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Hawthorn Tree - Pruning Advice
Hi there
I have a young hawthorn tree planted in our garden this year and was wondering if anyone had advice on whether we should prune it.
I'd like it to grow as tall and bushy as possible, making sure the branches don't grow out to block people on a path about 4 feet away. Right now the lowest branch is about 5 feet up the trunk.
At the top, it's a bit straggly - quite a few branches with very few leaves and some wispy bits caused, I assume, from wind and snow damage (see photos).
Any advice greatly appreciated!
Philip


I have a young hawthorn tree planted in our garden this year and was wondering if anyone had advice on whether we should prune it.
I'd like it to grow as tall and bushy as possible, making sure the branches don't grow out to block people on a path about 4 feet away. Right now the lowest branch is about 5 feet up the trunk.
At the top, it's a bit straggly - quite a few branches with very few leaves and some wispy bits caused, I assume, from wind and snow damage (see photos).
Any advice greatly appreciated!
Philip


0
Posts
Would you only cut damaged top branches to the nearest bud, or eliminate completely some of the crossing/rubbing branches?
However , they are tuff trees and you would be ok to trim at any time
Next week I will be trimming my hedges
So dead wood can be cut at any time of year without sap bleed? And given that it's a fairly young tree, how many, roughly, of the crossing branches would you cut?
Here in the south of Ireland the established hawthorn are in leaf and starting to bloom but a newly planted tree could quite easily be delayed just because it is focusing its efforts on the roots getting settled in so there may be nothing to be very concerned about yet. Give it another few weeks or if you do think it looks dead you can scratch a bit of the stem and see if it is green under the surface. If it is dry and brown on the inside of the stem then it would not be very positive for your tree but hawthorn are generally very tough plants so I'd be surprised if there is a serious problem.