Trees topped :((

[Chiara]

My fantastic Polish builder has done such a great job on our house that I trusted him wholly when he recommended a supposed qualified aborist to crop a bit of height off our gorgeous cherry plum trees. Unfortunately it would seem he had no idea what he was doing as I came home to x2 completely butchered trees - every single leaf bearing branch removed. I am completely and utterly devastated

What do you recommend I do??

Do I keep them and wait for them to grow back??

Does anyone know how long this will take?!

Will we see any green this summer??

And will they ever blossom again??

How quickly might they grow back??

I'm not sure how long I can stand seeing the depressing stumps for that long...

Would be great to hear any advice or recommendations that might help us through this dreadful situation.

Thanks so much.

[Paul Barton]

Sir. I was not aware that my remark was directed towards the enquirer. No offence was intended to any parties by my jovial remark neither was there any offence taken at your misinterpretation. Indeed there is a wealth of vocabulary that can be used to describe many things, my choice of word used (deliberately misspelt) is valid for the condition of the trees in question. Agreed there is also more than one course of action that can be taken.

In my professional opinion. The trees in question appear to have been pruned in a harsh manner not in accordance with any recommended pruning technique. They may shoot vigorously over the next few years but I believe the enquirer views them now as an eyesore? You could plant a good standard and have 5 years much better growth with less outlay.

 

Wrong I'm afraid! See the forum rules:

 

2. Posts may not contain unnecessary profanity, be sexually explicit, or be in such poor taste as to offend even a truck driver. Automatic censoring will pick up the most offensive swear words and replace them with asterisks. You, however, are not allowed to space out swear words, replace one character in a swear word with an asterisk, or use any alternative spelling to avoid the auto-censor.

[Chiara]

Hi all, thanks so much for all the input and recommendations.

I've literally been obsessed with trees since they were butchered and have seen examples of what they will likely grow back like - not very nice at all, and very sad looking

The tree is actually Cherry Plum and I've heard from someone else that it stands a 90% chance of catching Silver Leaf disease which if the case they would need to be removed over the summer anyway as they will die completely...

Going to review all your comments with my hubby tonight and make a final decision this week. Will keep you posted!

In the meantime if there are any other thoughts that will help us make our decision, keep them coming!

[Chiara]

One other question, if we were to take them down and grind the stump - can we replace with two new tress in the same location? (If we clear the wood chip?)

Many thanks

[geoff]

As long as the stumps are ground out right through then yes you can replace in the same location, the chips will make a nice top dressing after planting too.

[Goaty]

Sir. I was not aware that my remark was directed towards the enquirer. No offence was intended to any parties by my jovial remark neither was there any offence taken at your misinterpretation. Indeed there is a wealth of vocabulary that can be used to describe many things, my choice of word used (deliberately misspelt) is valid for the condition of the trees in question. Agreed there is also more than one course of action that can be taken.

 

In my professional opinion. The trees in question appear to have been pruned in a harsh manner not in accordance with any recommended pruning technique. They may shoot vigorously over the next few years but I believe the enquirer views them now as an eyesore? You could plant a good standard and have 5 years much better growth with less outlay.

 

 

I'm not a teacher, but I will move you to the top of the class with that essay.

 

A+

I did realise you where not aiming comments at original enquirer. It was just how it all read, it sounds different when you hear it in person.

Peace.

[NFG]

Hi,

 

Im sorry to hear of the rather amateurish attempt to reduce your cherished trees, Im not a professional, but have a significant amount of trees on our property, about 30 Plum, perhaps 10 cherry along with numerous Ash & others.

 

Ive read through some of the replies which mainly advocate removal & replacement which is all very well but will take considerable time & expense depending how much you are prepared to undertake yourselves.

 

My initial thoughts were to plant a single tree to replace the two, because theres a likely hood (certainty?) the two will get silver leaf. A single tree located centrally away from your boundary may be better because if I remember UK law, a neighbour can remove anything that over hangs their land? correct me if thats wrong - so could cause friction at some point in future.

 

However I have a slightly mad plan, however if you dont try you dont know if, (& it is a big if) you may succeed!

