In many nurseries and garden departments of DIY stores, there are tall plants in numerous variations to buy. Unfortunately, the spindle shrub is rarely one of them. If you can't find a suitable plant, simply grow your standard tree yourself.
In order to raise a spindle shrub to a standard, you need one thing above all: patience
Can you grow a high trunk yourself?
Growing a standard tree yourself does take some patience, but it's certainly possible and will save some money as a by-product. Because garden centers can of course also be paid for the tedious work. However, you have to allow for a few years until your cutting has grown into a beautiful tall spindle bush. Pull the high trunk either directly at the desired location or in a bucket.
How do you grow a high trunk?
Look for a young spindle bush with a strong central shoot that is as straight as possible. Tie the main shoot of this plant to a support stick and cut off any side shoots. Do this for the next few years, until the spindle bush has reached the desired trunk height. Now cut off the shoot tip. At this height, the growth of the crown begins.
Only cut off the shoot tip when you are really sure that the trunk is tall enough for your needs. The length of the trunk can hardly be changed later, it only grows in width and becomes increasingly thick.
To get a nice, round crown, keep cutting back the new side shoots to three to four leaves. Do not remove the support rod until the trunk is really strong. Choose a rather tall variety of the spindle bush in order to grow a standard stem from it.
The best tips for growing tall trees:
- choose a tall variety
- remove all side shoots
- the spindle bush likes to grow in width
- Determine the desired trunk height right from the start
- shape the crown after cutting off the shoot tip
- Trim side shoots for a rounded crown
- Allow for growth in trunk thickness
- only conditionally hardy in pots
tips
If you are unsure which young plant is better suited, then grow several standard trees and later choose the most beautiful tree. It takes a lot of time for the plant to reach the desired size.