Christmas tree farming: How to tie tops during Christmas tree shearing. Correcting multiple leaders

Tying tops when shaping or shearing Christmas trees is one of the more difficult tasks on the farm. It can be difficult to get a crooked tree straight and then it often doesn't want to stay straight. Once you cut of thee terminal bud, lateral buds will be forced to try to grow vertically. They do not grow straight up but start sideways and then turn. This requires the tree farmer to tie the leader to a stick that is going straight up. The tree as it goes dormant will harden in this new position leaving a straight top. No two trees are alike and you need to learn about tree chemistry and tendancies as you develop your skills. It is more and art than a science. Grand Firs and Douglas firs easily grow straight tops. The real challenge is to get Noble and Noordman firs to have consistently straight tops. We use sticks to tie the branches to. The sticks are usually about 3/8 inch thick and 18 inches long.

[@kamlangworthy1104]

Very detailed and educational- I watched this video twice!

[@danahasson2892]

The power of apical dominance is amazing

[@ebnservices1058]

This is a great video. Thank you.

[@donthompson4912]

At mid July, Just look at the height of the weeds ! Loaded with beneficial insects. I bet when it finally rains the covered soil will retain more moisture too. And just think of all the money saved when only cutting the grass just before opening day. I believe your on to something here. Regenerative Agriculture. Great video.

[@stephensweet8291]

QUESTION: What would happen if all the buds are pinched off the main leader?
{Reason I am asking; I am trying to figure out how to avoid cutting the leaders less, to save time tying.}
Thanks for the very informative video!
I've pruned commercial orchards & vineyards for about 25 yr.'s and am transitioning to Christmas tree pruning.

[@FlanaganHomestead]

No branches will grow where there is no buds. So if you removed all buds it would not grow the leader that year. Most likely a branch lower on the tree will try to turn up to replace the damaged leader.

[@jamvideos4167]

Do the twist ties cut into the tree as it grows? How long do you leave them on?

[@FlanaganHomestead]

Good question no they don’t because we take them off. They are put on at the start of summer and taken off late fall of the same year. They will harden in the position you tied them in a few months.

[@chrismorden7927]

At what size would you start pruning/tying the tops? Do you just let them grow for the first couple years?

[@FlanaganHomestead]

I try to leave them alone as much as possible until they are 4 1/2 to 5 feet tall. If something gets way out of shape before then I bring it back in. A well nourished tree will fill in nicely in the next couple years. Our first trees we sheared and cut leaders very early. Took extra years to harvest and they got too full and very heavy.

[@user-tv3nu8zs3s]

What period of year can do this prune??

[@FlanaganHomestead]

@@user-tv3nu8zs3s they just now got to where they will stop growing and start to go dormant and get woody. So now until harvest they can be sheared. I like to be done by mid August so the branches are super easy to blade through.

[@user-tv3nu8zs3s]

@@FlanaganHomestead Tank you!