So you bought yourself an ‘ornamental’ tree? It sounds so innocuous, doesn’t it? I mean ornaments just look pretty, and they stay small too, right? And that’s exactly what a friend of ours thought when she planted her ornamental curly willow...and watched it explode into a 25 foot tree that leans over her house and dwarfs the entrance of her home. It’s a cool tree, but it wasn’t trained to do what the owner wanted.
Just like a child who is given everything he wants will be come ‘overgrown’ (spoiled), the cute little ornamental tree needed to be taught what was expected of it. And believe it or not, trees are smart in that way - they respond to the skillful touch of someone trained in tree correction. The story reminds me of another one in John 15 about the Great Vinedresser who prunes the vine to prevent overgrowth in ways that are not helpful. A little bit of pain for the tree now can have much better long term results!
The moral of the story is that whether it's your children or your ornamental trees, make sure to keep them trimmed and pruned, or they may turn out more difficult to handle in the long run.
