Matias
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Silicon Valley
I have a weeping blue atlas cedar- very different tree type I know, but follow me for a sec- and I have been weening it off supplemental water for many years, and this year, I thought it should be established well enough to cut it off from direct water. There are enough irrigated plantings up the hill that I am betting it still gets a little deep water near the bedrock-soil transition, and the bedrock is full of cracks and seams that give trees access to the watertable- my well driller told me he first started hitting water only 7 feet down, and he drilled in August. This cedar was very floppt and required substantial support to guide it into the shape I wanted, but by the 5th year, I was able to let it stand on it's own, and this year, after the grasses died, it startes to grow basically upright! I never expected it to do that, as it is sold as a weeping cultivar, but it got me wondering if the issue is that these weepy cultivars are assumed to be going into heavily irrigated and managed landscapes, but maybe if they get left to figure themselves out they can produce a more natural shape. Obviously my single tree anecdote isn't enough to base a whole property management plan on, but I would love to know if anyone else has ever observed this phenomenon.