 

So here goes & anyone wishing to dam this please do:

 

1. Paint all the wounds with Arbrex - I know this is the stuff of Satan but....

 

2. Wait until the correct desired time for pruning

 

3. Remove another 50cm or so

 

4. Wait & hope

 

Or something like that? If it dosnt work, then yes fell & stump grind but at least you've tried something - Im prepared to be dammed for suggesting this but it may just work if there are a few supporting suggestions, perhaps at step 3 removing just half one year then half the year after, Im not sure.

 

best wishes et bon courage!

 

 

N

[CJM]

Let them grow back for a year or two then reduce and then thin out the reaction growth. You'll get good results by doing this. Eventually you'll have a tree that's actually been reduced. The tree isn't knackered. Even if you reduced this tree properly the first time these trees will produce a mass of reaction growth. Bide your time the get it reduced next year by a professional. Everything will be fine

Just from looking at the pictures those trees seem rather large for that area. With the 'pruning' I'll use that term loosely other parts of your garden will benefit from the extra light, also your neighbours gardens will benefit from the extra sunlight. Just trying to get some positives out of your bad situation

[agg221]

I will take a pic tomorrow of next doors topped cherry that us nearly 5 yrs growth, it looks nothing like a tree and neither will those no matter how you play about with them.

 

What you should do is get a pro in fell grind and re plant with some extra heavy standards (approx £100 each ) and get the builder to pay or take it out of money you owe him.

 

Those trees have been ruined so why should the customer "make do" and pay for extra work.

 

I take all your points, but:

 

Topping and leaving, which is the norm, results in a very different form to topping and formative pruning. The only place I have ever seen (and done) the latter is in fruit trees, which are usually artificially maintained at a lower height than they would naturally form, and have on occasion been literally topped, to bring them down to a different height to change the picking method. With appropriate management, the head can be re-formed to a natural appearance, granted at a cost and requiring a good eye. I also fully accept that this is not normal practice in arboriculture, but P.cerasifera responds in similar fashion to P.domestica so there is no reason it couldn't be done that I can see, however unconventional it may be.

 

I had a quick look at P.cerasifera Nigra on Barchams. They supply at £164 inc. VAT for medium (3-4m). These would then need double staking and ties. It depends on where you needed delivery to, but this would add between £50 and £150 in their local region. All-in, the costs for trees, sundries and delivery could be pushing £500. Add the costs of felling, removal and grinding, together with the cost of planting and I would guess you are pushing £800-£1000 all in.

 

It would be great if the builder felt that they were liable for this, but if they don't I'm not sure there is much you could do about it. There is unlikely to be a written specification and, although it is clearly not compliant with best practice or any BS, they have clearly 'pruned the trees' so it could be a long, hard road to get any financial recompense and I wouldn't want to count on it, particularly a figure in line with the above which is likely to lie well above a goodwill gesture.

 

As such, whilst I agree that the OP should not have to 'make do', sadly they may have to.

 

With regard to the silverleaf question - yes it's a risk, but not as high as you may fear. Silverleaf is fungal and causes silvering of the leaves as its most visible sign. Severe stress can result in a physiological condition known as 'false silver leaf' which has the same visible effect. To check which, cut off an apparently infected but sacrificial branch and if it has a purple stain up the middle it's silverleaf or (much easier in your case) wait and see if the affected branches die or the tree recovers.

 

Alec

[Pinkfoot]

Provided these trees are "cherry plum " , then they are tough and will be fine and regrow .

As others have said , leave them for now and see what they do.

Replanting may give you problems with soil deficiency from a plant already having used that area.

[jaime bray]

One other thing to consider, those trees; through the removal of such a significant mass of wood and therefore foliage producing buds, will consequently have lost a large source of stored carbohydrates and other beneficial nutrients and minerals stored in the wood. Additionally through the loss of the buds, the tree will have lost a lot of potential energy through lack of foliage in spring and summer this year.

 

Your trees will subsequently over the next few years look to address this loss, with the vast amount of regrowth you will find occurring the tree will begin to establish a balance of the root and shoot equilibrium. This will allow the tree to replenish it's energy reserves.

 

This will assist the tree over the forth coming 5-8 years in defending against ill health, by removing any of the new growth over the next two to four years you risk putting the tree under further adverse stresses. I would say upon reflection of my earlier post, and the advice of others, you either leave them, and live life with them, untouched for several years,or bite the bullet and replant.