Trimming monkey puzzle.

I planted a 2 foot monkey puzzle about 8 years ago. It is now about 8 feet and i have been thinking about cutting off the very bottom "baby" branches to tidy it up.

Two questions spring to mind. What time of the year would be the best time to do this? And is there some kind of protective fungal spray I'd need to apply to the stumps.

Pic below. You can clearly see the tiny branches at the bottom that I'd like to remove.

 

Yes, no problem in removing those lower branches. Monkey Puzzle trees naturally shed their lower branches over time, anyway. Remove whole branches only, cutting close to the trunk in early spring. No need to treat the cut surfaces with anything, which is the current RHS advice.

 

Thanks for that, I was a little unsure to be honest because I've read they shouldn't be trimmed at all!!

However, on the way to work there is this beautiful monkey puzzle which I admire every time I pass, and just recently the owners have really butchered it. They've lopped off all the lower branches to about 4 feet off the ground.

Its new shape looks really nice and symmetrical and I thought mine could do with a trim too. Thanks again for the advice.

 

I agree. Stick to the little ones though.

 

Yes - they drop the lower branches themselves, but you can certainly prune as @BobTG describes. They're very popular trees here, and most of them grow in a very good habit, so they make a nice specimen tree.
They also don't cast as much shade as many other trees, so they aren't problematic near windows, or even other planting if the climate suits. There's one or two near me which are only about 12 to 15 feet from the front rooms, and they're mature trees, not youngsters.

 

I've heard they grow best with high rainfall, they can look fairly tatty after a few years around here, lots of brown patches even on young trees.

There are a few fairly decent mature ones.

 

They are lovely trees but better in that sort of setting @shiney. Many people around here have them in their front gardens but I'm sure a surveyor would have an opinion when they come to sell!

There's a collection of Monkey Puzzle trees at Biddulph Grange in Staffordshire which are mightily impressive. As they mature they lose their lower branches to look like a coniferous version of a palm tree .

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And the seeds are edible.
I thought there were not many around here but I picked up a few seeds under a tree a couple of years ago and to my surprise one of them has grown into a small seedling.

So obviously there must be a male tree close by.

 

There's one particular monkey puzzle on the way to work. It's huge, and about 6 feet away from the house in the front garden!! My guess is it's as old as the house and the very first owners must have planted the young tree never knowing just how big it would become about 100 years later. The upper branches cover the slates on the roof!

I'll take a photo of it on my way home later just to show you guys. You've got to see it to believe it.

 

Here it is. I said that the tree was about 6 feet away from the house. Looking at it more closely I reckon the trunk is more like 5 feet away!!

What it was like when it was younger God only knows. The branches must have been right up to and touching the front window.

If they ever needed a re-slate on the roof they'd have some serious problems, lol.

 

That’s an impressive tree @Esoxlucius but it would look so much better in a parkland setting. I’d be inclined to demolish the house to give it space .

 

No, that's not mine. Mines the much smaller one shown in post #1.

That tree above is one I see everyday on my way to work. I was just showing you guys how NOT to plant a monkey puzzle, lol. I'd never plant a tree with huge growing potential so close to my house.

 

I realised that it wasn’t your tree @Esoxlucius as I had seen your first post. (I wouldn’t suggest to another member to demolish their house, not very friendly .) Your tree looks as if it has good spacing around it. There’s one alongside the front door of a property near me, even closer than the one in your last photo .

 

Its really surprising how straight that tree has grown that close to a building.
Not many trees would ignore the fact it was so close to a wall.