The last two posts featured shohin black pines that were strong enough to decandle (see post one and post two for details). Here’s what to do when the lower branches are weak.
The new growth on the lower branches looks good on the tree below, but the shoots are short and the buds are small compared with the foliage on the sacrifice branch.
Container grown black pine – 15 years old from seed
New shoot on the sacrifice branch
New shoot on a lower branch
I decandled the lower branches in mid-July last year without touching the sacrifice branch. As a result, the lower branches failed to produce summer growth while the sacrifice branch grew stronger.
Now that the trunk has reached the desired thickness, I’m looking to remove the sacrifice branch over the next year. I like to do this in stages to prevent the tree from producing long shoots near the place where I cut.
Here’s the tree after reducing the sacrifice branch.
After reducing the sacrifice branch
And here’s the tree after decandling and pulling needles on the sacrifice branch.
After thinning needles and decandling the sacrifice branch – 20″ tall
The main reason I postponed decandling the lower branches until next year is that I want to be sure to get a good response. I could likely have decandled this year, but I’m not positive I’d see the growth I’m looking for to develop over summer.
The tree is currently 20″ tall to the top of the sacrifice branch, but I expect the future height of the tree to be closer to 12″.
Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight
New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday
Bob says
Nice specimen! Wish I could grow one like that, but 15 years from now I would be 83!
Jonas Dupuich says
Ha – thanks Bob! Will do a series on making trees in a shorter time frame once they’re further along 🙂
Leonard Bell says
Jonas,
Outstanding series showing the development of this black pine. The only detail that I would like to see included is the timing between the steps to give a clue as to how to repeat on pines of my own. And what will be the timeline to cut off the sacrifice branch?
Also, how long did the sacrifice branch take to thicken the main trunk? I have seen some nursery stock that looks promising with 2″ or 3″ dia. trunks but held off purchase for lack of this kind of info.
Once again, great series.
Regards,
Leonard
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Leonard – thanks for the note! Each of the pines from the last few posts had several sacrifice branches over the years. Each sacrifice branch likely grew at least 3-4 years before I reduced and finally cut them off. Some likely grew at the same time while others grew in succession. I’ve never thought of it this way, but the process might look like this:
– years 3-6: sacrifice branch #1
– years 5-9: sacrifice branch #2
– years 8-13 sacrifice branch #3
– years 10-15: sacrifice branch #4
I’d like to show the process on a single tree but have found it tricky as I often start with 50-100 similar looking trees and have yet to take photos of ALL of them each year for more than a decade 🙂 Will see what I can do to start stringing together the steps.
José Pereira says
Hello Jonas.
How many years has this sacrifice branch?
Jonas Dupuich says
Good question JosĂ© – I’m not sure! My guess is that it’s been growing 4-5 years, give or take a year.
Timothy Luetkemeyer says
Hi Jonah,
First time poster here. Great blog!
How many times has this tree been repotted in those 15 years? Any rough timeline that you would recommend repotting to the next size up? Or do the 1-2 year old seedlings go into a large pot and stay there for a number of years?
Very interested in achieving this trunk size with a container grown tree!
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Timothy – thanks for the note! I have no idea exactly how many times the tree has been repotted over the last fifteen years. I usually use 1-3 containers the first year, a second container after 2-3 years, a third after 3-4 years, and then I likely repot every 2-4 years on average after that. (I said 1-3 the first year as I may start the seed in one container, make a seedling cutting in another container, and then repot the tree into its own container before it is a year old.)
The basic rule, however, is always the same – I repot if I have trouble watering and the lack of fresh soil is slowing the tree down.
Hope this helps!