Too soon for second prune?

[MSU JBoots]

I initially bought and pruned this Austrian pine back in early September 2021. I would like to prune back and eliminate the areas with 3 branches back to two. Is it too early to do this work following the drastic fall pruning? This would be the only operation I plan to do this year except maybe some fall wiring if it does well during the growing season.

 

[M. Frary]

I would do it in late summer/early fall.
That way you can get the most in back budding.

 

[Colorado]

You could do it now if you like, could also wait until summer. I’d wait until after the candles extend and needles harden off since you just went pretty hard on it a few months ago.

 

[MSU JBoots]

Thanks guys. I’ll wait until later in the year. Although the tree has some flaws it wasn’t cheap and I really don’t want to kill it. I also hope to repot it in 2023 since it’s still in the nursery soil so it’s best to let it build strength this year. If those areas of 3 branches don’t swell I might even leave them for this year.

 

[MSU JBoots]

Forgot to take a before picture (shame, shame). However here are the after pictures. I didn’t really structural prune by that I mean remove any large branches. I just trimmed down the new growth so that the whorls of 5 and 6 have been trimmed to 2 or sometimes 3. I was a little hesitant to take them all down to 2 as it felt like I removed a lot of growth. I would estimate I removed about a 1/3 of the foliage which makes me nervous. Hoping it does well as it really needs a repot in the spring. Really hoping for some back budding so it doesn’t remain so empty on the interior.