Pruning a newly planted Maple

9 years ago

I have recently planted an Autumn Blaze maple in my back yard. I purchased the tree from a local nursery. It's quite tall, approximately 8'-10', but it's still very small in girth. It's just a tall, lanky sapling. I'm curious about when I should begin pruning the tree. It looks like it may have been topped as a small tree in the nursery, and as a result has branched out into three competing leaders. They are all 3 of equal size and I'm wondering if it should be pruned back to one main leader and how and when to go about that. There are also some smaller branches growing lower on the trunk. I've planted this tree in the center of my back yard, and I'm hoping that it will someday grow to be a large shade tree. I'm wanting to make sure that it grows in a healthy way with a strong structure. I'm hoping to achieve the typical "shade tree" look for the tree. The tree was dormant when I planted it, but is now fully leaved out. It seems to be healthy and the leaves are very large. I'm in northern Arkansas, and I believe that is zone 7. I'd greatly appreciate any advice on when I should begin pruning this tree and how much at a time do you take off when pruning?

Thanks,

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Comments (4)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
9 years ago
I've attached a link you need to read carefully :-)) Maples do NOT develop a central leader - it is a type of growth habit with trees described as "decurrent" and is common to a lot of shade trees. So you are wasting your time trying to encourage a leader and it can very well be counterproductive to the long term health and safety of the tree.

The cutting back at the growing nursery is not necessarily a bad thing. Hard to say for sure without seeing the tree but may just be the start of the proper structural training these types of trees need while still young.

This is one of the best summaries I've seen for this type of training/pruning but you may still have questions after reading and absorbing. Come back and ask more :-))

Here is a link that might be useful: structural training for young shade trees
Mjagg
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi, and thanks for the link. It is proving to be very informative. I do have a question...it says on decurrent trees, you should maintain a single dominant trunk to at least 2/3rds of the trees mature height. My tree forks off at the very top into 2 branches that are of equal size. It looks as if it were topped at some point and then just grew into a forked shape. Neither one appears to be more dominant than the other. Also, about 2 inches below the top, another branch has grown out and it is also of equal size and length to the forked top. Basically, the tree appears to have a triple forked top. What I'm confused about, is if I should remove any of these. If so, when should I do it? Should I do it during this growing season? Should I let the tree grow for a year and then start pruning it? Do you prune in the spring? Summer? Fall? Also, though the tree appears to be healthy, it is oddly shaped. There are a few lower branches that have fully leaved out with large leaves. The 3 forked top, is starting to leave out but is mainly just starting to grow some new, smaller leaves.

Thanks again for any advice, and please forgive my ignorance on the topic.

MJ
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
9 years ago
No apologies necessary - these are good questions if you are new to this business!

It is hard to know exactly what to tell you not seeing the tree itself, but this tree is only about 1/5 its mature size so the forking branch is perhaps too low to begin the structural development. I don't necessarily think one has to be 100% adherent to the 2/3'ds rule but forking somewhere less than 8-10' is maybe too low. So one of these limbs needs to be removed (I'd leave the one that's popping out somewhat lower, too). I'm not sure I'd very concerned about an uneven appearance, either. We get in our heads that plants should grow according to OUR expectations when their growth is influenced by all sorts of outside factors beyond our (or their) control. Few plants grow in a perfect circle :-))

Ideally, any deciduous tree is best pruned when dormant or in winter when it is out of leaf. Barring that, you can do some pruning in summer as well, removing at most only 25% of the canopy. I'd want to accomplish that before the end of July. Pruning stimulates new growth and whatever growth this activity produces needs time to ripen and harden off before winter.
CEFreeman
9 years ago
I just wanted to say that I planted several Autumn Blaze and October Glory maples probably in 2004. They were from Lowe's, and unfortunately at that time, I didn't know about taking care of the roots But that's another story and I just cross my fingers.

These trees are very nicely paced growers. I think they're some of the most lovely of my 'regular' red maple type collection. I think you'll love this tree. I'd let it get comfortable in the ground before you start attacking the top, though. Patience is a good thing when dealing with trees!