Trees and plants are no different than any other creature on the planet. If you want them to be nice, to act right, you have to train them when they are young.
With conical evergreens like Spruce trees, pine tree and upright arborviate it’s important to train them when really young to produce only one main leader. Often times when young they tend to produce multiple, competing leaders and it makes for not such a nice plant down the road.
For one thing, conical evergreens with multiple leaders are often pulled apart in the snow or wind and can split right now the middle.
Even with something as small as Dwarf Alberta Spruce, it’s really important to train them to a single leader and you do that by removing competing leaders.
See this Video on Removing Unwanted Leaders.
Emerald Green Arborvitae.
Interested in Propagating Arborvitae? See this page.
Questions, comments, mean things to say? Post them below and I’ll respond.
Hello,
I have a 5′ tall emerald green with three equally established leads. I’m not sure exactly how old it is, but I planted it 1 year ago. Is it young enough to establish a good leader and if so, how far down do I trim?
Thanks!
Chris,
That’s a good question, I’d say cut the two leaders that you don’t want down to about two thirds of the height of the plant. This is something that really needs to be done when the plants are really young.
Thanks mike.
What about a 4 year old Giant Arboarvitae with two main leads. They are now turning down away from each other. Will they adapt as they grow? Both leads are about equal in size/width and go way down near to the bottom of the trunk. Current height of tree is about 8 feet.
If I choose one to cut off, when do I do it?
Thanks!
-Josh NJ
Josh,
I don’t think this is going to end well with a plant that mature. ?????
Darn… I decided to zip tie them together so that they stand more upright together. There is also a very old tall two leads that is over 30 feet tall and seems to be doing well. Maybe mine has a chance? After I zip tied them I also attached a nylon line to the zip tie and staked it down so that the tree is standing upright. I’m hoping this will encourage the tree to stay upright as it grows.
I may be just dreaming though…
Josh,
Only time will tell. I’ve landscaped or re-landscaped about a thousand homes and one thing I found over and over were Arborvitae that were tired or wired together to get them to stand up straight.
Planted 5 green grove ‘pilcata’ arbs about 4 yrs ago in a windy area (we are zone 5) this winter 3 got hit while the 2 inbetween houses are fine. The 3 completely died on top except for about 2-3 feet of bottom is completely green- cut off dead portion and now looks like a bush, will they ever push a new leader or should we just dig them out?
Rebecca,
I suppose they could be trained to establish a new leader, but the other two will out grow them while they try.
I am looking to buy a quality sprayer, any size between 2-4 gallons. Any suggestions?
George,
I once had a 4 gallon backpack sprayer. That was years ago and it was just too heavy for my weak back. I actually buy cheap sprayers from the hardware store. They work good and the minute they don’t I can afford to throw them away and buy another. I bought a $40 sprayer years ago and it never worked well.
Mike,
I have an adult Arbor vitae with numerous shoots, which during winter splits. Is it to late to remove most of the unwanted shoots?
Its about 15 years old.
Ellie,
Yes, it’s too late. Most people simply tie the trees together from the inside.
I have 2 blue spruce that grew next to a Willow tree (which we removed). Will the rubbed off branches thicken back in on the spruce? Thanks much.
Ellie,
Depends on how bad the damage is and how much sun those areas receive. If they get sun, they should fill back in, but it will take some time.
I also have 14 year old Green Giants, many with multi-leaders. One of them had five smaller side leaders and the tree was showing signs of stress (?). I wish I had checked before, but I didn’t and I removed three of them very low to the ground. I was waiting for my husband to use the chainsaw for the thickest parts to completely remove them. Did I just kill my tree? Will it fill back in now that it has more space between trees? I’m NOT TOUCHING any of the others with multi-leaders. It’s in a line of 16 and was on the curve which not has an ugly open space. :>( I wish I had found your site first! They have been the easiest trees, but a local nursey told us we should apply Tree and Shrub Insect Control to protect them and I needed to get close to the trunk to apply it.
Amy,
I’m sure you didn’t kill the tree but it needs time to fill back in.
Thanks Mike. They were fast growing the first three to five years, now that they’re mature do you have any idea how long that might take?
Amy,
Probably a couple of years to get nice and full again, maybe 3 years.
What about Mugo Pines…. I want to start some off a huge pine bush 5 foot tall circumference about 5 fit
Judith,
Mugo pine are usually started from seed, a very slow process. Takes them year to get to any size. Thus the price.
Hi Mike,
My daughter and son-in-law have the opposite problem. They purchased about 2 dozen evergreen trees or I should say tall, narrow shrubs for around the front of their property for eventual privacy, Not sure exactly what they are, but it probably doesn’t matter. They are about 6′ tall and have one leader. The problem is the leader is so tall and sparse (at least a foot above the rest of the shrub). It looks like it should be cut down to match and blend in with the rest of the tree. But if this is done, wouldn’t it cause it to branch out into multiple leaders and have the problem you describe, but on the top of the tree and even get worse as it grows? Any suggestions? They really look terrible the way they are. Thank you for all your emails and videos. They are so helpful!
Deborah
Deborah,
We’ve concluded that they look terrible the way they are, so might as well give pruning a shot. Cut that leader down, but it at a straight angle, not straight across. That will encourage one single leader right below the cut. As they start to grow keep an eye out and remove any competing leaders to gain that one single leader.
Hay Mike!
I have a quick question about rooting in sand … i’m in the Deep South … a covered box isn’t gonna get tooooo hot? Even in the shade?
I’m in zone 8 … but it gets so hot and humid here its similar to the zone 9 I used to be in.
Steffunny,
Typically when we root in sand we either do during the winter months, https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2015/01/easy-winter-time-plant-propagation-can-home/, or we do so in the summer months https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2015/01/easy-summertime-plant-propagation-techniques-can-home/ But the secret? The true secret that probably 90% of our members use? https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/mikes-plant-propagation-kit/