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Decandling a shohin black pine

June 30, 2020 by Jonas Dupuich

Late June through mid-July marks the end of the decandling season in my area. This means it’s time to start working on the smaller pines in my garden.

The tree below is sixteen-years-old. It grew strong this spring which is a reflection of the fact that the tree is still young and not fully ramified. In time, I hope for the spring growth to be less than half as vigorous.

Black pine

Shohin black pine – Gyozan pot

The work this time of year includes decandling, needle-pulling, and minor cutback. I’ll postpone the wiring until fall or winter and will repot the tree in a shallower container around the end of the year.

Here’s the tree after decandling, needle-pulling, and cutback.

After decandling

After decandling and pulling needles – 7.5″

I’ll hold off on fertilizing the tree for one-to-two months but will make sure the tree gets a moderate amount in fall. In November, it will be time to prune, pluck, and wire. Will provide an update when I do!

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Filed Under: Bonsai Development Tagged With: Black Pine, Decandling, Shohin

Previous Post: « Slowing down sacrifice branches on black pine
Next Post: Decandling young bunjin pines »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gary McCarthy says

    June 30, 2020 at 4:14 am

    WOW!!! That’s a SWEET little tree!

    • scott chadd says

      June 30, 2020 at 11:12 am

      jonas one of the things that i would like to know is how many hours does an activity like this require. i know you are a trained, experienced and skilled bonsai practitioner and so your work will probably proceed at a more rapid pace than a novice. however, i think a few words about the commitment required to perform these tasks might be helpful

      • Jonas Dupuich says

        June 30, 2020 at 1:00 pm

        Thanks, Scott, that’s a great idea. For this tree, my girlfriend decandled it in about 15 minutes, and a friend plucked the needles and did the cutback in about one hour. I checked in along the way to see how the work was going. I expect I’d do the work in a similar amount of time. Will try to make similar notes in future posts for the more intensive activities!

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      June 30, 2020 at 12:58 pm

      Thanks, Gary!

  2. Guilard says

    July 6, 2020 at 1:33 pm

    ou la la ,il est presque a poil le pauvre !!!

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      July 6, 2020 at 1:37 pm

      Yes, they’re thin now but I expect them to fill in again over the summer.

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