a big fan of the recurring photo threads, so let's try another. The thing I think about most often/the question I want to ask most frequently is where should I chop this? What branch should I keep, and which should go? But I feel silly starting a new thread for every question, so I'm hoping that this will encourage others to post their trees and questions that they might otherwise not.

I want to encourage people to respond to questions, so I won't say a photo is required, but it's appreciated. It can be a picture with a question, a before and after of something you just chopped, something you plan to cut next season, etc, as long as it's roughly on topic, it's fair game. Sketches or paint overs of photos with advice are most welcome too.

 

[JoeWilson]

I'll go first. Here's an apple I recently dug up. It's about 18" (46cm) tall. It's straight as an arrow from one side and has a slight kink from the other. The top 80% or so has roughly even thickness (no taper).

My instinct is to cut it at about the 1/3rd line (from the ground), see how it back buds, and pick a new leader. What would you do?

 

[JoeWilson]

I guess the apple was too obvious. Let’s try again with something that has more options. This one is a hairy mountain mahogany. It's 18" (46cm) tall, the central branch is about 3/4" (18mm), and the trunk is about 2" (50mm) at its widest point.

Ignore the request to post photos; let’s see if we can get some discussion going first.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I think this is a good exercise. I think 99% of the work is in making a decision on what to do. You don't have to be a bonsai master or have years of experience cutting wood to cut a piece of wood. The real experience comes in the decision itself.

I see 2 choices since the main trunk is very long and straight.
1. Chop it all the way off.
2. Chop it down to 3" or so and hope for back-budding that will one day be the next section of trunk.

 

[Jrmcmich]

I'll go first. Here's an apple I recently dug up. It's about 18" (46cm) tall. It's straight as an arrow from one side and has a slight kink from the other. The top 80% or so has roughly even thickness (no taper).

My instinct is to cut it at about the 1/3rd line (from the ground), see how it back buds, and pick a new leader. What would you do?

View attachment 611115View attachment 611116

Go big or go home

 

[Jrmcmich]

I guess the apple was too obvious. Let’s try again with something that has more options. This one is a hairy mountain mahogany. It's 18" (46cm) tall, the central branch is about 3/4" (18mm), and the trunk is about 2" (50mm) at its widest point.

Ignore the request to post photos; let’s see if we can get some discussion going first.

View attachment 611258View attachment 611259

On this one I would Say let it grow more before a lower chop?

 

[Wulfskaar]

On this one I would Say let it grow more before a lower chop?

Of course!

I see 3 choices since the main trunk is very long and straight.
1. Chop it all the way off.
2. Chop it down to 3" or so and hope for back-budding that will one day be the next section of trunk.
3. Let it grow more as a sacrifice to continue thickening the trunk.

 

[JoeWilson]

I think this is a good exercise. I think 99% of the work is in making a decision on what to do. You don't have to be a bonsai master or have years of experience cutting wood to cut a piece of wood. The real experience comes in the decision itself.

I see 2 choices since the main trunk is very long and straight.
1. Chop it all the way off.
2. Chop it down to 3" or so and hope for back-budding that will one day be the next section of trunk.

Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah, the thickness of the main trunk makes me think I should try to do something with it, because these grow so slowly, but it's got nothing going for it at the moment. The other thing I was thinking was to chop it completely off, and wire the two side branches upright for a twin trunk design while they're still flexible. The branches for this species get pretty brittle, so I want to make some sort of change before too long.

I guess I could do both, wire the side branches upright, and cut the main trunk low and see if it back buds, and let them fight it out for a year or two.

On this one I would Say let it grow more before a lower chop?

Yeah, that was my initial plan, leave it for a few years to thicken and pick one of the side branches as the new leader, eventually. But I'm second-guessing it now...

 

[JoeWilson]

Go big or go home

Thanks. That's where I was at with it, too, but I was wondering if someone might tell me there was something more interesting I could do with it, like carve some of the trunk back. But yeah, the bottom 20% is where all the interest is, so I think I'll give it a hard chop.

 

[Potawatomi13]

I'll go first. Here's an apple I recently dug up. It's about 18" (46cm) tall. It's straight as an arrow from one side and has a slight kink from the other. The top 80% or so has roughly even thickness (no taper).

My instinct is to cut it at about the 1/3rd line (from the ground), see how it back buds, and pick a new leader. What would you d

Just above tiny bud by cracked bark slightly above red line. There are two opposite buds above this one just above picture.

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