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What is this tree / shrub?

rmillerfamily5rmillerfamily5 Posts: 39
in Plants
Hi
I have a small tree/shrub. It's about 5' tall and has a spreading habit of about 4'. The trunk is about 4" in diameter.
Only the top branches have new growth. The branches below are supporting those above but have no growth. The leaves started appearing about 3 weeks ago. Up to that point I wasn't sure if it was still alive!
Anyone know what it is?
Many thanks
Richard

Posts

  • HeliosHelios Posts: 232
    edited May 2020
    Surely it can’t be a badly looked after wisteria? That’s what it resembles to me. Anybody else have any thoughts?

    Edit. Trunk looks too straight for that.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Wisteria was my first thought too, one that's been trained into an umbrella shape.  But there'd be a support under there somewhere.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • rmillerfamily5rmillerfamily5 Posts: 39
    Hi Helios
    I thought it resembled wisteria too, but I thought it was unlikely as they tend to be larger and much more spreading plants.
    The tree/shrub is in the front garden (north facing) of the house which I moved to in February this year.
  • rmillerfamily5rmillerfamily5 Posts: 39
    Hi Jenny
    There's definitely no support holding it up and the trunk is pretty rigid.
  • HeliosHelios Posts: 232
    Does it flower at all and if so, when?
  • rmillerfamily5rmillerfamily5 Posts: 39
    Well it hasn't flowered yet Helios, but then again the leaf growth you can see only started about 3 weeks ago, and I wasn't the owner of the garden and house last year.
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    edited May 2020
    To me, it looks like a Honey Locust tree, Gleditsia Triacanthos 'Sunburst' tree that has been pruned back severely.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I agree.   Gleditsia that's been badly hacked.

    I would give it a good long drink - 15litres - of water with some seaweed or tomato fertiliser and then, in a couple of weeks' time, cut off al the stems with no foliage or buds.   That will aà encourage it to grow healthy new foliage and b) make it look a lot better.
    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
  • rmillerfamily5rmillerfamily5 Posts: 39
    Hi Borderline and Obelixx.
    Thanks for your thoughts. The Gleditsia looks like a nice small tree, but my plant has no leading stem and is only 5' tall and not looking like it's going to get taller. 
    I've added a couple more photos to show the contorted branches below this year's growth.
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    I'm guessing, at some point in the past, someone pruned this tree down quite hard, possibly into the main trunk, and being a wide spreading tree, it has tried to grow back vigorously. You can see the thickness of some of those branches underneath, all having blunt cuts into them. It's either unable to recover or pruned quite recently.

    If it is a Gleditsia, and you want to keep this tree, I suggest it is best to let to grow over the next few years and then re-pruned carefully. They have a lovely habit if left to grow, but some can get quite big.
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