how to I get my ball-shaped trees to grow normally?

Question

the previous owner of my house trimmed my live oaks into pom-pom shapes. they're really dense now, so dense they look like tall bushes (about 7' tall).

how do I get them to look like normal trees over time?

Answer 1

Any time a tree is pruned or bound it alters the natural growing pattern.There is no quick fix for this problem.Keep the tree fertilized and watered,and nature will take care of it in time.

Answer 2

don't cut them anymore, the trees have been trimmed by an un-educated gardener. you should never trim anything off the top of the tree. this causes the tree to compartmentalize at every cut and therefore will create big blistery looking things that will make a tree look deformed when it's dormant. and as a general rule of thumb you never take off more than 1/3 of the trees total branches. the trees strength is in the old wood not the new growth.

Answer 3

Look to see if the tree is tied up.
Some people tie the branches to form
the shapes they are looking for. The
tree will grow in the direction it is allowed.
Cut these ties and stake the tree straight
then tie it to the stake.

Otherwise it will take a lot of prunning
to get the tree back to normal. You will
still need to put a stake next to the tree
and tie the tree to it. If the branches are
growing out and not up, you may have to
tie the branches to the stake to help it grow
in that direction.

Prunning will allow the tree to grow and fill in.

Answer 4

I'd call a local nursery/ tree place in your area and ask them, my first thought is they are always gonna look like that since they've been "trained" that way. Good luck.

Answer 5

Not real sure, but I am sure I saw a question about this on garners question time on the BBC website, try there

Answer 6

I dont know, but its a good thing that you dont have tree shaped balls.