Nursery Tree

[wesearchwefind]

Hey Everyone,

Beginner looking for some advice....

Found a cool looking river birch at home depot. It was about 8 feet tall and I cut about 4 fee off. If I like the size of the trunk the way it is, do you think it is okay to cut the tree back to the height I would eventually like it to be (about 6-8 inches tall) or should I wait until spring to cut it back? I don't plan on putting it in a pot for at least a year and was just wondering if chopping it back in the nursery pot would harm it.

thanks!!

 

[Colorado Slim]

Can you post a pic to show what you're planning? You will probably want to wait and let the tree recover some from the initial 4 feet you took off before you take another 3... Let it grow some branches back out, perhaps it will even put one out somewhere at that 8-10 inch mark which you can eventually cut back to and make it the new leader to give the taper needed for a formal or informal upright...

I have a river birch I will be doing extensive work on starting next spring, multiple extensive chops, rootwork and carving. River birch do not backbud easily, so I would highly recommend you allow some time between major operations on the tree, let it recover some and show you where it is willing to put out new growth... you can't force a tree to become something you want, but you can bend a branch to incline it in a direction you'd prefer...