Brian, that's unusual growth on that JBP. WhAt I could see were most of the branches having long sections of short needles, then at the tip of the branch, a very short section of long needles! Is there an explanation?
Gotcha!
Wonderful! To thicken the first branch on the left, you have to let it run. In doing so, will you cut the buds that extend that aren't close in and on the tip? Kind of like how you grow a sac branch on an apex?
Brian may choose a different path, but for me, I never intentionally "thicken" branches. The usual case with pines is they get too thick! I would focus on ramification, getting as many side shoots I could while the branch is young. When it's old, it's harder to get them to back bud.
@hemmy : if you look closely at the branches in question in the April photo, you will see small buds appearing close to the trunk. They were adventitious buds in March, and pretty weak. Leaving longer buds beyond them was a safety net, and increases chances of smaller buds strengthening. It worked, so over time, those adventitious buds become tightly ramified branches which will replace the long shoots. Here is an example of that on a different pine:
Very nice! What are the dimensions in this one?
