Native Plants

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Friday - June 05, 2009

From: Medway, MA
Region: Northeast
Topic: Pruning, Trees
Title: Pruning tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Answered by: Nan Hampton and Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

Thank you for your answer regarding when my tulip tree will flower. I also understand it can/will grow to over 100 feet so should we be pruning it a certain way to keep it contained? thank you

ANSWER:

You will not be able to prune it to keep it contained. It will eventually become a very large tree. The only recommendations I could find for pruning your tuliptree is that other than trimming it to create a central leader and pruning out branches infected with cankers, no other pruning is required. The Complete Book of Pruning (by Duncan Coombs, Peter Blackburne-Maze, Martyn Cracknell and Roger Bentley, 2001) also recommends removing any vertical shoots that occur on branches. Any pruning should be done in the winter. Here is more information on caring for your tuliptree from the University of Florida IFAS Extension.

From the Image Gallery

Tulip tree
Liriodendron tulipifera