Growing JBP for height questions

[Matt3839]

Hi, I am pretty new to Japanese black pine. I have a 5 or 6 year old one that I’d like to grow taller while putting movement in the trunk.

My question is, should I leave all growth unchecked or decandle certain branches at the appropriate time? I’m guessing I should just let it grow till desired height is reached?

And not sure about whether I should needle pluck at all or leave that alone?

Second question is in order to avoid inverse taper should I be branch pruning in autumn?

Currently there are new shoots/candles that have 3-4 shoots emerging from one area on the trunk.

I’ve watched so many videos but still a little hard to wrap my head around..

 

[Shibui]

I don't allow free growth of trunks I aim to retain. Stronger shoots usually have a bare section ('neck') before the needles. Those bare sections will not be able to produce buds so no branching from that section of the trunk.
No problem if you won't want branches from the bare sections. In this case allow free growth.
No problem if there is an alternative, more compact shoot you can choose as the trunk after removing the stronger shoots. In this case, let strong shoots grow as sacrifice branches to thicken the trunk. Remove sacrifice branches in 2 or 3 years or when they threaten trunk taper or vigour.
If all available shoots have bare necks and I need more compact growth to build good future ramification I will decandle. I'm happy to accept slower development and thickening to get better quality structure.
All needles contribute energy and therefore growth. Needle plucking is generally used to balance strength so not really useful in this development stage. many growers do pluck lower needles from sacrifice branches to avoid shading the lower shoots you will need as branches.

Currently there are new shoots/candles that have 3-4 shoots emerging from one area on the trunk.

This is normal pine growth habit known as 'whorls' but it causes us problems when shoots growing close together thicken the trunk around those shoots causing inverse taper. No problem if it's on a sacrifice branch because you'll cut it off at some stage but for trunk and branches you need for the final tree it's important to remove most of the branches from whorls.

Second question is in order to avoid inverse taper should I be branch pruning in autumn?

Avoid inverse taper by pruning when necessary. Autumn is irrelevant IMHO.

 

[Matt3839]

Avoid inverse taper by pruning when necessary. Autumn is irrelevant IMHO.

When do you usually remove branches from whorls? And I read that a lot of people remove in stages. Like 5 down to 3 branches and then 3 to 1 at a later stage after the trees regained some strength?

I don’t want to prune too much of the foliage at once I figured?

Also Could this be later handled by removing buds in whorls as they form? Instead of having to remove branches completely?

Thanks very much

 

[Shibui]

I remove excess branches from whorls when I get the chance. I don't think it matters what time of year but the sooner the better.
No problem doing reduction in stages. That can also give you a chance to re-evaluate the plans and where to go next.

Always consider the main stem when deciding which branches to eliminate. Sometimes it is better to remove the main stem and keep 2 branches because that reduces the length of branches and trunk and also gives much better taper in both.

Definitely better to eliminate excess shoots before they become a problem. In the later stages of refinement we select which shoots to keep and which will go in Fall which is about the time the new shoots have reached full size.