Caring for My Dawn Redwoods, Pin Oaks and Weeping Hornbeams
Here in the Northeast, this weekend is expected to be clear and mild - great weather for getting much-needed gardening chores completed around my Bedford, New York farm.
My gardeners and outdoor grounds crew have been very busy pruning, shaping, and cleaning some of the groves and allees. Proper pruning is necessary to maintain the health of the plants, prevent disease and to encourage good flowering. It is also important for any surrounding specimens that may be affected by overcrowding or over-shading. Whenever I am home, I always find time to check that everything is growing and thriving, and I work closely with the crew to develop an ongoing list of tasks - there's always so much to maintain around a farm. This week, the team tackled the dawn redwoods near my chicken coops, the majestic pin oaks, and the six standard weeping hornbeams in my party lawn.
Enjoy these photos.
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- The pin oak allee is the first allee guests see when entering my farm. These trees are tall and impressive. Pin oaks, Quercus palustris, are popular landscape trees because they are fast-growing and easy to maintain.
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- These trees needed some pruning so the neighboring fruit trees could get more light. Here is Chhewang trimming some of the lower branches first – removing any that are dead or unruly.
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- Chhewang uses this Japanese pole saw to cut branches that are difficult to reach – generally those higher than six feet. Use shears for branches smaller than a pencil, loppers for slightly larger branches that are still under an inch-and-a-half in diameter and saws for larger limbs.
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- I prefer all my trees and shrubs be pruned with hand tools as they make much cleaner, smoother cuts. Several branches were cut from this side of the pin oak. Chhewang also trims any branches that grow across each other and any that are touching the roof of the nearby Equipment Barn.
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- Chhewang has become an excellent pruner and oversees a lot of the smaller tree pruning projects around the farm.
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- There are a lot of branches to cut, but already there is more light getting to the fruit trees and more air circulating through the allee.
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- Here is one side already finished – it looks great.
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- Next, Chhewang goes to prune the dawn redwoods, Metasequoia. I noticed that I could not see the chicken coops as I drove along this carriage road, but they’re there. Dawn redwoods grow faster than most trees. A natural dawn redwood that grows in the ground requires little trimming, as it forms a natural triangular shape throughout its life, but the lower branches will need occasional pruning to look their best.
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- The dawn redwood has feathery, fine-textured needles that are opposite each other and approximately a half-inch long. Don’t confuse them with the bald cypress needles, which grow alternately. These dawn redwood needles will turn shades of red and brown before falling – it is one of the few deciduous conifers.
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- Here is one of the dead branches – it is very woody and quite brown.
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- This is a live branch, which was growing too low on the tree. Notice the difference – it is very light in color with an almost pink-brown center.
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- For larger tree branches Chhewang makes two cuts to safely remove the limb without stripping any bark. The first cut should be about a third to halfway down the branch.
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- As Chhewang cut, the middle of the branch began to split, but because this is being done in pieces, it is okay that it happened here, and not closer to the main trunk. This cut allows the large portion of the branch to fall and not tear into and damage the tree.
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- Chhewang cuts off the remaining branch by sawing back to the branch collar, at a 45-degree angle.
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- Here is what is left – clean and undamaged. The bark of the dawn redwood becomes deeply fissured as the tree matures.
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- All these branches will be taken to the chipper where they will be recycled into mulch for use in other beds – nothing is ever wasted at the farm.
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- Look how clean and clear it is in this area – and yes, I can now see the long chicken yard and all my gorgeous and productive chickens and geese.
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- Gavin and Phurba dedicated the day to trimming the standard weeping hornbeams that line a fence in what I call “Truman’s soccer field”. Botanically known as Carpinus betulus ‘pendula’, the weeping hornbeam is deciduous and has a tight, dense growth pattern. I keep a close eye on all my hornbeams – it’s crucial that they are pruned regularly, so they never look too overgrown.
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- Weeping hornbeams can grow to be about 50-feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 40-feet. The leaves are still green, but soon they will turn a bright yellow color. Weeping hornbeams do best in full sun to partial shade. They prefer to grow in average to moist conditions and grow most vigorously on soil that is fertile, light, deep, and acidic.
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- This is one of the many leafy bracts that hang in clusters around hornbeam. It will bear ribbed nuts later in the season.
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- The trunks have smooth gray bark and distinctive muscle-like fluting.
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- Hornbeams are very dependable cultivars and don’t need much pruning except when necessary for shaping or for removing dieback. Here is Gavin working on the outside of the hornbeam making more sculptural cuts.
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- All of these weeping hornbeams are cut with sharp secateurs – it is a slower process, but provides a more detailed and prettier finish. The leaves are deciduous, alternate, with a serrated margin, and grow up to four-inches in length.
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- Phurba works from the inside, cutting off any dead, damaged or diseased branches first, and then removes any crowded or crisscrossing branches. Most of the trimming is done by eye since all my trees are well-maintained and regularly pruned, but Phurba and Gavin also use the old cuts as guides.
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- All of the weeping hornbeams are staked, so they do not “blow over” in the wind storms which sometimes plague us here in Bedford. Gavin checks the stakes and the straps to make sure nothing is too tight or causing any damage.
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- After all the branches are cut, they are gathered, neatly piled and then processed through our trusted wood chipper.
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- Under ideal conditions, weeping hornbeams can live up to 120-years or more. These weeping hornbeams look so much better all groomed. What are you pruning in your garden this season? Share your list with me in the comments section below.
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