I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. When is the right
time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?
Thanks

In article ,
Peter wrote:
I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. When is the right
time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?

As far as I know, they are effectively unprunable, like other
conifers. You can prune very young wood, and remove branches,
but it will not regrow from old wood. If you need to do more,
the best thing is to remove it. Sorry.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Sat, 15 Jan 2011 14:46:45 -0000, "Peter"
wrote:

I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. When is the right
time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?
Thanks

This is ultimately a *BIG* tree, too often planted in too small a
space. It can eventually grow to 80 feet tall in the UK and its main
trunk can grow to 6 feet wide! If you prune it you will effectively
destroy its shape, you should only "tip prune" at most, other than
removing dead branches.

As it ages and gets taller, the lower branches die naturally so maybe,
if it is tall enough, say 30 feet or more, that's the answer to your
problem - take out the lower branches back to the main trunk up to
about 7 feet from the ground. If it's not that tall, then probably
better to reroute your path!

Caution, when pruning, wear stout gloves and eye protection. The tree
can fight back!

Some friends inherited one in their garden and, in the end, the only
course of action was to remove it. And, of course, it's not a cheap
tree to buy!

Can you tell if it is a him or a her. If a her try to find ways to take cuttings for multpication with a view to future food supply. My old copy of Dirr's the Propagation of Woody Plants makes no mention. Anyone have recent info?

On Sat, 15 Jan 2011 14:55:02 +0000 (GMT), wrote:

In article ,
Peter wrote:
I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. When is the right
time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?

As far as I know, they are effectively unprunable, like other
conifers. You can prune very young wood, and remove branches,
but it will not regrow from old wood. If you need to do more,
the best thing is to remove it. Sorry.


All you can really do is take the lower branches off so that you can
walk underneath it. I've seen that done with a very large one and it
looks OK. It wouldn't be appropriate for a smaller one though.

"Peter" wrote in message
...
I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. When is the right
time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?
Thanks

Each to his own, but if it were mine I'd say prune it about 1 ft above
ground with a chain saw the get a JCB to remove the root.

Sorry, but I don't like Monkey Puzzle trees. :-)

Bill

In article , writes
In article ,
Peter wrote:
I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. When is the right
time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?

As far as I know, they are effectively unprunable, like other
conifers. You can prune very young wood, and remove branches,
but it will not regrow from old wood. If you need to do more,
the best thing is to remove it. Sorry.


Like pet tigers, they look so sweet when they're young.
--
Sue ]

"Darkside" wrote in message ...

Like pet tigers, they look so sweet when they're young.
--
Sue ]

And likewise,majestic when mature - (:-)
Pete

... but you wouldn't necessarily want to cuddle one

On 15/01/2011 14:46, Peter wrote:
I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. When is the
right time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?
Thanks

My favourite conifer. BUT it has an unfortunate habit of shedding its
dead branches without warning. How many Monkey Puzzles more than, say,
a dozen metres in height have you seen without bare trunks to several
metres? A Monkey Puzzle overhanging a path is not a good idea.

Cutting the lower branches off can be done, but I'm not sure the tree
will look right!

--

Jeff

In article ,
says...

'Peter[_14_ Wrote:
;910135']I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. When
is the right
time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?
Thanks

Can you tell if it is a him or a her. If a her try to find ways to
take cuttings for multpication with a view to future food supply. My
old copy of Dirr's the Propagation of Woody Plants makes no mention.
Anyone have recent info?




--
Ilyan

As far as I know you can not do cuttings and all trees are seed raised,
but then I have never wanted to do either so could be wrong about
cuttings!
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

In article , says...
On 2011-01-15 14:46:45 +0000, "Peter" said:

I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. When is the
right time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?
Thanks

All you can do is remove the lower branches. You can't 'prune' one of
these. There's a wonderful avenue of them at Bicton College in Devon.
They were planted in 1843 and the largest has a trunk girth of 13' and
is 85' tall so they're not something for a restricted space.

Indeed, I think these are the second oldest in the country having been
part of the first batch of seed sent back by William Lobb to Veitches,
the oldest are at Penjerrick as these were brought/sent back by Charles
Darwin from his trip on the Beagle 1831-1836
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

On Jan 15, 3:46*pm, "Peter" wrote:
I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. *When is the right
time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?
Thanks

As others have said, your options are limited.
And you need a hardy pair of gloves and a couple of layers of
clothing, preferably, something with a hood, or, is you've got no
protective glasses..; a peaked cap (if that's the right term for a
baseball cap style item)
In the event that you wish to remove dead branches at a height that
entails going up a ladder, I suggest you also take a draw-hoe up with
you; use this to shove the dead branch upwards.. that'll cause it to
snap, and then you can pull it downward.
having such a hoe (not a Dutch hoe) will afford you far greater reach
and the fact that you can dislodge branches from a bit if a distance
away from you will reduce the amount of bird shit and armour-plated
"leaves" that the would otherwise engulf you.

On Jan 16, 2:47*pm, aquachimp
wrote:
On Jan 15, 3:46*pm, "Peter" wrote:

I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. *When is the right
time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?
Thanks

As others have said, your options are limited.
And you need a hardy pair of gloves and *a *couple of layers of
clothing, preferably, something with a hood, or, is you've got no
protective glasses..; a peaked cap (if that's the right term for a
baseball cap style item)
In the event that you wish to remove dead branches at a height that
entails going up a ladder, I suggest you also take a draw-hoe up with
you; use this to shove the dead branch upwards.. that'll cause it to
snap, and then you can pull it downward.
having such a hoe (not a Dutch hoe) will afford you far greater reach
and the fact that you can dislodge branches from a bit if a distance
away from you will reduce the amount of bird shit and armour-plated
"leaves" that the would otherwise engulf you.

er, when I said "that'll cause it to snap" I meant flush with the main
stem and not snapping in the middle of a dead branch leaving you with
ugly jagged edged spikes.
At ground level you can just yank the dead branch upwards in an abrupt
manner and it just comes off at the main tree trunk.

"Sacha" wrote ...

Charlie Pridham said:

"Peter" said:

I have a Monkey Puzzle tree that is now blocking a path. When is the
right time of year to prune it and is there anything I need to know?
Thanks

All you can do is remove the lower branches. You can't 'prune' one of
these. There's a wonderful avenue of them at Bicton College in Devon.
They were planted in 1843 and the largest has a trunk girth of 13' and
is 85' tall so they're not something for a restricted space.

Indeed, I think these are the second oldest in the country having been
part of the first batch of seed sent back by William Lobb to Veitches,
the oldest are at Penjerrick as these were brought/sent back by Charles
Darwin from his trip on the Beagle 1831-1836

I can't say monkey puzzles are my favourite trees but when grown as
those are at Bicton, they're very imposing. Someone has planted one in
our local churchyard and I can't think of anything less appropriate,
somehow!

I love Monkey Puzzles as long as they aren't mutilated, there is a "young"
one in the lawn near the Orangery at Kew and it's truly magnificent with
branches so thick you can't see the trunk and they come down to the ground
allowing children (and those who should know better) to feel the reason it's
got it's name.
They have also planted three in a group at Winkworth Arboretum down towards
the lake and it will be interesting to see how they grow. They are so
different in growth from the one at Kew that I think there must be different
varieties.

BTW don't try to move an established little tree, I helped a chap do that
once and when I saw the roots I knew it couldn't be done but he insisted,
very long thick roots and no fibrous roots at all. It died, an expensive
mistake.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK