Tree surgeons, gardeners....xmas tree consultants..

Bogwhoppit

I planted a xmas tree (some kind of fir) for my daughter when she was around five years old (twas about 4 inches high).  Its now 20-30ft high and I want to know if I can take the top 6 to 10 ft off without killing it. At the moment its entangled with a willow, that I also planted for my daughter - can you see the theme !

Plant for daughter, she sods of to uni and leaves me with greenery she has no bloody interest in

Photos below.

Sporky

Cut it off about a foot above the ground and post it to her at Uni?

Bogwhoppit

Sporky said:

Cut it off about a foot above the ground and post it to her at Uni?

Good Idea !   Yodel ?

Sporky

I'm more of a throat-singer, but I'll have a go.

"Yodel - Ay - EEE - Oooo"

rlw

No problem - the tree will be fine and will just get bushier.

Bogwhoppit

rlw said:

No problem - the tree will be fine and will just get bushier.

Can I trim the bush to stop it interfering with my willow ?

Yes, I have tried another way to write that down but it still comes back to more innuendo. 

rlw

You can nip off the new growth in strategic places every year and remove the obvious bits after removing the top. Do it when the weather is colder though.

Bogwhoppit

Brill, I'll do that.

I did bonsai the willow when it reached around 12 foot, but its gone ballistic again, so time for another cull this winter. I also had a monkey puzzle tree in the front that started to get slightly big despite it being in a container buried in the soil. I ended up selling that to a nursery who no doubt would have sold that for around £450. 

Yesterday I was mainly splitting and replanting Yucca plants.  I think I've reached that age where these things calm me down, prior to that, cutting the grass was my contribution to the Charlie Dimmock phenomena.

BigMonka

I seem to remember it's not recommended to take off more than a third of the height at any one time. And doing it in the cooler autumn weather when the tree is growing less is better for it as far as I know.

ennspek

That willow is lovely. My favourite trees.

Bogwhoppit

ennspek said:

That willow is lovely. My favourite trees.

When I was a child aged 7, I watched my father die. To find some peace and rationalise the situation I would disappear into the school field and sit under a willow tree for hours on end.  So I planted that tree as a shady peaceful place to sit under in the summer, and perhaps later for any grandchildren to enjoy.

My daughters are career minded, so its doubtful they will have any planned children, so these days the hedgehog house sits underneath the willow along with next doors cat - lol

Dominic

That 's very sad but quite beautiful sentiment....you must have a deep and feeling soul.

WezV

We had a willow in the garden planted by my Dad when my parents were still together. Their willow story was a memory of sneaking to the local park and doing gross things I don't want to think about. They took great delight in telling me that.

Oddly, the willow got chopped up not long after they split up.

Apologies for lowering the tone

TTony

We had tree surgeons top some of the conifers in our garden.

They'd only do it at specific times of the year to reduce the risk of killing the tree.

WezV

TTony;1139800" said:

We had tree surgeons top some of the conifers in our garden.

They'd only do it at specific times of the year to reduce the risk of killing the tree.

If only it were that easy to kill a conifer

strumjoughlamps

Bogwhoppit said:

ennspek said:

That willow is lovely. My favourite trees.

When I was a child aged 7, I watched my father die. To find some peace and rationalise the situation I would disappear into the school field and sit under a willow tree for hours on end.  So I planted that tree as a shady peaceful place to sit under in the summer, and perhaps later for any grandchildren to enjoy.

My daughters are career minded, so its doubtful they will have any planned children, so these days the hedgehog house sits underneath the willow along with next doors cat - lol

is it just me that read the bold text in a Kate Bush voice