Who knew the end depth study of pruning pines could be reduced down to "just cut the new growth". In this video a woman living in Japan prunes a 100 year old pine in her estate garden. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChsWT1Fkb38
It does seem a little simple for the tree they are working on.Perhaps it is similar to needle plucking to induce back budding? I wish I could understand Japanese as there is probably something missed in the translation.
What is important to know about it, is that each tree has to be evaluated for it’s fitness in deciding how far to go with it in a given season. So some trees with enormous candle extension and obvious vigor are indeed taken down to only a couple old needles being left on the end of a sprig. Others may only have half the amount of old needles taken off, and if the old needles were long, they’ll be cut in half as well. (It reduces the energy the needle can produce without taking it away entirely.) Some may have only new growth taken off and all the previous year’s growth left on, because the tree may have had a weak spring/early summer. (In all likelihood the tree will produce vigorously the next year, and the tree will be taken all the way back down to the oldest needles the next year.) Some branches can be left alone entirely if they seem weak.
Victrinia
Hi Grouper52, it is very important point. You're talking about the established tree. How about the one is still young and in training. What is a good time to prune it? Thanks.
The only "secret" is exactly when to do it, and that depends on the climate. Here, he has found that doing it during the several weeks starting July 15 each year works best, .
Hi Victrinia, thanks for bring up the important fact. It is a way to treat the long leggy branches to get more compact besides grafting. BonheWhat is important to know about it, is that each tree has to be evaluated for it’s fitness in deciding how far to go with it in a given season. So some trees with enormous candle extension and obvious vigor are indeed taken down to only a couple old needles being left on the end of a sprig. Others may only have half the amount of old needles taken off, and if the old needles were long, they’ll be cut in half as well. (It reduces the energy the needle can produce without taking it away entirely.) Some may have only new growth taken off and all the previous year’s growth left on, because the tree may have had a weak spring/early summer. (In all likelihood the tree will produce vigorously the next year, and the tree will be taken all the way back down to the oldest needles the next year.) Some branches can be left alone entirely if they seem weak.
Victrinia
Hi Grouper52, it is very important point. You're talking about the established tree. How about the one is still young and in training. What is a good time to prune it? Thanks. Bonhe
Hi Will, sorry for confusion. I talk about the best time to prune off the new growth on the young material. Any idea? Thanks. BonheIt depends what you are trying to accomplish with the pruning. Hard pruning (trunk and major branches) is best done when the tree is dormant - late fall to mid-winter - otherwise it will lose a great deal of sap, and with it, vigor. Minor pruning of small, older branches can be done anytime, but I'm in the habit (mostly for the sake of convenience) of doing it mostly when I prune off the new growth, July 15th - first week in August.
Will
Hi Ang3lfir3, good point, with unestablished JBP, we need to prune the new growth in september if we need to do it. ThanksBonhe
Are you asking about young field grown material that is not ready for bonsai training? In that case We don't prune them. Daniel field grows his material keeping after the lower most valuable branches and lets the top growth grow freely. At longer intervals some trees are topped and a new leader is chosen this is only after many years. Some of Daniel's pines have been in the ground growing for nearly 50 years (with short interludes of being moved). If you are after attempting to create some additional back budding in younger material that is being field grown my suggestion would be to treat the lower growth much the same as once they are established in a bonsai pot. The only caveat I can think of would be that by leaving the long leaders to grow freely they might usurp some of the energy from the lower branching. It is important to time pruning of leaders until after Sept as this is the time that pines put on the majority of their wood. Otherwise you loose any gains you might have received from that years growth.
I can't be certain of this timing on lower growth not can I be certain of what effect it will have on the trees. But it is worth investigating.
Hope that helps a little and I hope Will can shine a little light on how he field grows pines. I know he has a very nice Pine patch.
Thanks Will. BonheHi Bonhe,
Ang3lfire's correct. Trees in the ground are largely left alone as long as at least some of the precious lower branches retain vigor - not a problem with JBPs usually, or many others, but with some species it is, and the growth needs to be forced back into the lower branches by pruning the leader and distal parts of the other branches from time to time. At the other extreme, trees in bonsai pots or past the initial styling in training pots are usually treated as in the video, unless I have some area that needs further development.
In between are some trees in nursery pots or training pots. For the most part, depending on what I'm trying to accomplish - free growth vs back budding - and how far along they are, I will treat them like I do a tree in the ground. The technique in the video is for maintaining an established tree, mostly cosmetic (needle length) and inhibitory (branch/branchlet length), and except as one possible method for inducing back budding it has little other value in a developing tree, where needle length is not important cosmetically, and where full, vigorous growth is usually desired.
Hope that helps further.
Will
Hi Ang3lfir3, good point, with unestablished JBP, we need to prune the new growth in september if we need to do it. Thanks