I have 2 also, probably slightly shorter than yours. When they were small they decided to spread out sideways instead of up. I put in a tall stake beside each one and tied their branches to it. They put out a few flowers, first time. Now they'll stay like that for another year or so before I untie them to see if they're going to keep going upwards instead of spreading. I'm optimistic about it, but will see.

Hey, good question. I am training one too. They are exceedingly rapid growers, and a bit brittle. I have learned that it is a bad idea to push them too much with fertilizer when they are growing their central leader. Makes too much leaf growth and they are prone to snapping in wind. I've had mine shoot up to 15' tall twice and each time get snapped off about 5' above the ground in big wind storms.

Here is was, being trained up a bamboo stake:

And after big windstorm:

The second time it happened, it was because the lowest branch tore away from the trunk, and took 3/4 of the trunk with it.

So for my next go around, here's what I am trying. I trimmed it back to single stick that is 4' tall, making a clean cut beneath the tear. I waited for a handful of sprouts to form, then I selected the strongest one to train as the central leader, and culled all the rest. For that one, I am not pushing with fertilizer so it will grow more slowly, and hopefully be stronger. I am pruning off the largest side branches, choosing to keep only those that will not threaten to become larger than the trunk. I am also thinning the number of side branches, so there isn't so much "sail" surface to knock the tree over in a wind storm.

Anyone have any input on if this is a good strategy? My last two strategies have clearly not worked...

I buy rebar at the box stores and stake my trees in training with that. Tie them tight with the green gardening tape, just make sure to check it every few months to be sure the tape isn't cutting in the bark. You can even bend a side branch up to be the leader--- carefully-- then tie it. After the tree is grown you won't really see the knot in the trunk. Hope this helps. :o) Don't trim off side branches more then a third at a time, but once it's cleaned off keep it clean, don't allow any suckers.

Clearly the fewer branches and leaves the less likely it is to be blown over by storms. However, the leaves do encourage more root growth, so one doesn't want to trim too much.

My impression is that some fertilizer will make the plant stronger, as long as it is the right type. I have a liquid that is designed to encourage root growth. I use that and some other ingredients that don't have a whole lot of nitrogen in them the first few years.

I have an orchid tree that is perhaps forty feet high. Right now it look great--lush and green. It loses most of its leaves in the spring while it is flowering and then gradually they grow back. August and September is when they have the most leaves--not the best times because of the storms.

This tree seems to drop lower branches all the time. It's messy in that way, but the fragrant flowers are sure worth it.

Thanks for the great input. Tom, what kind of fertilizer are you using for encouraging root growth? Is it high in P? What other ingredients are you using?

I agree - the flowers are worth the trouble on this tree!

I have 2 hong cong orchid tree's, have never staked them, but I do constantly shape with prunning, they are meant to spread in an exoic oreintal fashion. You only fertilize these tree's in mid to late Sept.with any acid loving plant/tree food, I get beautiful fragrant flowers all winter long into spring. You can see one tree on pic. there is another one a little taller flanking the Oak tree on the other side.

That's a beautifully shaped tree! Interesting that the main trunk is so short, almost like a fruit tree. I want my tree to have a similar form, but for the first branches to occur at 8 or 10' off the ground rather than what looks like about 5' in your tree. So I'm wanting to minimize my tree's leaf load so it can establish a good strong primary trunk, once the trunk is nice and strong, I'll let it start getting more branches.

What guidelines do you follow when pruning for this shape? Did you select scaffold branches the way you would for a fruit tree?

I simply cut the long straglers, and have a few on my other tree which is larger, and most are up on top, these are branches, mostly bare except for on the ends, I just prune anytime works for me and my tree's, they are still young and so not that high but just wait these tree's will get 40' high and 40' wide., 30 years ago had one at a previous house it was 30+' high and very wide. Most tree's or plants you prune at top, you get growth on bottom or spread, prune at bottom and you get growth spurt.

Thanks Susie - very helpful advise!

Have 30' tall with lots of trunks. Husband hates the tree. He is going to massacre it ...probably today. How can I get him to do the least amount of damagr

Here we are in the discussion of fertilizers again. I am not a horticulturalist and so what I do is look for research from those who are. Here is what I think is an excellent article from the University of Clemson. Here is one quote from the article:" For newly planted shrubs and trees, or in areas where the potential for
runoff is very high, such as slopes or compacted soil, slow-release
fertilizers are a good choice. Since the nutrients are released slowly,
the potential for fertilizer damage ("burning") and water contamination
is less."

