Canopy thinning strategy

I've got a Kentucky Coffee Tree that I planted around 2000 (I keep detailed planting info, I just can't find it!). It has started to put on pretty rapid growth over the past couple of years, with the canopy having more than doubled in size. The growth on KCT's is so interesting to watch, when it seems to transform almost overnight from not much more than a stick figure to a lush, tropical looking tree with its huge compound leaves. My concern is that because its open grown with no protection from NW winds, it might be susceptible to being tipped by a strong wind. I've had this happen to a few other container grown trees, but it usually happens within the first couple of years after planting. I'm considering thinning the canopy by removing perhaps a couple of branches. While the trunk has expanded to about 2.5 inches diameter, I'm concerned the root development might not be keeping up with canopy growth to adequately anchor it. I'd prefer to just let it be, but I also don't want another leaning tree to deal with. any ideas/opinions on wisdom of thinning canopy? The pic is looking to SE.

I say no--if it has been there since 2000, she is good to go!

Looks fine to me, pruning branches off would just deprive it of the leaf area it needs to produce the wood that will thicken the stem the more.

Resin

Yes, if the root system was symmetrical and planted properly in the first place, it should be fine. You might be surprised at how much root growth there is underfoot even when you're standing15 feet or more from the tree. If you're gouing to prune it, do it in the dormant season and for structural reasons only.
Guy S.

Forget all the above advice. Those guys are schmucks! They wouldn't know a tree if it fell on them.

Prune the bejesus out of it! Go for it. A few drinks and a saw, have fun!

Wait a minute. I just re-read the thread. Those were Kevin, Resin, and Guy giving advice. They're pretty good. Never mind.

Scott

Thanks for the advice--I'll keep the pruners locked away. It's what I expected and hoped for. However, I am going to take Scott's advice... at least the part about having a few drinks.

Maackia:

Well, Bob, what kind of advice can you expect from a series of (and I use the term loosely) gentleman not from KY?

I thought that you might get some good coaching from Willis (Bill from Lombard); maybe he’s still doing lab research on method. At least he's got the good engineering sense to think through structure, meaning, and form. I’ll give you a quick off-the-cuff prototype that will resolve your concerns.

First, you'll need to dig a trench around your tree, at a distance of one foot per each year your tree has been growing there (seems like a 6' radius ought to do it, or 182.88 cm). Next, construct within this trench an 8" thick CMU foundation wall, lined with copper-impregnated geotextile fabric backed with water gel crystals. If you are able to use 32% Ni-Cr steel rebar rods to reinforce this protective device, so much the better.

Rising from the top of your new edifice, you should have a radial array of stanchions and lanyards inserted to a depth of 4.5' (minimum) anchored within a footer of 4000 psi concrete in dimension 2'x3'. These support structures shall be adjustable in a telescoping manner to accommodate the assured future growth of your Gymnocladus dioicus.

Attached to this support apparatus shall be allées of fasteners to which the suspect recalcitrant leaner shall be variously attached. Deviation from vertical should not and will not be acceptable. Spare the support rod, spoil the child.

There are multiple and several choices of materials for making these connections. Sustainability enthusiasts will favor weaves of native hemp or WSNG (warm season native grasses, abundant on the open prairie). Techno-hounds may suggest a fiber optic cable grid intermixed with the nanotubes necessary to be a multimedia center and self-sufficient energy-generating powerhouse. I’d lean towards the carbon fiber matrix used in cloaking jet fighters blended with aircraft cable, for permanence and radar invisibility.

I’d be getting started on this installation, like now. I checked the recent weather records and forecasts for western WI, and it looks you experienced some wind in past years and have occasional storms predicted in the near future as well as frequent blizzards in winter. I can tell from the photo that your tree will move in a horizontal direction if subjected to these forces.

Don’t let that happen. Don't join the illustrated former growers of unsupported coffee trees.

Uh-huh. Typical advice from Kentucky! Where ya been lately VV, slurping up wine with the cats?

Another great old cemetery there -- which one is it? Cave Hill?

Guy S.

My Old Kentucky Wisenheimer,

Thanks for showing restraint on my plebian inquiry. I guess there is such thing as a dumb question after all. BTW, I got tired of waiting...look what I picked up today.

OMG!

Is that an Aesculus pavia I espy? Good for you. I still am going to send germplasm (seeds if not a whole plant); I just couldn't bring myself to outright kill one in full leaf just to say I sent it. Pretty soon, you'll be able to claim a grove of red buckeyes, or be able to distribute them neighborhood-wide.

Sorry about the rant; it was cumulative expulsion of a lot of things related to a lot of posts recently. Other authors may have picked up on that, or not. Minimally, I entertained myself this morning.

Personally, I don't think even you will be able to kill the coffee tree.

And...I've taken a series of shots of the Maackia amurensis collection at Bernheim this week. For those interested, stay tuned. My poor little dialup system here won't handle it, but when I'm back at work I'll try to post a series of shots of the specimens there (6-8 plants from 1961, and similar numbers planted in 1986-7). Unfortunately, they only have young flower buds pushing out right now. I remembered correctly; they are July bloomers there. Right now, they look for all the world like compact Gleditsia.