Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. aspleniifolius, selecting a stem on sapling

[Rivera]

I have a young SC Island ironwood in the ground. Photo shows about a year of growth since being planted as a one gallon sapling. 

The winter storms were a little hard on it, and I let it dry out often in the spring, hence the bit of dieback. It's doing fine though.

These can be multi-trunked trees in habitat or large landscapes, and will sometimes sucker following partial dieback induced by drought stress or storm damage (or heavy trimming). However, they're most often grown as single trunks on small urban lots such as ours, without much maintenance to achieve this.

My concern is that the main stem on our young tree is semi-decumbent. These trunks don't get that girthy, but it's a tight spot and this isn't especially suitable. Also, not sure if it would compromise the trunk's integrity in high wind. I kind of wish I'd chosen one without a "lazy" stem or even risked staking it through it's tiny-at-the-time rootball to straighten it out. The grower advised against it and I listened. 

The curve is a little more substantial than it appears in the photo, before the main stem sweeps steeply upward.

The tree produced a sucker and so I have another (albeit much smaller) candidate for a main stem if I trimmed the decumbent stem off. This one comes straight up from the center of the rootball. More desirable form for purely practical reasons. See below. 

Finally, I have a third candidate. This one is actually a branch from the decumbent stem, but it goes straight up and emerges from that stem very close to the center of the rootball.

I have my own thoughts, but my question is what to do and when to do it, supposing that I prefer a single upright trunk for this space. An established SC Island ironwood can be coppiced or burned to the ground and grow a new trunk from the surviving rootstock, but this plant is still quite young. That said, the main stem will only get more vigorous and there's a chance my preferred sucker trunk will wither away, as sometimes happens. 

[Silas_Sancona]

42 minutes ago, Rivera said:

I have a young SC Island ironwood in the ground. Photo shows about a year of growth since being planted as a one gallon sapling. 

The winter storms were a little hard on it, and I let it dry out often in the spring, hence the bit of dieback. It's doing fine though.

These can be multi-trunked trees in habitat or large landscapes, and will sometimes sucker following partial dieback induced by drought stress or storm damage (or heavy trimming). However, they're most often grown as single trunks on small urban lots such as ours, without much maintenance to achieve this.

My concern is that the main stem on our young tree is semi-decumbent. These trunks don't get that girthy, but it's a tight spot and this isn't especially suitable. Also, not sure if it would compromise the trunk's integrity in high wind. I kind of wish I'd chosen one without a "lazy" stem or even risked staking it through it's tiny-at-the-time rootball to straighten it out. The grower advised against it and I listened. 

The curve is a little more substantial than it appears in the photo, before the main stem sweeps steeply upward.

The tree produced a sucker and so I have another (albeit much smaller) candidate for a main stem if I trimmed the decumbent stem off. This one comes straight up from the center of the rootball. More desirable form for purely practical reasons. See below. 

Finally, I have a third candidate. This one is actually a branch from the decumbent stem, but it goes straight up and emerges from that stem very close to the center of the rootball.

I have my own thoughts, but my question is what to do and when to do it, supposing that I prefer a single upright trunk for this space. An established SC Island ironwood can be coppiced or burned to the ground and grow a new trunk from the surviving rootstock, but this plant is still quite young. That said, the main stem will only get more vigorous and there's a chance my preferred sucker trunk will wither away, as sometimes happens. 

Just my thoughts...

As long as the " decumbent " section of the trunk isn't too lengthy, i might leave it ( for a little character later )  and slowly " pull up the skirt " ..See the screen grab of the first picture below.. Again, just a thought..

Red = what i myself would remove ...finding a branch toward the top and staking it to get it moving straight up / continue removing any new growth on that chosen branch / future trunk until clearance below the developing canopy is where you want it to be.. 

Red circled area w/ the ? mark = ...you could choose the most vigorous-looking one of those for sure ..though i'm not sure if i would...  

Regardless, i might wait until next summer to start any serious trimming / training,  just to give the top of the main branch a chance to show which  -if any-  branches currently growing near the top of it, would be a good candidate to choose to train.







