Trunk Chop Nursery Bought Ilex Schilling/Yaupon Holly

I purchased this at the beginning of the year. I've never worked on one of these before and found out very quickly how easy old branches snap. No biggy. I did a little pruning and just wasn't very happy with the end result. It was long and leggy. Plus there was reverse taper in one of the trunks. So I set it aside until today. This tree has a 4 1/2"+ base. Today, I reduced it drastically. I'm fairly happy with how it looks now. But I'm deciding on the second trunk. It is blocking a nice inside curve. I think if I removed it, the tree would have better movement at the base.

Should it stay or should it go?

There was also a lot of moss on the trunk. I'll dilute some vinegar and clean that up. There's a nice base under there that's hiding.

Haoleboy said:

stay

Click to expand...

It ain't hurting nothing now...

What does the flip side look like?
Less scars?

I see the movement in the main trunk you are looking to get more out of....

But that trunk is so movy in its own...

I think it's a good height and size to keep for now.

Sorce

Flip side has a scar too. It has years to recover. But that's ok. I paid $15 for it. Just going to let it grow out for a couple years and give it some recovery time. My understanding, as long as the branches aren't cut, they remain flexible. But I'll keep an eye on it and wire any branches I intend to keep when necessary.

I'd be thrilled to have this in my yard as it is. I wouldn't lose the little trunk; it has great movement and adds character to and sets it apart from what would otherwise be a nice, but standard "zig zag" informal upright trunk.