Decandling a field-grown pine

I kicked off this year’s decandling season by working on a pine that had been left to grow freely for a few years.

Black pine with long shoots

When decandling, we have the option to simply remove the current year’s growth or, if the tree is growing vigorously, to cut back to any spot along a branch that has healthy needles. Here’s an example.

Spring growth on a long shoot

After decandling (removing the current year’s new growth)

Decandling the shoot above can reduce the internode length of shoots that will develop over summer, but it does little to reduce long internodes that developed last year.

To make this branch as short as possible, I cut back to a spot where several pairs of healthy needles were growing.

After making the cut

Removing some of the previous year’s growth is a great way to reduce vigor (which is helpful for slowing down young trees) and create compact internodes (which can be good for black pines at any stage of development).

Here’s the tree after cutback and decandling.

After decandling and thinning needles

Having just reduced so many branches made it a good time to work on the tree so I lowered the first two branches with short pieces of rebar and wired most of the others.

After wiring – 20″ tall

I expect this summer’s growth to be uneven as I decandled some shoots at the normal spot (which can stimulate adventitious buds) while on others I shortened the branches further (which can stimulate needle buds – see “Bud types” for details on how pines grow). This unevenness is OK on trees in early stages of development but isn’t always appropriate for more mature pines (such as pines that you’re preparing for an exhibit).

For an overview of decandling basics, check out Black pine decandling: an in-depth guide.

News & Updates

[Podcast on grafting native junipers]

• If you’re interested in learning about the pros and cons of grafting native junipers, check out the latest episode of the Black Pondo Podcast. Host Jeremiah Lee interviews California bonsai professional Peter Tea to offer an in-depth look at what to consider when debating whether or not to graft Rocky Mountain, California, Sierra, or other native junipers. It’s the best discussion on the topic I know of – check it out at the Black Pondo Podcast.