Hi there: Question about pruning: We have a sprawling Acer palmatum--nothing exotic--that has thoroughly outgrown its little flower bed (previous owner). In short, it impedes use of the patio, traffic, view of the backyard, etc. etc. etc. It is about 15' high and about 15' across the canopy. The choices are A) cut it down or B) severely prune it back. My question is, if it is pruned back (when it's dormant I assume) over 1? or 2? seasons down to some 4' crotches, will it survive and sprout leaves and branches closer to the base or will this kill it? Thank very much
Yes, good question, and I have the same one. Some of the trees I brought back in a bag on a plane from Oregon as rooted cuttings are now 20 feet tall, and they are tending to "hollow out"--the outer shell of leaves shades out all of the internal growth. The trees no longer block what I want them to block, and they are shading parts of the garden I'd rather have in sun. I should have cut them back successively over the years, of course. But I didn't. I've never cut back a healthy tree this hard, but a few have died back fairly severely, and they seem to recover. I bet that if I cut back my 20-footers to 4 or 6 feet, they would come back nicely and could be reshaped into good trees. But I'd love to hear from someone who has actually tried this. Thanks--
I have been through several nurseries and I have seen specatular specimens cut down and turned into firewood due to the fact that they are in the way. Once the tree is gone you can always put in a new beauty where as if you chop and hack to fit the location you will spend years looking at a chopped and hacked on tree. There are so many wonderful new japanese maple trees to put in.
