My Favourite Pine

[MasonC]

Hey,
This is one of my pines. i bought it for $50 from a guy down the coast. it looks at least 7 yrs old.(sorry about my foot)

[MasonC]

Hey,
does anyone know if you can completely pull all the needles on pines and if so, when to do it.
Thanx

[Elias]

Cool tree Mason, and looks healthy, can we see a few different angles of the tree. My only thought is that the barbell branches could be an issue in future.
Regarding what work and when, I would get some advice on needle plucking and removing candles from a local club or a good Bonsai nursery. Most of the candle work is done in Summer and hard chops are done in winter generally speaking... different timing and work will help you achieve different goals on a pine, like ramification and needle reduction, back budding etc... I still got a lot of learning to do myself, pines aren't the easiest trees to work with, but no reason you can't learn right
There is plenty of information on the net about pines but it is important to carry out all the work at the precise time for your climate and area.
Here is an article worth a read by Brent Walston.
http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/pines.htm

[MasonC]

hey elias,
what do u mean by 'barbell' branches

[Elias]

Hmm easiest way to explain a barbell branch is a branch that has an adjacent branch on the same part of the trunk. I hope that makes sense...
Barbell branches can affect the flow of sap and can cause an inverse taper on the trunk, another way to explain it is that the trunk will swell at the point where the barbell branches and obviously is not ideal for a bonsai, as we want a good taper on a tree to reinforce the appearance of age on a tree.

[MasonC]

Hey,
i often wonder what will happen later in life aswell. we can only wait and see

[Jamie]

waiting and seeing on those bar branches will cause major swelling at the joint. it doesnt take long either mate. think about what branch you need to remove and do that or you will have problems with reverse taper. and you dont want that mate extremely hard to rectify!

[MasonC]

which branch then?

[Jamie]

the red circles are the bar branching, have to choose which one to go.. would have to see other angles, maybe a top veiw to be able to help more.
the bottom circle im not so sure on but the top circle is where you will eventuall develop a lot of swelling and cause the reverse taper..