Ohia rescue

[Mitzi M]

In my experience, generally, the younger ohias look the bushiest. As they get older they grow tall, with higher branches unless they're exposed to strong winds, like near the coast. (I'd imagine that this may be nature's version of the pruning method Carey described.) Ohias have evolved along with a rich and diverse understory of smaller trees, shrubs and ferns. Sometimes people think that the uluhe fern, which looks like a vine and often climbs on ohias, is smothering the tree. In fact, these ferns are native and play an important role in soil development and moisture retention. The introduced "trash fern", which looks like the houseplant Boston Fern, does choke out small plants, but if your trees are reasonably taller, then the ferns may at least be helping to conserve moisture in place of the native understory. Drought times like right now are particularly rough on stressed ohias. A couple of ideas to get a bushy, filled out look: try adding some of the native understory trees and shrubs that would have been on your land. Depending where you are and how mature and shady your canopy is, these could include akia, mamaki, maua, and alahe'e. Also, you can wait until it starts to rain some more and try air layering nicely shaped ohia side branches. Eventually you'll have a crop of smaller more filled out trees to fill in the sunnier spots.

Aloha,
Mitzi