Desert Hackberry is another one of those trees that can be " sucker-y / multi-trunked " ..if you let it..  Look good that way of course,  but, in this situation at least, i want a single trunk ..Up to about the height of the top of the wall, before i let it start filling out.. ( though i'll likely trim a little more )

It might look brutal ..and ugly.. to some ( not that i care ),  but i start " raising the skirt "  young.  Was planted as a 1gal last year.   Some things might cringe at being trained like this  ..but not these.  If i didn't focus it's energy,  most of it would go toward a bushy,  multi trunked small tree,  rather than something a little more formal and upright - for this application. 

Minor " kinks " in the developing trunk, lower part esp.  will work themselves out as it's diameter increases. I like a little character anyway..




1 year in the ground and it's base is already getting fat.. Can see some of the " side branching " that would develop / continue to grow -if i did not snip them off-  from nodes along the trunk as well.. They can sucker from the base too if damaged, like the Ironwood...

>

A closer-up of the top as it looks now / currently.. I want the top of the " canopy " portion -at least- 3-4 blocks higher than the top of the wall ( F =  in the picture ) before i let it go. Side branches below the top of the stake will be removed until then..  Going by how fast it grew this year, i anticipate i'll be ..where i want to be.. by this time next year. 



Have seen these trained like this and they look fantastic..

[Rivera]

2 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Just my thoughts...

As long as the " decumbent " section of the trunk isn't too lengthy, i might leave it ( for a little character later )  and slowly " pull up the skirt " ..See the screen grab of the first picture below.. Again, just a thought..

Red = what i myself would remove ...finding a branch toward the top and staking it to get it moving straight up / continue removing any new growth on that chosen branch / future trunk until clearance below the developing canopy is where you want it to be.. 

Red circled area w/ the ? mark = ...you could choose the most vigorous-looking one of those for sure ..though i'm not sure if i would...  

Regardless, i might wait until next summer to start any serious trimming / training,  just to give the top of the main branch a chance to show which  -if any-  branches currently growing near the top of it, would be a good candidate to choose to train.







Desert Hackberry is another one of those trees that can be " sucker-y / multi-trunked " ..if you let it..  Look good that way of course,  but, in this situation at least, i want a single trunk ..Up to about the height of the top of the wall, before i let it start filling out.. ( though i'll likely trim a little more )

It might look brutal ..and ugly.. to some ( not that i care ),  but i start " raising the skirt "  young.  Was planted as a 1gal last year.   Some things might cringe at being trained like this  ..but not these.  If i didn't focus it's energy,  most of it would go toward a bushy,  multi trunked small tree,  rather than something a little more formal and upright - for this application. 

Minor " kinks " in the developing trunk, lower part esp.  will work themselves out as it's diameter increases. I like a little character anyway..




1 year in the ground and it's base is already getting fat.. Can see some of the " side branching " that would develop / continue to grow -if i did not snip them off-  from nodes along the trunk as well.. They can sucker from the base too if damaged, like the Ironwood...

>

A closer-up of the top as it looks now / currently.. I want the top of the " canopy " portion -at least- 3-4 blocks higher than the top of the wall ( F =  in the picture ) before i let it go. Side branches below the top of the stake will be removed until then..  Going by how fast it grew this year, i anticipate i'll be ..where i want to be.. by this time next year. 



Have seen these trained like this and they look fantastic..

Thanks for weighing in. My inclination was to give it another year as you mentioned.

I've read Lyonothamnus can be espaliered (though I've never seen it), so they seem very  adaptable and resilient to pruning. 

The main stem has now gone very upright, and the portion laying flat wouldn't be that substantial as the trunk thickens up. Unfortunately, I planted this tree in a tight spot between the driveway and some raised beds. It would have had room if it went up, but it's close to the beds the way it went and the trunk will press up against it eventually. 

The beds are there in part to keep passing pets out, and it works. It also supports one side of a bench seat. I don't want to remove it at this time, though they have a finite lifespan and I'm more invested in having a tree. 

If I select one of the stems you circled, then this is not an issue.