Here is another quote: "Fertilizer applications in the early years of established, transplanted
trees and shrubs can speed up top growth and help young trees fill their
allotted space in the landscape. Slow-release fertilizers are
well-suited for recently planted trees and shrubs."

What most articles say is that the best thing to do is to have a soil test done before one starts fertilizing. Makes sense to me and I had that done many years ago--unfortunately I can't remember the results now. In Florida much of our soil is simply sand with a thin layer of top soil. Most plants do well, however, since we do tend to get a lot of beneficial rain and sun. Still, I believe that if one finds a fertilizer that fits the soil and the plant or tree that one is growing it will be beneficial at pretty much any stage of growth. Clearly, putting non-organic fertilizer directly against the roots of a newly-planted tree is not the thing to do. However, using the right fertilizer, which usually means organic and/or slow-release fertilizers, in the right places near the plant should be beneficial to the plant or tree.

That said, it is probably best to either not fertilize or fertilize very little as compared to over-fertilizing which can be destructive.

Here's my 2 tree's planted now about 10+yrs. and were about 5' high at planting by a nursery. I prune stragglers constantly as far as height the nursery has one never pruned and may be 50+ yrs. old at least 30+' maybe 40" tall but still huge full not the tallest of trunks the canopy comes down quite far, The nature of this tree is to be Oriental in design sort of reminds me of Bonsai tree
in sculpture, you get what you get! my neighbor had one he finally pruned the bottom, now it looks like a tree before it was more of a big bush. If you look at my previous pic. the tree looks taller because it's only got it's leaves, on photo below they now are full of heavy orchids the then they really droop way down, at times almost to the ground.

They bloom in winter here in FL. and right before they start in mid Sept. is the time to feed them with acid loving fertilizer.

Very pretty trees, aputernut. Whatever you are doing seems to be working. Do you know if your trees are Hong Kong Orchid trees or just Orchid trees. I believe the correct name for the Hong Kong Orchid tree is Bauhinia X blakeana. The Orchid Tree, which is a bit more common here in Florida, and the one that I have, is called

Bauhinia variegata. The variegata gets lots of seed pods, whereas the blakeana is sterile, I believe.

Tom123, very briefly stated, job # 1 for a newly-transplanted tree or shrub is to regenerate a root system, up to 90% of the original one having been left behind in the nursery row. This because above all, the plant needs to secure enough moisture to do everything else it needs to do. There is no higher priority. This is why we-professional and certified arborists, horticulturists, etc. -have come around to the belief that no fertilizer in the early stages is best practice. Boosting top growth of a newly-transplanted tree simply increases water demand, at the very time it is least able to provide it.

Then there's the soil test paradigm. How much nitrogen (per thousand square feet? Per acre? Per inch of trunk diameter?) does say, a Chinese orchid tree require? The answer is simple-nobody has a clue! Corn? Sure, that has been worked out in astonishing detail. Soybeans? Same deal. Even turf grasses are well pinned down. But for the vast majority of landscape plants, it's a total crapshoot. What's more, nitrogen-the most important mineral nutrient-is never measured in any but the most advanced of soil tests. Read never-it's unstable in the soil profile, so nobody ever measures for it.

I'm not saying a bit of especially as you say, a slow-release material is going to be the end of landscaping as we know it. I'm just saying, it's totally fishing in the dark.

+oM

I get no seed pods so they are the blakeana, the orchids while lovely and fragrant make enough of a mess.. no need for seed pods dropping also.

Hi, everyone!

Thanks to all who posted on this thread. I have two White Orchid-Trees Bauhinia aculeata that I started from seed in 2013. With the past mild winters, they have done very well and are starting to look like little trees! (Who would have thought?! In Jacksonville?!!) They just started to leaf out yesterday - saw the very first hints of green peaking out along those long brown stems. Looking into best way to prune them - it will be for the first time - and this thread was extremely helpful.

How are your orchid trees doing?

Carol in Jacksonville

I have a Hong Kong orchid tree. I got it a few years ago when it was about 2 ft tall. I planted it and it grew side shoots. I did not prune it so now it is going to look like a bush. It it now about 4 ft. tall. I want to grow it as a single trunk tree. Is it too late to prune it and try to train it to grow like a single trunk tree?