Sometimes we come across a situation where we have the wrong tree in the wrong place, but instead of remove it, we come up with a compromise. We have a client in Davidson who is required by the HOA of her condominiums to keep all vegetation below the deck level of the units above hers.
Here, you can see Jeff in the crown of a beautiful Japanese Maple.
He is about to bring the height of the Japanese Maple down to a prescribed height. What he is doing is not topping indiscriminately, he is cutting limbs back to nodes, or areas where new shoots are likely to sprout out.
While it may look severe, we have enabled our clients to keep their tree, and keep within HOA regulations. Our client is on a two year pruning cycle, and is utilizing plant growth regulators to reduce rapid shoot development.
In total, we took off about 2-3 feet in height, and left the spread if the tree, trying to attain a "Savannah" type crown to develop. In the early summer, we are going back to apply plant growth regulators to the tree, and will update this page on how they react to this pruning. Be sure to check back!
