I like the angles at moment. Will let rest for a little and then wire apical region next fall. I want to see how much growth I get to work with. Lots of healthy buds.
Today I pruned back to two shoots on branched Im keeping, did some needle plucking and thinning to promote back budding, and stripped one branch thats becoming deadwood. I also tightened the guy wire on the main branch. Will probably need another year or two before the wire comes off and that branch holds. I need to do some detail and secondary branch wiring in the fall.
This the how im wiring the low right branch towards the back:
There is one branch i do not know what im going to do with. Any suggestions are helpful.
Perhaps bring it down to layer in a suitable position, then keep strong, then repeatedly push the growth back to backbud for a couple years to build it out… similar to what will be done to the lower branches.
Perhaps bring it down to layer in a suitable position, then keep strong, then repeatedly push the growth back to backbud for a couple years to build it out… similar to what will be done to the lower branches.
Yeah, good idea. I can see replacing the thicker bottom branch eventually with this more delicate branch. Could get more interior growth and bring closer to trunk as well. Always looking for options to replace the thicker older growth with newer fresher growth.
I would work on improving the nebari and establishing a broader base for the tree at this stage. With careful work over a number of repots I believe this tree could be improved quite a bit. Dealing with floating and crossing roots as well as developing a more compact and shallower root ball will open up better styling options. Allowing the tree to strengthen and grow out at the same time will improve back budding response down the road for the lower branches. With pines, two key elements are the root structure and the trunk line. Improving the foundation of this tree is possible and would greatly influence the overall outcome.
Just a couple of suggestions that I believe will be helpful and rewarding in the long run.
I felt though that i needed to get the heavy branches in place before they were too thick to bend easily. The soil still drains well so I didnt want to force a repot.
The roots definitely need work so that is definitely on the agenda.