Tamarack

[hemlock]

Hello,
I've notices that many of the Tamarack trees on my property have very crooked trunks. Is this normal for Tamarack? Some of them go off almost 90 degrees at the top. Others are sort of zig-zag around. Thanks.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I"ve not noticed this. Perhaps because of some ice storm sometime? Even heavy snow.

We have a lot of scotch pine and I notice every time the top gets broken off, the lower branches will bend up to make it look like they were the original tops. We also cut Christmas trees for our own use and if I leave some on the bottom those limbs will also curl and go up rather than out.

 

[RNLA]

Hey Backwoods, that is why we don't "top" trees any more. There are many reasons for the crooked trunks and mostly just they way they happen to grow, because of their environment. I love seeing a tree that has been virtually untouched; even in the urban areas if a tree is selected and planted correctly it can go it's whole life without so much as a little clean up work now and again.