Dwarf Alberta spruce

[Deleted member 47471]

Great question, in essence a good time to start with this is when the tree is ready to develop pads and everything. Allow it to get comfy in a suitable pot and soil mix first, even if the tree is aesthetically ready. The nuance here tho is that if you allow the tree to run away before you get to foliage management your branches will be leggy, so find a balance between vigour and desired pad size/foliage outline. (Keep inner foliage and buds strong to largely bypass this)
Removing old needles for sure helps in this too.

Great point about the mechanical stress Maciek. I didn't believe the skin grease thing either, especially because not every DAS is showing stress from it. The foliage on mine seems to be particularly touchy, it also hates foliar feeding with a passion. Just hb101 and fish emulsion so I figured it wouldn't mind but no.. others in the same study group are spraying and touching their spruce all the time without any adverse effects.

Thank you very much. For my two small twin trunks, then, I plan to keep them in their original grow containers to preserve their size and let them mature and develop within the small size I want them, applying what you explained. I like their current size and want shorter compact overall silhouettes.

 

[Tentakelaertje]

No worries. It's hard to say if that's the quickest path for your trees without seeing them. Is there a thread on them? A DAS running away from you will take a couple of years minimum, most of the time you'll be able to sort it before there's a need for foliage management