Leggy Rowan

[JBLC]

Hello, first post here so hopefully I've put it in the right place.

I bought and planted this Rowan tree in late September last year. It was from a garden centre and has spent too long in a small pot so it's very tall and thin and the branches all seem to be too thin. None of it seems able to support it's own weight with the main part of the tree leaning over to one side and the branches seem to sag down a bit.

It seems healthy enough and new buds & leaves are being produced.

Does it need to be pruned? If so where please?

Thanks 

[nepia]

I wouldn't touch it with anything sharp; leave it.  The roots and stem will strengthen themselves as long as the staking allows a little movement; flexing is crucial to strengthening.

 

That is a seriously wispy specimen though; presumably you got it on the reduced?!

[sime42]

I'd say that the ties are a little high up. Isn't the rule that young trees should be stacked at up to a third of their height? To allow adequate flexing of the trunk to ensure strengthening and supporting root development.

[JBLC]

5 hours ago, nepia said:

I wouldn't touch it with anything sharp; leave it.  The roots and stem will strengthen themselves as long as the staking allows a little movement; flexing is crucial to strengthening.

 

That is a seriously wispy specimen though; presumably you got it on the reduced?!

Unfortunately not, I didn't know any better at the time!

[JBLC]

5 hours ago, sime42 said:

I'd say that the ties are a little high up. Isn't the rule that young trees should be stacked at up to a third of their height? To allow adequate flexing of the trunk to ensure strengthening and supporting root development.

Do you think I should remove the top one then? It's in a very windy location.

[sime42]

Not quite. It's tricky to know what to do but I suggest moving the top one down until it's halfway between the bottom one and its current location. (That looks to be about 1/3 of the height). Then tie it on loosely, or with something stretchy, so there's some give, to hopefully avoid the trunk snapping at that point in strong wind. Also, remove the lower tie as I don't think it's doing much.

[shillo]

I am finding that a lot of trees supplied lately look like this. Horrible leggy things that can easily snap off at the tie point. i have had honey locust, hawthorns and oak

[daltontrees]

I have a young rowan in my front garden, it is growing really vigorously and I have been watching it and pruning it to create a wide rather than tall crown, and so far it is working. In late spring one of the rising side branches extended quite a lot and during a few days of heavy rain so it became bent under the weight of water and has now 'set' like that.

Yours is likely to have that curved top all its life. Yours also looks to have a tuft of lower branches, nothing in the middle and not a lot on the top. The scope for pruning looks limited, don't want to lose too much foliage.

If it were me I would shorten the leader right away, ideally back to an upward facing twig (1) and let it consolidate like that till next summer. This will encourage budding at midheight. Then next year identify the next best upward (2) and cut just past it.

That's my direct experience, once rowan has extended and then converted new growth to wood it is set and won't just spring up after pruning or self-correct.

Tree maybe could do with a liquid feed, right after pruning would be ideal. I'd leave the ties, it is more important to achieve vertical first, then lower the ties in a couple of years to encourage stem thickening.

[Stubby]

I don't know A from a bulls arse compared to the other guys but , my instinct tells me nip out that whippy leader down to just above the lower growth where the trunk is thicker . Scrape away the gravel  from the root area so they can breath , maybe put a mulch on . I know it effectively halves the height but it might thicken it up a tad .

[Mesterh]

You could get a decent pole and tie it up to straighten it up. Imo if you start pruning it it will end up being a more of a brushy shrub than a tree. 

 

[Dan Maynard]

22 hours ago, Mesterh said:

You could get a decent pole and tie it up to straighten it up. Imo if you start pruning it it will end up being a more of a brushy shrub than a tree. 

 

I was wondering about tying it to straighten, sure I've seen it in my pruning book.