Japanese white pine styling

[Balbs]

Hi all, I bought this a few years ago and hbr repotted it last spring. Hoping for some thoughts on where to go from here style-wise.

 

[Balbs]

Surely somebody has an idea!

 

[stubmle]

You've got a whorl of branches going on there. You should thin that out so it doesn't swell and get inverse taper.

Not sure which branches you'd want to use, though. Hard to evaluate based on just 2d images.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Generally, I would say to remove the thickest branches that are not your leader. Let some light in and resuscitate the lowest inside buds that you can. Also preserve some sacrifice growth in your new leader.

 

[Balbs]

Im having trouble deciding the leader. I think if you look at the 1543 picture it has to be the central branch. Then the right branch is the first branch. The trouble is that the right branch is a bit thicker than the central one, it’s hard to see in the picture. But I guess I can correct that over time. And I should cut back the others. I can probably wire and pull back that central branch/new leader back toward the left.

 

[Paradox]

Im having trouble deciding the leader. I think if you look at the 1543 picture it has to be the central branch. Then the right branch is the first branch. The trouble is that the right branch is a bit thicker than the central one, it’s hard to see in the picture. But I guess I can correct that over time. And I should cut back the others. I can probably wire and pull back that central branch/new leader back toward the left.

I see a potential leader above that one in 1544