# BB tree, chop the tip off or



## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Hi, All!

I have a 4 year Bee bee tree growing in my backyard. 
It is almost 15 feet high now. I'm not sure whether or not to keep it
growing higher for another year. What is the advantage of leaving it grow taller? It may reach 20 + feet if it grows for another season.
There are some side branches at
the lower 5 feet level. This is a very strong growing tree. So what should it be, to chop off the growing tip at the tree top or let it be?


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## jbraun (Nov 13, 2013)

When I did landscaping professionally one of the things that irritated me was peoples desires to change how high a tree grows. Lots of people wanted a tree that only grew to 15' tall and then stopped. That's like saying I only want my child to grow to 3' tall and then stop. 

This tree WILL grow to 30'-50' tall if you let your neighbors opinion get out of your way. You should also know that this species has a separate male and female tree. At 4 to 6 years you should know if it will flower (female) or only produce pollen (male). In the landscape of today the lower branches are often removed to make it easier to walk or work under the trees.

Take up bonsai and then you can prune any tree to your hearts content.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

It depends what shape you want it. It can be a standard shape, single truck, or a multi- stem bush. This is a video of one of my trees planted decades ago that is in a bush shape: 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbW5WSWhdG8

I still have trees for sale:

[url]http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?333392-BeeBee-Trees-Bareroot-whips-for-sale

[/URL]


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## Hoot Owl Lane Bees (Feb 24, 2012)

odfrank

How old do these trees have to be before they bloom?
I have one and it will be 5 years old and I have not seen any signs of a flower?
I'm sure they are good for the bees but do I need more than 1?


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Thanks, jbraun.
Now I know how tall this tree should be and when it will bloom. Not sure about
the male and female trees. Anything coming from it should be fine for my bees. 
And because it is close to the fence about 10 feet away I don't want it to grow too tall. I will
leave it at 15 feet and then trim it down to a bush growing tree. This way I don't have to worry about
the tree falling over after a big winter storm like the ones we just had. I control its growth for a good reason.


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## jbraun (Nov 13, 2013)

beepro, 

Sorry about my post yesterday. I was in a bad mood or woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

So now for some helpful pruning hints. Go up to about 6' - 10' and cut the main leader. The tree will respond by putting a lot of new growth. You can then chose a new leader or if they form a wide crotch leave more than 1 leader. A shallow angled crotch is prone to breaking. Now your tree will be able to stay lower without "Topping" or tip pruning. That form of maintenance weakens the tree plus it looks unnatural. If you don't have one you can pick up a pole saw to use so you don't have to use a ladder to prune high up in the tree.

I prefer to start pruning my trees while they are young so I can avoid spending a year or so while the tree catches up to a drastic procedure as I described for you. So all of my fruit trees I keep at 8' - 12' feet and open in the middle. They don't look anything like a natural shaped tree.

I hope this helps you.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Ahh, no problem there. We just been out of a new moon 2 days ago, so ppl are a bit moody/edgy like the bees lately.
Men or women they don't even know why it happened. As long as you don't turn into a weirdwolves, you're o.k. Jk!
I think I will leave this young tree grow for another year just to observe its growing habit to learn something from it.
If I don't like what I see at the end of the season then the main leader is off for a bushier growth habit next season. Maybe
this way it will bloom on its 6th year. I'll have to supplement with other bee plants and veggies on this summer dearth. Or give
my hives some homemade locally sourced patty subs mix. Thanks for the good advice though.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

jbraun said:


> You should also know that this species has a separate male and female tree. At 4 to 6 years you should know if it will flower (female) or only produce pollen (male)..



wait.....what?....I have never seen this before? If so I need to plant more to hedge my bets.


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## jbraun (Nov 13, 2013)

I need to make a retraction. Tetradium daniellii does NOT have separate male and female trees. I was at a Pennsylvania Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources page about invasive trees. This info was on that page. I didn't check it any further so now I'm saying oops. I looked at 2 other sources (Botanica and Sunset National Garden Book) and neither them mentioned that fact. Sorry!


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Thanks for the updated info. Either way I still have one tree because the
other tree I did not water all summer long as an experiment. Looks like I have
to wait another 2 year to see flowers or seeds when I hedge the main growing tip off.
That would be on next season. When planting in a water log area be sure to raised the
bed so that their root system will not drown. I put in a raised bed about 2 feet high to 
plant it in.


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