| Previous :: Next Topic |
| Author |
Message |
Roly Poly
Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2013
Posts: 713 | TRs | Pics
|
| IanB wrote: | | You might find a pruner who can do a good job through:
http://www.plantamnesty.org/referral-services
The situation you describe with the second lilac - needing to reduce the height of a mature plant - is an unhappy proposition. Any significant reduction is inevitably going to be removing the best bloom and triggering watersprouts. If the plant can be gradually transitioned off of the old wood onto new, then the silver lining is that healthy, young buds will bloom stronger than decrepit old wood, and there's a chance of training a lower, more spreading form - but the "tree whisperer" approach takes time and money. This type of pruning can't usually be found for less than $50/hour, and it means an annual commitment, and it means the neighbor won't get their view anytime soon. (Just a slow, steady gradual improvement in the situation year by year.) |
I went to the neighbors deck to see how much the lilac impacts their view and it definitely does. it is about 15 ft high and needs to lose 3-4 ft so they can get their view back. I will have to do it since "my cost/their benefit" analysis would make me a jerk neighbor if I dont oblige. I would want the view if I were in their position.
|
| Back to top |
  
|
|
Brucester
Member
Joined: 02 Jun 2013
Posts: 1102 | TRs | Pics
Location: Greenwood |
There's something rewarding about pruning by hand. The art of it. The workout of arms and the mind.
"Take into thy hand, as thee takes into thy heart." -or something
Power tools are faster, though you can get ahead of yourself. Sometimes it's too late when you realize. Usually stuff grows back. It's the north west trees grow on stumps here.
|
| Back to top |
|
|
iron
Member
Joined: 10 Aug 2008
Posts: 6392 | TRs | Pics
Location: southeast kootenays |
|
iron
Member
|
 Thu May 28, 2015 2:51 pm |
|
|
they'll be fine.
water them a decent amount and if they make it 'til september, they should have no issues.
is this a new renter?
|
| Back to top |
|
|
treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
Joined: 25 Dec 2006
Posts: 11276 | TRs | Pics
Location: Don't move here |
|
treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
|
Thu May 28, 2015 4:55 pm |
|
|
Call Cisco.
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Roly Poly
Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2013
Posts: 713 | TRs | Pics
|
Update from housemate. It wasn't a chainsaw, it was edger with an extension so he could reach high. According to housemate, there was much more finesse than I had previously believed. In his own words "no, no, it was like giving a plant a pedicure".
|
| Back to top |
|
|
fourteen410
Member
Joined: 23 May 2008
Posts: 2628 | TRs | Pics
|
That's good to hear. Pruning a plant with a chainsaw would be like me blowdrying my hair with a leafblower.
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Malachai Constant
Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16092 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
Small branches and chainsaws do not often work well and are fraught with hazards 
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
|
| Back to top |
|
|
treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
Joined: 25 Dec 2006
Posts: 11276 | TRs | Pics
Location: Don't move here |
|
treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
|
Fri May 29, 2015 6:17 am |
|
|
| fourteen410 wrote: | | That's good to hear. Pruning a plant with a chainsaw would be like me blowdrying my hair with a leafblower. |
It all depends on who is running the saw.
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
|
| Back to top |
|
|
touron
Member
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
Posts: 10293 | TRs | Pics
Location: Plymouth Rock |
|
touron
Member
|
Fri May 29, 2015 9:00 pm |
|
|
It's too bad that dandelions cannot be severely pruned to have them not grow back. There is a guy nearby who cuts the grass extremely low, but I notice that the dandelions are able to outwit him by blossoming even lower. They fly under the radar. And then of course if the grass grows a little tall, they spring up so that they blossom above the top. Clever dandelions are they.
Touron is a nougat of Arabic origin made with almonds and honey or sugar, without which it would just not be Christmas in Spain.
Touron is a nougat of Arabic origin made with almonds and honey or sugar, without which it would just not be Christmas in Spain.
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Billoutwest
Member
Joined: 01 Aug 2011
Posts: 260 | TRs | Pics
Location: Redmond Oregon |
| touron wrote: | | I am a rank armature gardener, but I think the lilac bush has a chance and might even recover sooner than you think. |
Me too!
However, my neighbor has two well pruned lilacs that are trimmed down to three stems.
They are very healthy and look attractive.
My jungle like huge Lilac is a massive shade provider.
In a dry Eastern Oregon setting it gets by on little watering from me because of its ability to restrict water loss in the soils beneath it.
Their flowering is the same. Good and bad depending on the year.
Depends on spring weather.
I got 8 or so free lilacs by digging them up at a craigslister place.
I have to water them a lot to get them established.
I will be eventually trimming them all like my neighbors.
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Billoutwest
Member
Joined: 01 Aug 2011
Posts: 260 | TRs | Pics
Location: Redmond Oregon |
| Keep Calm wrote: | | Previously he removed half the branches on a huge fir tree, his hypothesis being that more light would promote the vigorous growth of new branches down below. The tree is now dying. |
Removing half the branches on a fir tree doesn't sound like what may be killing it. Unless this was a palm tree photo op.
In nature. Fir stands self prune because where dense there is no sunlight for the lower limbs. It is amazing how little in the way of foliage they can not just survive on but do very well with.
Conifers also have limited problems with suburban chemical warfare compared to hardwoods. But don't exclude that. Its surprisingly large root system could be in a massive war zone at your neighbors place.
I suspect there were extenuating circumstances such as some health condition that was missed in the pruned fir.
|
| Back to top |
|
|
DigitalJanitor
Dirt hippie
Joined: 20 May 2012
Posts: 792 | TRs | Pics
|
I have NO idea about the tree, but your roommate may have done you a favor on the lilac.They tend to get leggy with time, and best solution seems to be to just scalp the living crap out of them. They'll send out new growth that's much fuller.
FWIW I went after my in-laws lilacs 3-5 years ago, and the whole family was aghast but I reassured them that it would work out. I can't remember if we were able to get the limbs out to the dump in one load, but it was a LOT, lol. We were just looking at them this weekend and they're still looking much better for my butcher job than they were before, although they're soon going to be due for another round.
I've seen old lilacs that were literally chainsawed down to (surprisingly large!) stumps and then pruned to said stump every year just to keep the growth under control.
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Badger
Member
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 1172 | TRs | Pics
Location: Alki Beach, Washington |
|
Badger
Member
|
Wed Jun 03, 2015 10:44 am |
|
|
Be happy your roommate used a chain saw...
|
| Back to top |
|
|
wolffie
Member
Joined: 14 Jul 2008
Posts: 2693 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle |
|
wolffie
Member
|
Thu Jun 04, 2015 10:36 am |
|
|
Lilacs grow like weeds. Sucker all over the place. New shoots should replace the lost ones quickly. PLants that sucker are fogiving.
There are principles of and books about pruning. Worth doing some research. I scoffed at my ex when she bought a magnesium-handled pruning lopper, and ended up practically sleeping with that fine tool.
My own animus against 2-cycle engines makes me feel that chain saws are only good for juggling.
Somewhere, there is someone who has pruned by flamethrower and machine gun.
Some people have better things to do with their lives than walking the dog. Some don't.
Some people have better things to do with their lives than walking the dog. Some don't.
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
Joined: 27 Mar 2003
Posts: 16874 | TRs | Pics
|
|
Slugman
It’s a Slugfest!
|
Thu Jun 04, 2015 11:16 am |
|
|
If only you had a camera, people could see the actual plant, the pruning job, etc. Too bad. 
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
