Direction for Podocarpus

I have done some initial styling and have been studying the tree..I would welcome advice and any future styling direction...Thanks!

Tom

Hi Tom

You are heading towards a broom style, which will suit the shape of your tree.

What you need to consider is whether you have wired it enough, especially where you have leafy lengths that are quite straight.

These trees are difficult to wire as they are delicate, especially near the leaf tips. But if you apply wire in a loose coil around the shoots and gently bend the wire to move the shoots you can get quite good movement without breaking anything.

I would wire the shoots and also get a bit more wire onto the branches and increase the movement. One trick with these is to pinch out just the tip and wire the branch into a horizontal plane. It then will produce a few shoots further back, and these can be trained up - remove any that grow down.

On your tree I'd do this to the long straight shoot that runs right to left across the front of the photo.

I'd also try and wire movement into the long straight bits that stick up, as there is good movement lower down that you need to replicate as you go higher.

They are slow to thicken up, so try and avoid cutting anything off. If you don't need a branch you are better off letting it grow as a sacrifice branch for as long as possible.

Anything low down you try and keep - they do not back bud on hard wood very well, if at all.

One point for the future is whether the planting angle can be changed. You have almost got a "slingshot" shape - where the branches make a Y shape. But if you tip the tree over about 30 degrees and turn the right hand trunk into the main trunk and the left hand trunk becomes a branch that runs parallel to the ground you will have a trunk with great movement. Not sure it would work, but its a thought.

Good luck!

One point for the future is whether the planting angle can be changed. You have almost got a "slingshot" shape - where the branches make a Y shape. But if you tip the tree over about 30 degrees and turn the right hand trunk into the main trunk and the left hand trunk becomes a branch that runs parallel to the ground you will have a trunk with great movement. Not sure it would work, but its a thought.

You could also try to reduce the slingshot look by turning the tree a quarter turn in one direction or the other.  You DO have the option of removing all of that quite heavy right-hand branch, then playing with the planting angle.  How large is this tree?

As far as backbudding on old wood goes, they actually backbud fairly well, assuming summers are hot enough and long enough (not likely true in the UK) and fertilizer is applied heavily enough.  Of course, you have no control over where the backbudding will occur.

Thanks to you both for the advice. Jim: the tree from the soil line is about 10 inches in height.

Tom