Puchased said tree about 8 years ago after seeing a wonderful specimen in an open garden in the West Country. People at the time said that it takes about 5 years for the "handkerchiefs" to show. We are now in our 8th year and so far there have been no "handkerchiefs but plenty of good growth.
Is the 5 years normal or am I doing something wromg. The tree stands fairly near to a small pond and as such the ground is always moist to wet - could this be a reason?
We've had one for quite a few years. You only get the "hankies" on new growth so we have always pruned it well each year in the autumn.
Thanks Mushy Pea. You have probably identified the problem in one - we haven't pruned it at all so far.
How hard do you prune it - do you prune back each branch by say one third?
I'd say you could try that to start with. Ours is so vigorous that we really prune it hard almost back to the trunk each year.