Decandling a shohin black pine

The last of my pines to be decandled this year are the smallest of the bunch. Giving these trees less time to recover helps keep summer growth in check and needles short. I removed all but the smallest spring shoots, and then removed extra needles, leaving around 5 pairs on each branch.

Shohin black pine before decandling

After decandling

After removing extra needles

I knew there were a lot of branches on this tree but had no idea exactly how many. Does 160+ surprise you? My trustworthy assistant snapped a shot after each cut so I could string together the images.

Good thing not all of the branches need wire – I can’t imagine adding 80 wires to the tree! And as the tree is still young, I don’t know how many more branches I can expect before I feel the tree is “full.”