Five Year Native Tree Challenge: Gabler’s Blackhaw

[Gabler]

There’s a bunch of this stuff around. It grows all over, but I never knew what it was called. After leaf-out, I used one of those plant-ID websites where you submit a picture, and I’m 99% sure it’s Viburnum prunifolium. I collected this average looking shrub, obviously after leaf-out, just curious to see what would happen. As it turns out, a month later, it’s still in good health. The roots are evenly spread, with lots of fine roots close to the trunk, and I’m also a big fan of the bark. You’ll notice the current leader is very long. I wanted to leave enough leaves on the tree for recovery after collection. I’ll chop it eventually. The bush in the background is lilac. I figured it would offer good shade for a recovering understory tree.

 

[Darth Masiah]

bark does look nice.

 

[Gabler]

The tree still appears to be in good health, as the buds are just starting to swell and open. Weeds had filled the pot, so I pulled them and topped off the pot with some pumice. You can still see some moss peeking through.

I didn’t want to chop the trunk too far, since I’m still thickening the next section, but I needed to chop it somewhat in order to move the tree by car from my parents’ place where I collected it to my new place. I’m hoping for lots of growth from the current apex. There’s plenty of dormant buds, at least.

 

[Gabler]

A quick update.

 

[Gabler]

You may notice the top half of the trunk is long and straight in the preceding post. I pruned it back a bit shortly after taking that photo to induce budding in the middle section of the trunk, even though I should know better than to impulse prune, and it died all the way down to the next-highest branches with leaves, which were fairly low on the trunk. Fortunately, the whole tree seems healthy this spring. Every branch leafed out.

 

[Cmd5235]

Interesting. I've only done big trunk chops for collecting while dormant, so I've only ever had them die back to a bunch of dormant buds on the trunk, which always have seemed plentiful. Still has potential. I'm glad someone else is growing blackhaw viburnum.

 

[Gabler]

Interesting. I've only done big trunk chops for collecting while dormant, so I've only ever had them die back to a bunch of dormant buds on the trunk, which always have seemed plentiful. Still has potential. I'm glad someone else is growing blackhaw viburnum.

Yeah. The tree is fine, but it will definitely take more than five years to develop it now. When it leafed out last year, I was annoyed to discover it only grew branches at the very top and at the base. I figured I’d let it grow through June and then try to induce some back-budding, so I cut it lower. Big mistake. At least I have lots of vertical growth to choose a new leader.

 

[Gabler]

 

[Gabler]

Not much visible progress. I just let it grow into a bush over the summer and then pruned it back a bit in the fall.

 

[Cmd5235]

I had some decent fall color on mine. I love them, but find them very frustrating. Glad you’re still moving along with this one

 

[Gabler]

I had some decent fall color on mine. I love them, but find them very frustrating. Glad you’re still moving along with this one

The tree has suffered a tremendous amount of dieback, but I'm pressing onward with it to see what happens. I'm not attached to it. I consider it an experiment.