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Amelanchier lamarckii pruning.

Balgay.HillBalgay.Hill Posts: 1,089
in The potting shed
Hi folks. First post. :)
I've just planted the above, and looking for some advice.
It is only a young specimen, around 2ft tall.
There were a few choices at the nursery, but i chose a single stem as that is what i'm aiming for. The leader had been taken off, and there are plenty of branches forming a nice bowl.
There is one crossing branch, and a couple of withered stems that i will remove. Should i do this now, or leave the plant alone to grow for a season?
Do suckers grow from this tree/shrub, or will it stay a single stem?
The 'trunk' is only about 8" tall.
Sunny Dundee

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    That's a very tiny plant so I wouldn't be doing anything drastic, now or for a while. You can certainly remove anything obviously dead just now, but nothing more. They take a few years to get to a good size. 

    I don't want to worry you. but if the leader's been taken out, that means it's more likely to just grow as a shrub, which is what they really are. If you want it as a 'tree' shape, with a main trunk, you leave them to grow and take out the lower branches back to the main stem. You can still do that, but it will take quite a few years now. 

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • robairdmacraignilrobairdmacraignil Posts: 782
    I'd remove one of the crossing branches now unless it is a very big proportion of the full plant. Without seeing the plant it is not clear how likely the crossing branches are to rub off each other and cause a wound to open up where they meet.
    I have one that did produce some suckers but once I removed these it has not produced more of them since.
    https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainableveg/videos
  • floraliesfloralies Posts: 2,718
    That is indeed a tiny plant. I planted two Amelanchier Canadensis two years ago as bare root shrubs and they were taller than yours. They are now about 4ft tall and I have not touched them apart from plenty of water in dry weather, I think you need to let them get their root systems established before you do any pruning.
  • Balgay.HillBalgay.Hill Posts: 1,089
    Thanks for the replies.
    I think i will leave well alone for now then.
    I deliberately plant things small as my garden is sheltered from most directions apart from SW gales. I prefer to grow from small rather than stake larger trees/shrubs. I let the roots grow to support the above ground growth, and it has worked well for me up to now with similar trees/shrubs.
    My thinking of going for a single stem was so i could under plant.
    If i end up with a multi stem, i assume i could still prune each stem to keep the area underneath clear?
    What i am aiming for is no foliage below around 4/5 feet as i've seen on online pics.

    Sunny Dundee
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    That's what I already described @Balgay.Hill  :)
    You'll need to let it grow first. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Balgay.HillBalgay.Hill Posts: 1,089
    Thanks for the advice. :)
    Sunny Dundee
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