Florida gardening: Tips on how to trim Verawood as it blooms ahead of hurricane season
Q: How can I trim my Verawood? It’s about 2 years old and just started flowering, but the branches are too low.
– Bonny, Florida
A. As the rains and hurricane season begins, several tropical trees burst into bloom this time of year. Royal Poinciana, Jacaranda, Peltophorum, Verawood, and several others are putting on a flowering show. Planting trees is essential to our well-being. Establishing them in their new homes and performing training pruning to form good resilience for hurricane resistance is critical for a healthy, urban forest.
Native to Columbia and Venezuela, Verawood, Bulnesia arborea, is a large, tropical, evergreen tree. The trunk grows relatively straight, with branches high off the ground. The pretty, brilliant, yellow flowers are produced in late spring or summer through fall singly or in pairs. Few pests bother Verawood.
Mature trees have spreading, dense, and rounded canopies. Trees can be multi-trunked, but pruning of the young trees to form a single trunk produces a stronger, faster-growing tree. Bulnesia grows 40 to 100 feet tall; however, it is usually much shorter in Florida, 20 to 30 feet tall by 40 to 50 feet wide. Install Verawood only where there is enough room for growth, such as parks, large open lawns, broad swales, or as a specimen planting.
Recent reports from landscape professionals have said that this tree tends to have a hard time establishing a root system and may suddenly fail during the first year or two if not well cared for during the establishment time. This is new information, not backed by research. However, to err on the side of caution, it is a good idea to ensure adequate water during the first few years and keep an eye out to remove any circling roots at installation.
Prune Verawood to form a single trunk up to 6 to 10 feet before branching. The tree’s growth habit is wider than tall, so remove lower branches when the tree is young to force growth upward. The long drooping branches can be headed back several times during early growth to encourage the desirable upwards growth. Always look for and remove crossing and rubbing branches, diseased or dying wood, and dead branchlets. Also, remove any branches that form angles more than 30 degrees; such branch angles lead to the formation of included bark that splits during storms.
Do-it-yourself takes some studying and practice when it comes to pruning trees. It is an excellent idea to employ or consult a certified arborist to correctly prune trees. Those with certification are trained and tested on the proper techniques for good tree pruning. Find a certified arborist at the International Society of Arboriculture website.
Verawood should tolerate strong winds if pruned for a structurally sound form. There is little information about the wind tolerance of Verawood, but other species with hard, dense wood have proven to be very wind-resistant.
Carol Cloud Bailey is a landscape counselor and horticulturist. Send questions to carol@yard-doc.com or visit www.yard-doc.com for more information.