I've just had a question from Paula (*waves*), about a Bay tree in a pot:

She says:

“I have inherited a bay tree lollipop growing in a pot. It's about 1.5m in height and has been neglected. The top has become quite sparse, and the tree has developed a secondary crown, so that above the crown, where several branches grow out to form the lollipop, one of the branches has become much stronger than the others, and about 20 cm higher it has formed another crown where branches grow out, and another 10-15 cm above that a third crown is already forming.

My question is, should I prune this stronger branch right back to the main crown, so that the lollipop can bush out properly? Doing this would create a hollow where that branch came out. Would I be better off just pruning the secondary crown right back to where it forms?"

 

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