Tree Limbs Leaning

trelvrpa

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I'm having a similar problem with two different trees. One of my ironwood trees has the upper branches leaning away from my neighbor's mesquite tree. And I have a live oak tree with the upper branches leaning away from an established and much shorter navel orange tree. Both trees are leaning to the north/northwest and I've attached pictures to try and better describe what I'm talking about. Is it normal for trees to lean away from nearby established trees like this in order to compete for sunlight, etc. ? Is there any other possible reason for the leaning ? Is it possible for me to trim the upper leaning branches out some, and encourage any branches that go towards the opposite side in order to even out the canopy ? Or am I just fighting a natural phenomenon and unlikely to reverse the trend ?
 

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Trees do want to orientate themselves towards light, which is called phototropism. Usually you will see that when there is heavy competition for sunlight. Your scenario is is much less competitive. I am not familiar with your area and species so I could not say for sure. Do you have strong winds that are common out of the south/southwest?
 
Or am I just fighting a natural phenomenon and unlikely to reverse the trend ?

Probably that. You could do some light trimming on the heavy side, but I'd wait a while to see what happens.

Welcome to the TreeHouse! :beer:
 
Maybe they just don't like each other;). Most likely the light/shade thing already mentioned. Palms can twist into a corkscrew over years as shade and light around them changes. It's amazing how a brainless tree can turn and grow toward the light. We should be so smart.
 
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We don't have consistent strong winds from one direction so don't think that could be causing this. Agree, neither of these situations seem to be really competitive for sunlight.
 
Trying to avoiding some kind of mild allelopathic response? Shading? With all the literature coming out about communication between root networks, maybe they're just being polite?

At Butch suggested, you might trim back the heavy side and train out that tendency.

Cool post. Welcome.
 
Up here on the barren great plains, we have a situation in which all of the trees lean toward the southeast. This is due to the prevailing winds out of the northwest. A tree will lean with the wind as a way of reducing the bending moment (torque) at the trunk.

Other causes could be heat being radiated off of the streets, or nearby buildings. A tree will attempt to move away from the hot spot. Many good suggestions here on possible causes for the lean you see in your area.

Joel
 
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OK, I'm going to go with trimming on the heavy side. Started with the live oak today and just took out a few of the leaning branches at the top and it looks much better. The ironwood is going to be more of a challenge as it is covered with vicious thorns and has heavier branches.
Many thanks for all the insightful ideas and suggestions !
 
It really looks like they're leaning toward the light. Everything has the same favor. Even the little bushes.

Cheers
 
"Crown shyness" is what Francis Halle' calls it. Avoid contact between plants in high wind; that can send signals thru the whole plant.

Before you prune on that oak any more, you might want to make a long term plan.
 
Allelopathic compounds seems likely with Mesquite given their natural habitat. No idea about the orange being as capable though.
 
I got to agree with Grendel. They are just thicker on the light side. They don't appear to be leaning overly either.

If you hold your hand up to one eye and split the trees in half, the left sides look pretty normal, and the right sides just a bit moth eaten.

I get 'Crown Shyness' if they have spikes and I usually get someone else to prune.
 
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