Tilia cordata hard pruning

mrt

Sapling
Messages
32
Reaction score
3
USDA Zone
7
Hi all,
I am quite new to bonsai and I would like to start my own tree.
In my parent's garden they have a small linden tree, Tilia cordata. It is about 1.5m in height and in my opinion, it would be suitable for a bonsai as it does have a good nebari and nice trunk. However, 1.5m is of course much too high! So I planned to dig out this tree in spring, and prune it hard.
Am I correct that I can prune such a Tilia quite hard, even almost down to the trunk, and it bounces back (given it is healthy) ?
For my bonsai experiment I would prune the tree in a height of about 40cm, could that work?

Thanks for hints!
 

mrt

Sapling
Messages
32
Reaction score
3
USDA Zone
7
Hi,
I forgot to mention it even has multiple stems and is already in a pot, even though it is a quite large one.
Picture is attached. I think this tree is perhaps not ideal, but I don't want to waste too much money for my first plants, because I am unsure whether I will be successful 😅 and raising a tree from seed is not an option, it takes far too long.
I would probably cut off al stems except the thick one on the right with the moss on it.
 

Attachments

  • 20211226_151657~2.jpg
    20211226_151657~2.jpg
    307.4 KB · Views: 81

SeanS

Omono
Messages
1,227
Reaction score
3,416
Location
Johannesburg, South Africa (SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE)
USDA Zone
9b
The one on the right with the moss on it is the most uninteresting of the group. You need to clear all the soil off the top of the root ball in spring time and figure out where all those stems originate from. If they all originate from the same plane you could create a very interesting clump
 

mrt

Sapling
Messages
32
Reaction score
3
USDA Zone
7
cool thanks!
yes a clump could also be a possibility.
Am I correct that such a tree can be cut almost at the stem and will sprout again?
 

Treefer

Yamadori
Messages
75
Reaction score
53
Location
SW PA
USDA Zone
6
Be very careful with that soil. It's holding a lot of water.
 

sorce

Nonsense Rascal
Messages
32,908
Reaction score
45,579
Location
Berwyn, Il
USDA Zone
6.2
I think it could make a good planting as is.

Welcome to Crazy!

As always with a "forest" type tree('s), allow the current growth to change the differences in trunk sizes before cutting it!

Sorce
 

Orion_metalhead

Masterpiece
Messages
2,994
Reaction score
4,463
Location
Central NJ
USDA Zone
7a
Linden backbud pretty readily, but I wouldnt cut anything on this until you figure out how its structure is. I like the spring repot idea, so that you can get a look at the full structure, where the roots go, where the other trunks originate. Planted at a proper height in a decent training soil mix, you can start to better visualize the tree.

Most deciduous trees can be hard chopped btw. Linden reacts similar to elm and maples.
 

leatherback

The Treedeemer
Messages
13,937
Reaction score
26,876
Location
Northern Germany
USDA Zone
7
Linden can be chopped really short and will throw buds as long as you have not chopped below the first node on the trunk (The place where as a seedling the first leaves grew). I do not recall seeing linden throwing buds on roots. Last year I pulled a seedling from my yard, when I had it in my hands the trunk van 5 inches at the base. I trimmed the roots short, cut the trunk back to a few inches tall and plopped it in the growbed. It complained all summer, but now has 5 branches each of about 4 inches with tight internodes, perfect broom starter.

In you edit your profile, you can add your country and/or city and/or USDA climate zone, which helps people on the forum judge the best advice for your climatic conditions
 

Orion_metalhead

Masterpiece
Messages
2,994
Reaction score
4,463
Location
Central NJ
USDA Zone
7a
An example of an excellent Linden:

 
Top Bottom