Things Needed
Tip
In gain to suckers , catalpas re - seed themselves prolifically . Keep your tree sound by treating it to a healthy dose of nitrogen rich fertilizer each spring and pulling seedling as they sprout . Sterilize pruning tools with a 10 percent solution of bleach or 70 percent solvent of rubbing alcohol with piddle between trees . Southern catalpa is susceptible to powdery mildew , verticillium wilt and assorted leaf spot diseases . Southern catalpa can be pruned during their dormant season in late winter , but it will circumscribe unfolding and seminal fluid production the following time of year . bound surrender crop because mold spore are more populous on fall picnic .
Warning
Always wear gloves and center protection when pruning , specially overhead ; catalpa forest is often brittle and will fracture rather than shred .
southerly catalpa tree ( Catalpa bignonioides ) , also call " catawba " Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , are telling but short - survive tree diagram that farm to a height and spread of 40 to 50 feet . The objective lens when dress this idealistic hardwood tree is to keep it small and well - form to keep split . The seed pod of the tree and long branches invest a big load on its unspecific cap , often take stimulate with metal rods in ripe trees or wooden magnetic pole in young specimen .
Step 1
Start a pruning program when southerly catalpas are vernal . Your object should be to limit scatter and height . Prune after catalpas have flowered in May to slow tree growth . take branches that grow close to each other on the automobile trunk , or " leader " ; they will completely grow together , forming one weak branch . set up the crown by take branches off the loss leader as the upper part or " peak " of the tree diagram grows .
Step 2
Remove arm over 2 inches in diameter by sawing up from underneath about 5 inch out on the branch . Then make a downward swing parallel to the leader just outside the " branch collar , " the thickened bark where the limb connect the tree diagram . Never make a " flush " snub that cuts into this apprehension ; it is the tissue that will mature over the sharpness of the cut , protect the branch from transmission . Remove any branches that encounter at less than a 35 - degree angle in a sharp " Y " embodiment ; they will not develop a healthy collar and are more likely to dissever in storms or high winds .
Step 3
select a leader , and abridge any competing branches ; this is name " subordination . " former winter is a good time to reconnoitre potential candidates for subordination pruning and " crown reduction . " shorten crown density by dispatch arm that cut through each other and absent " H2O sprouts"–vertical shoots rising from lower branches .
Step 4
hit branches where they have become congested so that light and atmosphere can separate out through the crown of the tree . bump off any branch that has grown to over half the diameter of the leader at the same height ; it is too heavy and may imperil the structure of the tree .
Step 5
Remove dead or pathologic branch anytime , and cut suckers when they appear in the springiness . Although catalpa ’s maturation wont is to spread out , it will need some formation to obviate becoming temporary . Never trim more than a quarter of the length of a branch . Take branch that are growing downward rather than upward - growing branches . Prune " up " downhearted branches on a fledged tree diagram from 5 to 8 feet to raise the crown and provide clearance for movement underneath the tree .
