30 Year Old Aleppo Pine Gift

[Damian79]

Hi Guys,
so yesterday I was gifted this 30 year old Aleppo Pine ( I think that is what it is ) from a very lovely old lady on my street. She told me it hasn't been re-potted in at least 20 years and all she has done is prune it as she saw fit.
My first Question is this:
can I repot now? it is incredibly root bound. And if so, how much of the roots is safe to remove? I live in SE South Australia, so the weather is starting to warm up.
My second question is:
If I can repot now, can I branch select and basic style now with out causing too much stress for the tree?
I would really appreciate any help I can get on this as there isn't much info I can find on Aleppo pines.

20201108_192349.jpg

20201108_192230.jpg

20201108_192246.jpg

20201108_192406.jpg

[shibui]

Probably P. halapensis.
I don't think I would try root pruning now. Probably defer that until late summer or next spring.
You will need to watch it carefully as root bound trees are notoriously difficult to water.
I would spend this year pruning in an effort to bring the live growth back in as much as possible. Any pine can be pruned once off back to the innermost shoots or needles and you should get good budding. Also feed well to enhance the regrowth.
Allepo are very prone to juvenile growth after pruning but the juvenile shoots usually look better than the long mature needles so growers often try to promote juvenile growth as much as possible.

[Damian79]

Probably P. halapensis.
I don't think I would try root pruning now. Probably defer that until late summer or next spring.
You will need to watch it carefully as root bound trees are notoriously difficult to water.
I would spend this year pruning in an effort to bring the live growth back in as much as possible. Any pine can be pruned once off back to the innermost shoots or needles and you should get good budding. Also feed well to enhance the regrowth.
Allepo are very prone to juvenile growth after pruning but the juvenile shoots usually look better than the long mature needles so growers often try to promote juvenile growth as much as possible.

OK cool. Thanks Shibui.
from what I can tell its in good health at the moment, so now would be a good time to cut back and basic style you say?

[shibui]

Despite not being repotted for some time it appears to be healthy and reasonably strong so it should respond well to pruning. We usually try to avoid pruning and root pruning pines at the same time so if repotting is not on the cards pruning should be.
Not sure how familiar you are with pines but the problem is that they grow longer every year then older needles drop leaving longer bare branches. It happens to many pines unless maintenance is correct and looks like this has happened to your pine. If you are happy with the long, leggy look then everything is OK bit in my experience the branches just get longer and look worse every year so eventually needs to be done.

A real strong cut back now will stimulate some new shoots closer to the trunk and may give you some more time and design options.
Pines will only reliably bud where there are healthy needles so never cut below the last needles on any branch unless you want that branch to die. Very occasionally they will grow unexpected buds on bare sections but that's just a bonus and cannot be relied on.
Spring and early summer are good times to prune pines like this as they respond quickly now.

[Damian79]

Despite not being repotted for some time it appears to be healthy and reasonably strong so it should respond well to pruning. We usually try to avoid pruning and root pruning pines at the same time so if repotting is not on the cards pruning should be.
Not sure how familiar you are with pines but the problem is that they grow longer every year then older needles drop leaving longer bare branches. It happens to many pines unless maintenance is correct and looks like this has happened to your pine. If you are happy with the long, leggy look then everything is OK bit in my experience the branches just get longer and look worse every year so eventually needs to be done.

A real strong cut back now will stimulate some new shoots closer to the trunk and may give you some more time and design options.
Pines will only reliably bud where there are healthy needles so never cut below the last needles on any branch unless you want that branch to die. Very occasionally they will grow unexpected buds on bare sections but that's just a bonus and cannot be relied on.
Spring and early summer are good times to prune pines like this as they respond quickly now.

Thenks mate.
When you say a "real strong cut back" what sort of percentage are we talking here? 50% 70%..everything back to the last needles on the branch?

[shibui]

It is obviously hard to recommend hard and fast rules just from photos and I would vary technique from place to place depending on what is there and what you want in future.
I had some overgrown JBP that needed radical overhaul so they were cut back to leave just 3-5 pairs of needles on every shoot and branches with side shoots were pruned back to leave just 2 side shoots closest to the trunk.
cut as hard as possible first up to get the best results. Usually budding is better on upper branches and stronger areas and not so good in weaker, lower branches.
So much will rely on what is currently there and what you see as the future shape for the tree.
Grafting new shoots in places is another alternative to get viable shoots where they are needed.