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Help me to prune this tree and fix its shape

OZZOZZ Posts: 14
in Problem solving
Here's my beautiful tree which started to grow a little bit out of control.  Could someone help me to plan how to prune it to fix its shape.
Thank you!
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Posts

  • OZZOZZ Posts: 14
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Name?
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Crataegus laevigata 'Rosea Flore Pleno', double pink hawthorn?
    Utah, USA.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    If you zoom in, you can just about make out the tag.. 
    Utah, USA.
  • OZZOZZ Posts: 14
    Name: Crataegus Rosea Flore Pleno
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Did you check its eventual size when you bought it?   4 to 8 metres wide and high!   

    Wait till flowering has finished and then remove any damaged or crossing (and rubbing) branches and then, if you must, shorten the branches heading in a direction you don't want.   Stand back after each cut to make sure you balance the tree.   You can't put back what you take off!  Make sure your secateurs and loppers are clean and sharp so you get clean cuts and don't pass on diseases.

    Be aware that pruning stimulates new growth so it may be best to leave this particular tree to form its own natural shape.  
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • OZZOZZ Posts: 14
    Well, it says 50 years to ultimate high:) So I was hoping to enjoy it for a while.... Can I suppress its growth somehow? 
  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    We have them lining the streets here. I wondered what they are, now i know  :)
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    edited May 2018
    One of the reasons hawthorns make such good hedges is that they respond to pruning with vigorous new growth and make a really good thick hedge ideal for controlling livestock (and trespassers), making a windbreak and sheltering wildlife.    Apart from removing any damaged or crossing branches as mentioned above I really do urge you not to prune this tree.  It will become an ungainly thicket on a stalk.

    Better to let it develop for a few years and then get an expert to remove any branches causing problems to your neighbours or else start now to cut it into a column/pillar as tho it were part of a hedge or a topiary.  You'll still get flowers every spring.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Bagpuss57Bagpuss57 Posts: 256
    On the RHS website it says these trees make a rounded form and don't really need routine  pruning but if pruning is needed it says to prune lightly in winter or early spring. I guess that's when the tree is dormant. 

    Remove diseased, damaged, congested or crossing shoots. Shoots that are growing in unwanted directions can also be pruned out.

    I love these trees and like you would be happy to enjoy it while it grows slowly. I was told too that it could be kept to a size you wanted by trimming it. Not exactly sure if that's true but I'd hedge my bets and buy one myself! They are so pretty and great for wildlife and birds. 

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