I decandled one of my black pines this week. I can’t say it makes much sense on the surface, but I have reason to believe good will come of it. I gave this a try at the suggestion of Akio Kondo. In a couple of years I’ll know more about the technique – for now it’s more of a working theory.
What I’m curious about is how this looks from the outside. Any ideas why I’d do this or what I hope to accomplish? I’ll say more about the process next week.
Japanese black pine – before decandling
After decandling
After needle-pulling
After cutback
Tree interior – detail
Tree interior – detail
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Fr. Tom Davis says
I was told that one should either do spring decandling or fall decandling, but not both.
Your comments please…
Gary Wharton says
Decandling in the fall is a little out there. However, if the tree is strong as this one appears to be it should take the abuse. Especially if you have favorable growing conditions and superior winter aftercare.
This pine appears to lack interior branching, which this procedure could promote. I assume that the resultingr fall /winter bud formation may also be more evenly distributed along the entire branch and less concentrated at the brach tips.
This is an interestind concept and quite daring.
Good luck
Gary Wharton
John kirby says
Jonas, interesting. My assumption is that it willgive you more uniform and controlled spring growth. This will allow you to have the spring strength spread across the tree and possibly result in more interior buds. I would think that you would also gain needle uniformity even more rapidly. I wonder if this approach would allow you to show a tree in spring or early summer, which is quite difficult using summer decandling of spring growth. Interesting.
John