Usually things dry out in Kansas come August, but not this year. This summer has been warm, humid, and wet. And pecan trees seem to love it. All my young trees have made impressive new growth. However, I've spotted some potential problems with the form of my trees especially at the very top of the central leader. The photo at right shows a typical young tree in my orchard.
From this distance the tree looks in good shape. A strong central leader with some wide-angle lateral limbs near the base. But I took a closer look at the very top of the leader.
At the very top, I found 2 shoots that have sprouted and look to to be competing for the role of central leader (photo at left). I definitely don't want to leave both of these shoots in place because in just a couple of years I'll be dealing with a narrow, forked tree.
In removing one of the shoots, I choose to make the cut easiest to complete (photo above). With a single snip of the clippers, I've regained a single central leader.
The photo at right shows another one of my trees. Again, things look pretty good but the very top of the tree is starting to look a little bushy.
This time, lets start by looking at the lower portion of the tree's canopy (photo at left). First note that all the lateral limbs have nice wide angle crotches. Following the
2-foot rule, I tip pruned all these one-year-old side branches when they reached 2 feet in length. Note the location of the slight crook in the central leader. This is where the leader started new growth back in May. And like I've previously mentioned, my trees are growing like mad. This year's new growth on the leader has already topped five feet in length.
Taking a closer look at one of the lateral branches, you can see why removing stalked buds is such a good idea (photo at right). Last year I cut out a shoot that had developed from a stalked bud. The stump of that shoot is still on the trunk but a new lateral shoot has developed from a secondary bud to created a nice wide angled branch.
Now lets focus on the very top of the central leader.
Several shoots have developed and the tree is starting to loose its strong central leader. It is interesting to note these are the first lateral limbs this tree has developed on the central leader arising from the current season's new growth. However, if I want the tree to develop lateral branches further down the stem, pruning to maintain a central leader is critical. All that new growth on top of the tree actually inhibits bud growth further down the stem.
Using a ladder and my clippers I pruned the top of the tree back to a central leader (photo at left).
The photo above shows before and after pruning. The photos look almost alike except for the very top of the tree. With just a couple of snips, I have regained an obvious single leader.
