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Old 15-Feb-2006   #6
Carl_Bergstrom
Old Mister Crow
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Join Date: May-2002
Location: Seattle, WA.
Country: USA
Posts: 3,197
Quote:
Originally Posted by badlad52
If it had 8-10 branches grow to three feet in one season, it is obviously well (re)established. Any risk to the tree is going to be very minimal.


I guess I'd want to see the tree first hand before proclaiming this with the sort of the certainty that you have.

Sure, it may survive the chop just fine. But a tree needs to do more than just survive after a chop - it needs a vigorous and active root system all the way around to push buds through the entire circumference of the tree. It needs to respond and grow actively and rapidly to aggressively heal over the large wound. Doing two chops two years in a row reduces the tree's ability to do this well. Yes, of course it depends on how well you take care of it --- but no matter how well you take care of it, the tree is not going to be at all full vigor the year after a trunk chop, and so you'll improve your odds and get a more vigorous response if you wait another year.

If anyone has any firsthand experience to the contrary with Japanese maple, please let me know.

Best regards,
Carl
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