When decandling season comes around, I start with the biggest pines in the garden and work my way down to the smallest ones over a period of four-to-six weeks. This gives the larger trees enough time to develop needles over summer that are just the right size (see “Decandling overview” for details).
Two of my bigger pines were field-grown at Lone Pine Gardens in Sebastopol, California. They are in early stages of branch refinement and are ready for decandling.
Field grown pine from Lone Pine Gardens
On the first pass, I decandled the tree and shortened several branches.
After pruning and partially decandling
Next, I plucked excess needles in crowded areas.
Pruning and plucking complete – 32″
I’m keeping the top sacrifice branch for the time being to help heal some large wounds on the back of the tree, but I plan to remove the lowest sacrifice branch within the next year.
I took a similar approach with a slightly larger tree. I thinned crowded areas, decandled most of the spring growth, and pulled excess needles.
Before decandling
After decandling and pulling needles – 34″
As with the above tree, I didn’t decandle branches that I wanted to grow bigger. Most of the heavy branches will be removed over the next couple years which means the smaller branches have some catching up to do.
If you’d like to see a video of this kind of work, Eric Schrader recently produced a five-video series on decandling that includes work on a field-grown pine from the same batch as the above trees.
You can catch the first video in the series here, or check out Eric’s other videos on the Bonsaify YouTube channel.
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Lucas says
Hi Jonas,
About how long does it take to see the new summer buds begin to grow at the cut sites where you have decandled?
Thanks,
Lucas
Jonas Dupuich says
On some trees, I see the buds forming before I decandle, but the buds generally appear 2-4 weeks after decandling.
Roshan says
What would be a good indicator on when exactly to decandle? I am in Chicago(zone 5). My trees are vigorous and the new candles are opening up and around 1 inch. Should I wait more?
Jonas Dupuich says
The best way to time decandling is to ask someone in your area who is experienced with decandling and has beautiful pines – maybe a local bonsai nursery or bonsai club. The second best way to figure it out is to pick a date like June 15, decandle, and then see how the tree looks in fall. If the tree produces summer growth that is too strong, decandle later in the season the following year. If it’s not vigorous enough, decandle earlier the next year.
What the candles look like doesn’t help with the timing but it can help us decide whether or not to decandle at all if the tree is weak.
Roshan says
Thank you Jonas
Roshan says
Thank you Jonas
Tyler says
I love Lone Pine Gardens, they have some great material and are lovely folks. Iām excited to see more posts as you work in these trees.
Steven Warburton says
Jonas – What is the thought process when thinning the needles out? Would you leave only needles in locations where you may want budding to occur? Any concern about reducing foliage mass “too much”? Do pines differ in their response to needle plucking/thinning (black, white, shore, mugo, etc)?
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Steven! Yes, there is concern about removing too much, but healthy pines can respond well to significant needle reduction. I definitely leave needles where I’d like branches to grow, even if the odds are low. If I don’t get a bud there, I have the option to cut back to the old needles instead of decandling which can help me stimulate needle buds (a technique that works on really vigorous branches).
Different species definitely respond differently, and I only remove lots of needles on black pines – I’m far more conservative with white, shore, and mugo pines.
Steven Warburton says
Thanks Jonas! Appreciate the follow up and info as always