This monster Water-elm, Planera aquatica, named Dragon, has really outdone itself this growing season. Certainly the size of the tree and the growing room it has have contributed to this rampant growth. The shoots are by no means at their ultimate desired thickness, but I’ve got a good start and I need to bring them back in so I can build taper. You’ll recall I completely wired this tree earlier in the spring, then had to unwire it in stages as the growing branches started binding. It’s now in need of cutting back.

 

 

 

 

 

A few strategic snips later, here’s all that’s left. The only branch I haven’t taken way back is the lowest back branch, which hasn’t thickened enough yet to be pruned. I suspect it’ll get there by fall. Between now and then, I’ll get ferocious back-budding on these branches (you can see I’ve left leaves in place to protect dormant buds in the leaf axils) and will certainly have to do some additional trimming. I’ll post an update later in the season.