I’m looking for suggestions or advice on how to style this clump style pomegranate. I think 5 trunks would be a nice sweet spot to be in total. Looking for advice on:
I have no experience with this style and appreciate any advice!
For the front I’d go with the last pic, maybe rotate it a bit to show the large trunk at the back. As is it’s a bit covered by another one closer to the front.
I’d leave all trunks for now to thicken it up.
You can always choose to remove it later on, especially if it’s in the back.
three of your trunks are very similar in size. you may want to pick out the one you want as your biggest and let that one run to put on girth. Pomegranates put on girth in a pot. Pomegranates can be wintered inside in cold climates in a green house to extend the growing season also. they do very well in the hotter, drier climates than many of the other tree species. feed it and see what happens. It may style itself for you. Mother nature frequently does a better job than I do.
Would you prune the trunk you want to stay smaller while letting the other one run? I live in zone 10b so they grow very well here. I’m not worried about the horticulture but more about how to shape its growth
Based upon the most recent view, I would cut the left major trunk above the first branch going left and the right major trunk above the branch going right and to the back remembering to leave a stub. I would also push the outer two trunks away from the central trunk by cutting a notch in each end of a stick. It still leaves you with the left trunk crossing in front of the other two so a different front may be better, but at least it starts getting some differences in trunk diameter.
anything that handicaps the ones you want to stay smaller while allowing the one main one to grow thicker. it is your call. good zone for pomegranates. mine did well in Phoenix but failed to ramify. could put girth on nicely though. I brought them to WI and have them in a greenhouse and they are now producing a lot of growth so I should get some ramification. Phoenix has the heat and sun but tends to be too dry. always got climate restrictions on most things but pomegranates are easy to grow and are a good thing to experiment with.
you can grow them from cuttings but I suspect you already know that. I have a cutting that is already an inch in diameter that I thickened in Phoenix. could have a better success rate with my cuttings. not sure if it is when I am taking them or what. I like them in clumps.
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I’d consider a heavy cutback to reduce the long straight sections - but leave enough room below the cut for new shoots to emerge where you want them. Basically use clip-n-grow as a developmental technique to add movement and primary branching where there was none. This means letting the new shoots develop for 1-3 years before they’re chopped again to create movement and taper where it fits in with your design. Not all branches/trunks need to be chopped in the same year as the developmental goals will differ from trunk to trunk, and branch to branch. Otherwise, Poms like to grow straight & leggy…
you have some nice movement and taper down low - you can build on that. Aesthetically, I think clumps need to have significant width and taper at their base; so much so that the canopy or ‘drip line’ is not much wider than their base (for a clump). So I’d consider putting it in the ground on, a tile or board, until you get the girth/width/taper that supports a clump design, otherwise the tree will look young and top heavy.
