A couple of Black Pines - Autumn maintenence

[Matt S]

Seeing R3's JBP post the other day made me keen to start on my own, so today I worked on a couple of small Black Pines I've had for about 5 years. Needle plucking and thinning out the shoots were the main tasks, plus a little wire. Both trees were decandled in early December.

The first tree put out reasonable secondary growth after December, but it was still quite uneven. There were a few shoots with really long needles so I cut them back by about half (I have no problems with cutting needles if the tree is still in development stage).

JPB 1 Apr21 before.jpg

JPB 1 Apr21 after.jpg

The second tree was repotted last August and I was unsure at the time if I would decandle, but the first flush was so strong I went ahead. The second flush on this tree was much better, with more even needle sizes across the tree and less weak growth on the lower branches.

JPB 2 Apr 21 before.jpg

JPB 2 Apr 21 after.jpg

It's been a weird year for growth around here. My pines didn't put on as much secondary growth as previous years, and most of my deciduous were sluggish and I've had no Autumn colour to speak of. Everything else seem fine though.

Matt.

[Ryceman3]

Great stuff Matt, particularly like how the second one is coming along... but both are going to fill out pretty nicely in the next couple of years I think.

[boom64]

Terrific Trees Matt. I admire the dedication pine growers go to .I have had one for a long, long time. Poor thing only gets a bit of attention after seeing posts like this. It might be its lucky day tomorrow. Cheers John.

[MJL]

Good looking trees Matt. I like what both you and R3 do with your trees.


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[Matt S]

Thanks people. Autumn work on pines is becoming one of my favourite tasks and I always look forward to getting updates on how R3 is going with his, it's really motivating.

I admire the dedication pine growers go to

John, I've found that black pines are one of the most predictable trees to work on, once someone explained to me how they grow and how they respond to pruning and trimming. Decandling after the first Summer flush and then needle plucking and shoot selection in Autumn. Year after year of steady building. No rushing, no shortcuts. While I'm running around tending to the various needs of other more high maintenance species, my pines just chug along without any fuss.

[dansai]

Great trees Matt. Shows what regular maintenance can do with JBP. I have a few that I've just started the decandling process and am I'm finding that like your first the growth can be a bit uneven. Nothing a few more years of attention won't balance out.