hi, i'm new at pruning, and looking for book/online resources for pruning and shaping jpm. would a good bonsai book give advice that applies directly to fullsize jpm? a mailorder co.(of repute) sent a 5 1/2' red linearilobom with co dominant trunks 7" up from the ground. taking one trunk would leave a long bare side on the remaining one--any ideas? are codominants ok on lnrlbms? should i have sent it back? thanks, debviolet
Most JMs don't have a central leader, so I would leave it alone. Multiple trunks are common with JMs.
If the angle between the 2 leaders is tight, you can pull them apart and train the tree into a better V shape, but I wouldn't cut off half the tree. Be careful not to pull too hard or you could split the tree in 2.
You could try a version of what is shown below. Someone asked me to do pruning, and the crape mytles installed with the landscaping had many weak unions. I cropped the one image, but it had more hose, wire and weakness than what you see. I used 1/16" cable and ferrules to brace one side to the other. Several braces per Crape Myrtle: two plants about 6' tall. Just predrilled the smallest hole that the cable would slip through.
That is quite interesting M.D. Vaden! Does the small hole created bother the tree? Do you need to use stainless wire? Also is it permanent to where the trunk will eventually grow around the cable and ferrules?
In some ways the type of tree tells you what to do. many lineariloblom are taller trees so branches at the 5' level may not be so important since the tree will grow more than double that height. Japanese maples are amazing in their ablity to come back from some of the worst prune jobs or lack of prune jobs. I have attached photos of two japanese maples which came from an abanded japanese garden. the lineariloblom in the one photo had vertually no leaves in the middle and by pruning the top it now has filled in and does have new growth on the long trunk (which I remove).You can do whatevery you like and your tree will turn out great, if you take the time to grow it into what you like.
When you try to force a stereotypic idea onto a tree you may end up merely destroying the specimen. Especially if the specimen is not young and small. There are multiple books just on pruning of garden plants, with encyclopedia sections where the successful handling of specific kinds is discussed.
