Palo Verde Desert Museum Branches Drooping

[noobystok]

We recently noticed that our younger Palo Verde Tree was much shorter than usual and realized that all of the branches are drooping down more like a willow tree rather that being stiffer and pointing up and out as they had been. It went from being about 15ft tall to only about half that. Attaching some pictures of its current state.

I'm wondering...

1. Is this an actual problem?
2. What would cause this in the first place, whether it's an issue or not.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

-David

 

[Marck]

Your Desert Museum Palo Verde (Parkinsonia x 'Desert Museum') looks healthy to me. I believe the arching growth is simply due to the weight of the vigorously growing branches.

You may be able to train the branches to grow more upright, either by staking them up or by loosely tying them together. You would then leave the branches staked or tied for one or two years until secondary thickening reaches a point where the branches will stay in position.

If you find staking the tying the branches to be too awkward or unattractive, you can also prune the branches back to an upward-facing lateral bud. Do this yearly to any drooping branches. The end of Winter would be the best time for this type of pruning.