AusBonsai

Hi guys and girls.

i am sure this topic has been covered a lot re. P. Radiata but I am having trouble with branch selection.

From what I have read and seen, pines are typically hard to get to back bud. However I have a very healthy collected specimen which has been in a pot for about 9 months. It has about 5 or 6 new shoots coming from the apex and other new shoots on lower branches and is even budding on older wood.

So my question is, should I thin out some of the new shoots at the top to two or three as to avoid thickening and reverse taper? I have read that needle plucking and tip pruning can be done in late summer to promote further back budding as well. is this correct?

I should mention I would like this tree to be quite big, as I have been inspired by my recent visit to Japan and their large powerful pines which they produce over there.










Any help would be appreciated as I normally work with deciduous tress more than pines.

Any input on direction or styling of this tree is also welcomed.

Coolsy