Prunus Amonagawa pruning
Phil63
Posts: 3
I bought this Amanogawa potted and over 15ft tall, so not cheap. I could see this problem straight away and after 2 years it's no better. The lower 8ft is nicely formed with evenly spaced blossom. But then there's two very tall branches going straight up vertically. There's a little bit of blossom right at the top but it comes out much later presumably because the root system isnt able to pump nutrient 15-18ft up. So there's a gap from about 8ft to 12-14ft with no buds at all. I am wondering if I should just lop off those two tall growing branches, but I'd have to cut them at about 8ft above ground which presumably wouldn't look great.
i suspect the nursery somehow forced it so they could get a higher price because the pot wasn't really big enough for a 15-18ft tree.
any advice as to if/how I could deal with it, or should I just leave it yo sort itself out. Tree width is no more than 3ft even at the very top.
Posts
Amanogowa should be columnar. It will not spread over a wide area. Do you have a photo?
I'm not an expert on formative pruning, but I'm pretty confident that lopping off the main branches (leaders) is not the way to go. Please don't take this as gospel as I'm not an expert, but I would have thought reducing the length of the leader on the left, and 'cleaning up' the leader on the right (removing or shortening the side forks of the branch, leaving the best one alone) would be more appropriate. Be cautious about it. Prune to a side branch or right back to the main stem, don't leave 'stubs'.
Alternatively if you left it alone it would probably eventually develop into a tree with a unique character, albeit not the most balanced. It's probably better to go that route than prune it incorrectly if you're unsure.
Last edited: 10 April 2017 11:21:16
Personally I would have preferred to buy a smaller tree with a nice balanced form, than a tall one that was irregular.
Is it thirsty? It's planted right in the rain-shadow of that fence and is very close to a large evergreen tree. We've had a very dry six months - I'd give the poor thing several buckets full of water every week for the next couple of months at least and see if it makes better growth.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Overall I think I'll leave it be. I read so many warnings about pruning cherry trees. good idea about watering, though I think the time gap between bottom and top (top will be a mass of bloom when bottom op has gone!) is dipped to the nursery who shoukd have potted it on into a very big pot before it got that tall. Thanks all...
I think I would leave it as well. I probably wouldn't buy one shaped like that, but being a mean git, I usually buy small plants and grow on. The outside lower bits will hopefully grow up and cover the gap as it grows. I am surprised that the top is flowering later than the bottom. If they are the same type of flowers , it may correct itself. If they are different, it may be the top is coming from the rootstock, and the lower bit from the grafted on bit. If that is the case, I would complain to the supplier.