Guide on how to collect a ground-grown JBP. Lots of questions.

[sheepdawg]

Hi all,

I have a JBP that I've been growing in the ground for a few years, it started pencil thickness and is now at least 5cm across.

I honestly can't remember how long its been in the ground, but every winter I've chopped the branches back very, very hard to ensure there's green shoots close to the trunk.

Since it's gotten to a nice size, I'm thinking of digging it up this winter. But I am terrified of pines and junipers and am considering two options.

1) dig it up and do a hard chop back (I think this is a bad idea from the "one insult per season" rule), or

2) doing a HUGE cut back then train it a bit over the next year to keep foliage small and tight against trunk, then digging it up in 2022 winter.

I'm not sure which way to go with this because I'm not sure if a JBP can take a big cut back and a lot of root work in one hit- what's your experiences like?

[shibui]

I grow a few JBP in the grow beds and they seem to transplant reasonably well.
Mine have no root pruning while in the ground. They get occasional (every 2-3 years) cut back to keep viable shoots closer to the ground and trunk.
I dig at the end of winter and reduce roots considerably. I also reduce the top by 1/3 - 1/2 at the same time but only take of obviously redundant branches so I can leave other branches entire. I believe it is important to keep some growing tips on pines and junipers so a few key branches are left completely untouched when pruning rather than shortening everything by half. Hope that makes sense on pruning.
Tie the trees into the new pots as the roots do take quite a long time to get re-established. The few that have not made it have looked good until mid summer - often producing good spring candles - before turning brown. Since I have been leaving intact growing tips on some branches I have not lost one after transplant.

Other options often suggested for transplanting pine is to trench round the trunk to cut surface roots then fill in again for the summer. The tree is then sustained by intact deeper roots while the cut ones produce new feeder roots. Then the following year you can dig with confidence knowing you will have some close feeder roots. The problem with this method is that most people overestimate the size of the pot and make the trench too far out from the trunk. More than 90% of new roots grow from the cut ends of roots so for this to be effective the roots must be cut substantially shorter than the pot diameter - usually around 1 trunk diameter from the trunk itself.
I have seen other suggestions to cut pie slices rather than a complete circular trench so that half the lateral roots are left intact for a year.

Your plan to prune and manage top growth for a year probably also has merit as a less risky? option for transplant but I don't think it is necessary. Pines are quite a bit more resilient than much of the talk from Northern hemisphere would suggest.

[sheepdawg]

Could I give it a chop back now (maybe half of veg), then dig up in later winter?

[Ryceman3]

I have a JBP that I've been growing in the ground for a few years, it started pencil thickness and is now at least 5cm across.

I honestly can't remember how long its been in the ground, but every winter I've chopped the branches back very, very hard to ensure there's green shoots close to the trunk.

I think there are a few things worth considering with this particular tree. Based on what you said above, this tree has been in the ground for at least 2-3, but probably more years (I assume youre memory isn't that bad that it wasn't planted last year... ). Over the time it has been in the ground, you have chopped back the growth above the ground annually ... and so without photos I guess that means you have foliage/buds in close to the trunk region to some extent. However, I also assume you have not touched anything below the ground. I don't know what the roots were like when you planted it, but now they are running riot ... long and deep I would hazard a guess. With all that in mind, and given it seems this tree is in your backyard (?) and therefore you probably aren't in a dramatic hurry to lift it, I think it is time to try and get the roots back close to the trunk, just like you have done with the foliage mass before you get to the point of "collecting" it.
I'd be looking at a strategy along the lines of what shibui outlines in his response ...

Other options often suggested for transplanting pine is to trench round the trunk to cut surface roots then fill in again for the summer. The tree is then sustained by intact deeper roots while the cut ones produce new feeder roots. Then the following year you can dig with confidence knowing you will have some close feeder roots. The problem with this method is that most people overestimate the size of the pot and make the trench too far out from the trunk. More than 90% of new roots grow from the cut ends of roots so for this to be effective the roots must be cut substantially shorter than the pot diameter - usually around 1 trunk diameter from the trunk itself.

I guess you could just take it out of the ground, cut back the current roots really hard to get it to fit a pot and then hope it'll be fine too ... it may well be fine if you do, but why risk that if you don't really need to? I think that cultivating smaller feeder roots in closer to the trunk before you take it out of the ground gives you the best chance of a succesful result, and I don't think in the end you will have added any extra time to the progression of your tree, in fact you might be minimising it. Sure, you lift the tree a year later, but when you do the roots will be in much better condition than if you lift it now, reduce the existing roots back significantly and then try to develop new roots without the help of the deep ones you keep if you leave it in the ground.

In short, for my money this method would be less risky and provide a superior result in the same (possibly even shorter) time frame.

[sheepdawg]

I'll evaluate the root situation with some light digging and see if there's anything fine and hairy close to the trunk. Because very possibly could have run away (used to figs haha), but it was pot grown for awhile (before I owned it) and has had a lot of disturbance around the top which I've replaced over the years.

But if not fines, then I'll do the trenching.

Can I do the trenching and a chop back at the same time?

I really do need to chop it back because it's had a branch grow over a meter this last summer, plus other pretty big ones. So I don't want those to get apical dominance.

[shibui]

I would be happy to prune top and trench around the roots at the same time. You will be leaving plenty of deeper roots intact so there is very little risk. That's why you are trenching.
Try to leave some intact terminals when you cut the long ones back. You have been pruning regularly so there should be plenty of shoots all over the tree, hopefully some shorter ones you can leave unpruned to help with recovery.