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Black Pine

Selecting branches to decandle

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Two of my young pines are almost – but not quite – ready to be fully decandled. The tree below, for example, looks ready, though you might notice that the upper branches are a bit far away from the relatively small trunk.

Japanese black pine – 13 years from seed

The upper branches have extended beyond the intended silhouette as I’m using these branches to thicken the future apex. I’m going to let these branches grow for now and decandle everything else.

Here’s what the tree looked like after decandling and limited wiring.

After decandling

I expect to let the top branches develop for no more than 1-2 years before removing them at which point the whole tree can be decandled.

Another of my trees is maybe two years ahead of this in terms of development. The new apex has extended well beyond the silhouette and the apex has almost reached the desired size. I plan to leave this sacrifice branch in place for up to 1-2 years while I continue developing the rest of the branches below.

Here’s the tree before decandling.

Black pine – before decandling

And here it is after decandling.

After decandling

In fall, I’ll re-evaluate how much longer the sacrifice branch needs to grow. When it comes off, the tree will have something close to the final silhouette.

Decandling pines in development

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A number of my 13 year-old pines are making the transition from trunk development to branch refinement. During this stage, I’ll often decandle branches that will be part of the final design while letting other branches continue to thicken.

Most of the branches on the tree below were decandled this year. The branches that I let grow will be used to thicken the apex and help close wounds.

Japanese black pine – before decandling

And here’s the tree after cutback, decandling and wiring.

After decandling and wiring

Once the sacrifice branches are removed, the tree will be much smaller.

Rough outline of the future silhouette

The lower sacrifice branch has been kept to help heal a wound on the back of the trunk. I’ll remove this branch in fall.

Sacrifice branch near the base of an old wound

The top sacrifice branch is helping to thicken the apex and close a wound higher up on the trunk.

Wound near the top of the tree

I expect to keep this sacrifice branch for another year or two. Once I’ve decided on the apex and it’s had some time to thicken up a bit, I’ll reduce the sacrifice branch and begin decandling the entire tree.

Thinning young cork bark pine bonsai

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A few years ago I created some cork bark black pines by grafting. The trees have grown well and are now quite full.

Corkbark Japanese black pine

Some of the oldest needles have recently begun to yellow which is a tip-off that the interior branches will be yellowing out as well.

To make sure that the interior branches receive enough light to stay healthy, I thinned the trees out by removing about a third of the foliage.

After thinning

Thinning the tree out like this makes the structure apparent at a glance. Over the next year or two, I may make a few decisions about the future size and style of the tree, but for now I want it to continue growing to increase the size of the trunk.

The other two trees from this group got the same treatment – minor cutback, the removal of very few needles, and no decandling.

Tree 2

Tree 2 – after cutback

Tree 3

Tree 3 – after

If you’re curious to see how these trees have developed from the beginning, see the following articles here.

Be patient with pines in summer

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As decandling season comes to a close, you might notice summer buds forming on some of the first trees you decandled this season.

Summer buds

Ideally we’ll see two buds at the end of every branch. Ideally. It’s common – and perfectly fine – to see anywhere between zero and five or more buds per branch.

Five summer buds on black pine branch

Four summer buds

Three buds

The tendency is to pluck extra buds while they’re small and leave just two at the end of every branch – the ideal outcome of decandling.

Two summer buds

I tend to hold off and let all summer shoots mature. In general, I want as many shoots as possible on pines after decandling. In fall, I can thin crowded areas to two shoots per branch with scissors.

What about branches with just one summer bud?

One summer bud

Having a single bud is great as one bud is much better than zero. No improvements in ramification are in store for these branches this year, but at least there’s hope for next year.

Be gentle with pines

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Pines can look great after decandling and needle thinning. It’s when we have the best view of a tree’s structure which makes it a great time for making styling decisions and wiring.

Japanese black pine after decandling and needle thinning

About a week after decandling, you may notice some brown needles on your pine bonsai. This is most often due to improper handling of the foliage.

Damaged needles

Damage to needles can take a number of forms, from bends to breaks to scratches.

Broken needle

Brown spots where needles were bent

Damaged needles – likely the result of scratching with tweezers

There’s an easy to learn technique that can dramatically reduce damage to pine foliage. Simply put, move your hands through the foliage from the bottom of the tree to the top and never do the opposite. Reaching into a pine from the top down is a sure way to damage needles.

While simple in approach, this technique takes some getting used to, especially if old habits are well ingrained.

Here’s an example of what this looks like. If I want to work with a branch near the top of the tree, I start at the bottom and work my way up, following the direction of the needles.

The branch I want to work with

I start at the bottom as there are no gaps between branches large enough to accommodate my hand.

Finding a way in – starting at the bottom

From there I work my way up until I reach the target branch.

Working my way up

If I can’t go through a branch, I go around it.

Going around a branch that is too large to pass through

At every turn my hand is pressing against needles, but as long as I’m moving in the direction in which the needles are growing, there will be no damage.

Almost there

Made it!

If you look closely, you can see that I’m holding the branch between my second and third fingers. While using my thumb might give me a better grip, this is the best option for isolating the branch without damaging needles.

Holding a branch with my second and third fingers

From here I can count or pluck needles on the isolated branch or determine an approach for wiring the apex. Whatever the goal, when I’m done, I’ll continue moving my hand upwards until it’s clear of the foliage.

Why try to avoid breaking needles? The obvious reason is that brown needles are unsightly. And in cases where we’re accurately counting needles during thinning, broken needles undo our careful work and reduce the foliage beyond what we intended.

I remember when I first started working with pines that I thought I was doing a good job. About a week after decandling workshops, however, it became clear that the work was not as gentle as I’d thought. Over time things improved and moving through pine foliage became natural, and even fun. I hope the same is true for you and your pines too!