The benefits of reducing sacrifice branches incrementally

One of the top goals of developing black pine bonsai is to encourage balanced growth. Because pines are apically dominant, they naturally produce strong growth near the apex and at the tips of branches. We expect to see smaller shoots on the lower branches and in the tree’s interior.

Refined pine bonsai can produce shoots that are the same size on both the upper and the lower branches.

Black pine – 30+ years in training

New shoots near the apex

New shoots on a low branch

When we remove sacrifice branches, it’s common for the area near the cut branch to become more vigorous. Here are two examples on a pine I pruned at decandling time.

In the photo below, you can see a large branch near the apex that extends about 8″ to the right.

Young pine after decandling

I had originally planned to remove the branch in fall, but instead opted to shorten it after wiring the rest of the branches.

Young pine after reducing the apex and wiring the branches

Two months later, it’s easy to see where I reduced or removed branches as the new shoots in these areas are relatively long. Here’s what the new shoots look like on branches were no big cuts were made.

New shoots on a branch with no big cuts

And here are new shoots growing from a spot where I reduced a branch by half.

Long shoots near a cut branch

This effect is easy to spot near the apex where several long shoots are developing.

Long summer shoots near the spot where I reduced the apex

If I had left the apex alone in spring, I’d expect the branches growing nearby to remain short. Instead, I now have several branches that are twice as long as the other branches in the area.

Some imbalance is expected in trees entering the refinement phase, but I like to reduce the imbalance as best I can to simplify my work going forward.

As you can see from the photo below, the imbalances are noticeable, but not severe.

Thirteen year-old black pine in early stages of refinement

In the last few posts, I looked at trees where I left the sacrifice branches in place to avoid stimulating long internodes. This is particularly important in shohin bonsai where short internodes are required to keep trees small.

To avoid triggering long summer shoots, I typically remove sacrifice branches on refined bonsai in fall or late winter as the resulting surge in growth will come in spring instead of summer. Because the spring growth will be removed the next time I decandle, I can delay the effect of the cut branches for one or two seasons instead of bearing the result all at once.

Space Available in this Month’s Bonsai Development Intensive

I’ll be hosting the summer Development Intensive on August 9-11 in which we’ll focus on fundamental wiring techniques, working with collected material, and carving techniques on juniper bonsai. Read more about the Development Intensive.