How much trunk chop can a healthy larch take?

[The Warm Canuck]

I just picked this up from a nursery last week. I've been doing some work to it and want to cut it down even more than I have. I've got roughly 1/3 of the root ball off and split potted into a grow bag. I;ve already taken cut about half the tree down but I still think it's too tall. I want to cut it even lower wiring up a new leader: I'm always cautious with Larches because I;m not sure how to treat them more like decidous or more like coniferous.

 

[TomB]

I've cut larches all the way down to the lowest branches. Just make sure you leave visible live buds.

 

[The Warm Canuck]

I've cut larches all the way down to the lowest branches. Just make sure you leave visible live buds.

Thank you sir!

 

[August44]

I've seen hwy crews with the big, extendable arm cutting machines alongside a tractor whack off larch along roads and then they go a bit crazy growing new branches down low.

 

[TomB]

I've cut larches all the way down to the lowest branches. Just make sure you leave visible live buds.

I cut the main trunk of this one just above the bottom left branch. I actually did a stage-wise removal of the trunk to speed up callusing of the wound and push resources to the developing roots, as you can see in the picture below. I cut it off fully a few months later once I was sure the tree was healthy. I reduced the roots at the same time as the initial pruning.




This is it now (5 years from the initial material)

 

[Potawatomi13]

Considering boring straight trunk would cut back to lowest main wireable branch and make new interesting trunk line. Tree should survive if not manhandled same time as repotting.

 

[The Warm Canuck]

View attachment 482261

I cut the main trunk of this one just above the bottom left branch. I actually did a stage-wise removal of the trunk to speed up callusing of the wound and push resources to the developing roots, as you can see in the picture below. I cut it off fully a few months later once I was sure the tree was healthy. I reduced the roots at the same time as the initial pruning.

View attachment 482262


This is it now (5 years from the initial material)

View attachment 482263

Nice tree!

Considering boring straight trunk would cut back to lowest main wireable branch and make new interesting trunk line. Tree should survive if not manhandled same time as repotting.

Sorry, you'd cut I'd down to one of the lowest branches?

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

Do Larch air layer well based on your experiences? Hate to see the top go to waste…

 

[The Warm Canuck]

Do Larch air layer well based on your experiences? Hate to see the top go to waste…

Hmmm that's an interesting idea. Apparrntly, Nick Lenz says when the buds are swelling, its the perfect to air layer.

 

[JeffS73]

Only one anecdotal report to compare, I ground layered a L.Kaempferi, 5-10yrs old to very good effect.

 

[The Warm Canuck]

Well I did it, we'll see how it goes! I still need to make somekind of lid for the pot, for better moisture retention.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Nice! BallZ move.
I believe @mattspinniken has successfully layered larch as well.
Eager to see how it goes as I have one I’d definitely like to layer.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Sorry, you'd cut I'd down to one of the lowest branches?

Indeed. Elimination of as much straight trunk as possible much needed for interesting tree.

 

[Dogestoevsky]

Took my first air layer on a tamarack this year! Impressed with how quickly it put out roots — less than 2 months.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Took my first air layer on a tamarack this year! Impressed with how quickly it put out roots — less than 2 months.

That’s great news!
Did you happen to Take any pics of your process?
I’ll take any tips

 

[Dogestoevsky]

Ah unfortunately no pics, but I will take a couple of the results when I separate in a week or two. Originally it was going to be a trunk chop on some nursery stock, but the rest of the tree had a ton of vigor and interesting design options.

Followed the standard procedure for an air layer, created a wide girdle and scraped the cambium off vigorously down to a core of heartwood. I painted on some rooting hormone, packed it in wet sphagnum, and sealed it in a flat, circular takeout container. Really pleased with the pace, thought larch would take longer.

Will update soon

 

[Dogestoevsky]

By the way, here’s that air layer! A bit bummed it turned out to be one sided, perhaps I didn’t scrape hard enough or the time frame just wasn’t long enough. I don’t have winter storage so I wanted to give it time to establish in a pot. Beautiful color on these!

 

[AshleyMammal]

View attachment 482263

Sorry to hijack the thread, but this is ace

 

[Javaman4373]

I am interested in the air layer of larch discussed in this thread. I have a tamarack that is 48 inches tall that has two main side branches. I have considered chopping off the top half to have a more manageable tree. I wasn't enthusiastic about doing an air layer, because I tried a few on branches of large tamaracks in our land scape and they failed. However, if I could air layer the top half I could change the angle and end up with something like this from a Chan bonsai book (larch/chan). The second image shows my larch. If I had confidence in the air layer, I would like to get two trees from this one. If the air layer failed, then I would still have a shorter tree with a dead wood trunk that would need some carving. What do you folks think?

 

[August44]

Show us with a red line where you want to air layer PLS.