Help please to indentify tree and pruning

[aberdeen]

Hello, am new to this forum. My hubby and I have just moved to a new house and are unsure about this tree in our garden.

Initially I thought it may have been Elder, but now not so sure.

[image: I was horrified to find a huge branch had come down and was almost on the ground. I have tied it up but feel it will be too heavy to keep back. I'm afraid to cut it off without damaging the tree.

I doubt whether it has been pruned at all for some time.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks

Aberdeen

[echinosum]

The green berries are grapes, as I hope you realise, they have specific pruning requirements, but I guess you are not asking about those. The white berries are I presume what you are asking about. They something in the Sorbus family, closely related to a rowan. Sorbus with white berries are often S fruticosa or S cashmeriana, but there are other possibilities. But knowing it is a sorbus fairly similar to a rowan is probably enough for you.

You don't normally prune them very much except if you need to reduce it or repair damage. Prune it when dormant in the winter, don't reduce it too much at once, try to keep it balanced, would seem to be sensible.

[David E. Ross]

If the grape vine is growing on the tree, you have a problem. Grape vines can become very heavy to the extent of breaking the tree. From your photo, I believe the grape vine is quite mature and thus quite heavy.

[aberdeen]

David, thanks I think you may be right. The vines don't seem to be spread out in any logical formation. Just hanging heavily from thick woody stems diect from the main trunk.

I would think that the only way to stop the lower branches collapsing would be to cut back to the wood, then I would be afraid that would damage it.

The other vines heading up will soon be hanging into our neighbours garden. We will really need to cut them back, and again not sure how much to take off??

[David E. Ross]

If you want to keep the grape vine, you can still prune it severely. You can even cut it about 3 ft (0.9 m) from the ground in mid-winter. That will stop it from fruiting for about 2-3 years, but it will allow you to train the new growth onto a proper support.

My grapes use steel pipes and wire rope for their support. See my . If you follow this same arrangement, the pipes and wire should preferably run north-south so that the sun shines equally on both sides. Unfortunately, I had to run mine east-west because of the steep slope on which my vines grow. One vine produced about 5 gallons of grapes this year.

[Don Phillipson]

This is done by making several cuts (starting farthest from the trunk.) This way you progressively reduce the weight pulling at the original split, which reduces chances of stripping bark from the trunk which you wish to keep. Leave the last stub one foot longer than your long-term plan. When the plant has completely healed, you can cut off the extra foot for cosmetic purposes.

(We assume you know the basic pruning cuts: A = When shears can do the job at a single bite, do it. B = When you must use a saw, first make a small undercut below, to prevent stripping bark when the branch falls, then your main cut across the top.

(The shape of the leaf in your elegant photo should help in identify the species.)

[aberdeen]

Thank you Don

I think we will try the shears first.

I apolosise to all that posted for the size of the photo, I was unfortunately unable to edit.