Black Pine Question

I have this shohin black pine that now has too many upper branches. Can I trim it now or do I have to wait until spring?
Iris

bonsaisr wrote:

I have this shohin black pine that now has too many upper branches. Can I trim it now or do I have to wait until spring?
Iris

Wow that is a loaded question ! Here is my perspective from So-Cal. My Blk pine routine is this ...
Action ............. When reaction
Repot Feb 1 Slows budding down
Dose Organic- March 1 Candles elongate
Cut new candles July 1 from cuts new buds form
Thin new buds Oct 1 Small shoot form from new buds
Pull needles Nov 1 looks and health improve
Wire Dec 1 In so-cal buds can start to move for next year now. Wire slows down budding from slight stress

So, that is what I call a tree that is on Schedule. Any time you get a raw tree and start working on it out of schedule ( like we all do) there will be a range of reactions that are out of schedule.

Can I guess that you wired and trimmed a couple months ago. And perhaps a little needle work. So you have new buds that formed and have elongated slightly. The new candles are green meaning not ready to wire. The top is loaded with lots of strong buds.

So I've been working up to my opinion of your question's answer. ( jeez long winded, eh?) I would say no. To get back on schedule I would let it go for the winter, watch for the hardining off of the new branches, and if you cant keep your hands off ,do a careful thinning and wiring down new shoots to horizontal ,in the late winter early spring. This should give enough time to get a new set of candles to build upon for the summer . Even though you have strong buds on top if you wire these branch down you will see a definite weakening of them. You can always cut them later-- for now keep most for optimum strength.

okay Im outside to pull needles now
--R

Sorry, but your schedule is too far off of mine to be of much help. I am in Zone 5, and the pines will be dormant until April.
Iris

The answer I got on another forum was that the tree will be totally dormant & hardened off at the end of November, & I can trim it then.
Iris

good luck

Iris,

Fall work on Japanese black pines can include needle plucking and some lighter pruning. When pruning a pine, leave the stub longish so it can dry out and the tree can compartmentalize the wound. Later, when the stub has dried, you can carve it more naturally. The tree will lose less moisture this way and you will avoid big swollen cuts.

You can also do this in spring, but for what you are planning, you should have plenty of time for the stubs to dry out and not hurt the tree.

Hope this helps!
Chris

I removed the excess branches. I don't think a picture would show much, since this year's needles are pretty long. I left short stubs, & there was a little blood. I will trim it up later on toward spring. The main problem with this tree is a bit of inverse taper at the base, which I gather is a common problem. In the spring I will try scarifying the bark & see if that helps. Any other suggestions?
Iris

bonsaisr wrote:I removed the excess branches. I don't think a picture would show much, since this year's needles are pretty long. I left short stubs, & there was a little blood. I will trim it up later on toward spring. The main problem with this tree is a bit of inverse taper at the base, which I gather is a common problem. In the spring I will try scarifying the bark & see if that helps. Any other suggestions?
Iris

Sorting out the roots can help, although merely a radial root spread won't do the whole job. You might try wrapping wire fairly tightly, letting the tree grow unhindered, then removing the wire when it cuts in a bit (at this stage it can take years to heal, though, imo). Or you can split the base from beneath just a bit if you have easy access to the base of the trunk. Scarifying might work if you do it carefully and work to make it look natural.

Good luck!
Chris