New nursery stock Metasequoia (Dawn Redwood) too tall for deck. Too soon to chop?

[Ianjvd]

Hello BonsaiNut! I just purchased a end of year discount Dawn Redwood from a local nursery. The tree in question stands at 8.5'. Trouble is, I am stuck in an apartment for the next year or so, and my back deck has a ceiling of about 7'. I am confident the tree will be fine in its current pot as it has plenty of grow room, and it will receive full sun in its location.

So here is my question. I am in Michigan which puts me at a zone 5, and my research tells me that September is far too early to do any major pruning to this tree. Will chopping off the top 1'-1.5' hurt the tree before winter too much? If I do, any hope that I can get anything to root from the scraps this time of year?

I am planning on making as many cuttings from the main branches as I can come winter, and will be doing a major trunk chop soon after. So I don't mind losing a good deal of height right now if the tree is going to adapt well.

EDIT for pictures:

Any help would be great. Thanks!

 

[JudyB]

So I understand, the back deck is the only place you have for this, correct? Not a protection plan, just a space deal.... Cause DR are hardy to z4, so you could do this as a mulched tree outside your deck just fine... If it is a space thing, then you gotta do what you gotta do. It may sprout some new growth, and you may loose the new growth, but it probably won't kill it. Unless you can give the cuttings bottom heat and plenty of light, it may not be worth the trouble.

Oh, and welcome to Bnut!

 

[october]

Welcome to bnut. Tilt the tree so it is leaning some what sideways. Put the pot that it is in in another big pot if you have it or a plastic tote or wooden box. You should be able to tilt the tree and rest the pot its in against the insides of the larger container.

Rob

 

[Ianjvd]

Judy, thanks for the reply. Yes it is a space issue. I am on the second floor, and have a ceiling above, so Im pretty much out of options. I added some photos to my original post. I am leaning more towards just letting the top part stay smashed up top, or kind of leaning outside of the ceiling using a combination of the handrail and Rob's recommendation (thanks!).

 

[lordy]

If you leave it jammed up against the deck above, it will be a lot like Smoke's maples under window screen, where they get contorted and curvy....Yeah, I know, too little too late. Anyway, if you are going to eventually cut it short, like Judy sez, it doesnt really matter if you just cut to fit your space now, then chop for real later.

 

[Ianjvd]

Thanks again for the replies everyone. I did end up chopping a small amount off the top just to keep it from being jammed up in there. I can see the top from my couch, and I just couldnt stand seeing it jammed up there like that. Looked painful...

HOWEVER! I may have a new problem. The foliage has become extremely brittle. To a point where the if you touch them, white flakes come off everywhere and cover anything below. The foliage also breaks off very easily. My first guess was water. This is my largest tree, and I may have underestimated the water it needed in the beginning. But maybe only 3-4 days of underwatering.

The foliage was just starting to turn when this started, and seems to have stopped turning. Is this part of the season change, or is something wrong? I can take some pics later when I get home if it helps.