The Major Chops

In spring of 2004, the chops for each tree were made at a bud intersection. I was conservative in this cutback because of the major trauma that I had inflicted on each tree. Because I had severely reduced the root ball, and would be drastically reducing the height, I felt it important to make sure that I had a leader for the tree to survive and not just give up. The trees at this point were about 2 inches across at the soil line. The trees were severed at about 2 inches above the soil line. (Figures 2, 3 & 4)

Figure 2 -

Figure 3 -

Figure 4 -

The trees were planted in a medium of small lava and pure sand. At this time I needed the plant to put out as many roots as possible. Sand makes this happen.

During the first year The plants were allowed full reign to grow: I cut nothing. The leader on each tree grew to more than 9 feet in height, with a caliper of about ¾ inch thickness where it joined the trunk. ( Figures 5,6,7) This was very exciting during the first year. Many of the small cuts had fully healed during this process. As fall approached, I cut back on the fertilizer and began feeding with tomato food. Something along the lines of 0-7-7 would be good. As fall approached I began to prepare the tree for winter. The trees were sprayed off with fungicide and moved to a more covered part of my backyard.

Figure 5 -

Figure 6 -

Figure 7 -

Spring 2005

In spring of 2005 the growth from the previous year was pruned back. All cuts on the base of the trunk were removed and a small stub was left. This small stub is the key to growing out the base of the trunk. It is through this scarring that the lower trunk gains mass. The leader was preserved and was taken to a point that I felt would make a pleasing taper. This visual point is personal and could be done much higher or lower. I estimated how much the plant would grow on the next year's grow-out, and decided to make my chop at that point. Since these were to be grown out for Shohin stock, my purpose was to keep these trees rather compact in height. During spring of that year, all growth was allowed full reign. The new leader and any suckers that popped from the trunk were allowed to grow unchecked. This helps for two reasons. First, it allows the cuts from the previous year to heal faster due to the extra water from all the growth, and two, it takes away some of the focus on the leader and keeps it in check. That year’s growth was about 8 feet tall. Once again near fall the fertilizer was cut back and changed for winter and the tree was moved to a more protected spot. With all the open places on the trunk I wanted no frost to split the trunk.

More Trunk Chopping Pages: |1| |2| |3|