Ceanothus Trewithen Blue - Training to grow as a tree

Hi

I recently bought this Ceanothus Trewithen Blue which was sold by the nursery as grown for ornamental tree purposes, which is what I wanted.

It’s 152cm tall at the moment.

It doesn’t look like it’s been pruned yet and the main stem/trunk seems very thin.
I’m just about to re-pot it and looking for some advice please on pruning and whether I should take some height off it?

Photo of my plant and another on what it should eventually look like.

Thanks in advance.

 

No advice but the end result is beautiful! I love Ceanothus but they always get too big in my sunny back garden and aren't really happy in the shade at the front. Good Luck!

 

I have a ceanothus which formed, if not a tree, then certainly a large shrub with bare lower stems/ trunks . To be honest I can't recall how it ended up that way, it's been there for years. The main thing is a position in full sun, they are generally considered short lived but I've had a couple over the years which have lasted 15 years or more in sheltered positions.

Have a look at this, see if it's of any help .

How to grow ceanothus / RHS Gardening

 

I'd plant it as is for now, or even pot on and overwinter in a sheltered position until next spring if you are in a cold area, I see you are probably doing just that.

Any pruning should be done after flowering in future year, but I wouldn't be doing any just yet, personally, it's going to take a few years to get to any thing like that picture.
Light pruning once established would be my way of doing it I think, eventually you can remove all lower growth from the main stem.
They used to say that allowing growth on the main stem allowed it to thicken up faster, not sure how true that is.

 

It was only after several years that my fence-trained Ceanothus became anything like a self-supporting big shrub/small tree. Get it in the ground, against a sunny fence or wall. Either fix a sturdy stake to the support or loosely tie the stem to horizontal wires fixed to the support. Either way, it'll need tying in initially.