Critique my "treehabilitation"

[colb]

I’d say you likely did the tree a good service for the long run. Your work will prevent larger wounding in the future. We manage a few Elm cultivars in my area. There are some I met when they were very young and another I met in middle age.

With the young ones, structure is the main focus initially. I have thinned the stem count down by choosing the best attachments. Some of those cuts were choosing to retain 2 of 3 highly included leads at maybe 3” or 4” diameter. Those cuts seal quickly and actually form a wider union between the remaining leads. As the structure is formed, I still have to go in almost annually and remove the worst of the co-dominant stems in the periphery.

With the older one, it’s a never ending battle of chasing co-doms, but at a much lower frequency.

I think you got yours young enough to help steer them best in the long run, for good structure and aesthetics.

I have started to concede acute junctions on elms and other shade trees (highrise and cathedral southern live oaks) with vase-like structure and just prune for subordination. It's nice to have it all, but next best is to do what is realistic. I find that pruning to address acute junctions with those trees just widens the angle from super acute to acute, and I still expect a bark inclusion at that angle. Meanwhile, so few tactical solutions to achieve less-acute junctions exist that my options for decent aesthetic are often limited... I would prefer to plant them away from high occupancy areas and just prune for subordination rather than put effort into also pruning out acute junctions.

 

[oceans]

Do these codoms actually tend to break apart?
Am I getting the sense we aren’t crazy about planting these due to the management required?

In my experience, the larger the inclusions get, the more prone to breaking they become. I’ve seen plenty that were planted and unchecked that ended up losing easily 1/3 to 1/2 of their entire crown via inclusion failure in the lower portion of the tree.

Essentially, the lower structure needs to be defined early and often while they’re young and can respond well. I also tend to leave any growth that is more obtuse/subordinate to provide later structural options.