Bonsai tree: Decandling a red pine forest – part 2

Source: Bonsai Tonight
Decandling a red pine forest – part 2

I decandled the red pine forest below about 3 months ago (see Decandling a red pine forest). The summer growth has come out and the trees look much fuller than they did in June. But because the summer was cool, this grove isn’t as far along as I’d expect for this time of year. No matter, in the mild San Francisco Bay area climate, pines continue to grow throughout the fall.
Just two days into fall, however, it’s too soon for needle pulling and cutback as the new needles are still soft. Some enthusiasts thin summer growth at this time, but I usually wait until late fall or winter. Typically I continue to water and feed the trees this time of year, trying to encourage out what growth I can before the weather turns cold.
I also check the pines I’ve decandled to gauge their response to the decandling. The trees in this forest have a long way to go to achieve any sort of balance which makes them great for practicing decandling techniques. Here’s the forest as it looks today.

Red pine forest, 16 years old

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Bonsai tree:Decandling a red pine forest

Source: Bonsai Tonight
Decandling a red pine forest
Sixteen years ago I planted a group of red pine seeds. I made seedling cuttings, watered, and fertilized the trees, but never created a plan for their future. As a result, fate determined their present form. The trees were healthy but ungainly – perfect candidates for a forest planting.
Red pines are a very vigorous variety. Cutting them back hard seems only to trigger more vigorous growth. Timing, in these cases, becomes an important ally for managing new growth. By May, new shoots had covered the trees, but it was still too early for decandling.

Strong growth in May, but too early to decandle

By the mid-June, the trees had filled in considerably. This was a good time to decandle.

Red pine forest before decandling – front

Before decandling – back

It was hard, at first, to get past the new growth and find where to cut. Once I had cleared an opening, the work went quickly.

Getting started

I left stubs at the base of the most vigorous shoots. For less vigorous shoots, I removed shoot and stub. I left the weakest areas of the tree alone so they can regain vigor and help balance the foliage.

Vigorous new shoot

Vigorous shoot removed – note stub

Leaving stubs is a technique for slowing the most vigorous shoots. I can’t explain why it works, but experience has proved it to be a good technique for balancing growth.

I also removed a lot of old needles as I worked. I removed more from strong areas, fewer in weak areas. As with the decandling, the goal is to balance growth.

Decandled branch

One tree down, five to go

After much clipping and plucking, the trees looked pretty bare. I’ve removed a similar amount of foliage from these trees before and expect them to fill in again by late fall. Careful watering and fertilizing will help – a warm summer will help more.

After decandling – front

After decandling – back

Strong area – candles and old needles removed

Weak area – spring growth retained

Mixed area – strong growth removed and weak growth retained

Although I’m confident that the tree will come out well this fall, I know not to expect too much. Decandling is a funny practice. Sometimes the trees come out a bit too strong, other years, too weak. I’ll provide updates along the way and we’ll see what this year brings. Read more!

Bonsai tree: Grafting a Ponderosa Pine

I have been grafting smaller ponderosas with black pine and red pine for some time. Before I went to Japan I grafted a very small ponderosa with 10 Mikawa Black pine scions. So I had eight grafts on a small tree…and then when I styled it years ago, I only used two grafts to create the tree, and cut the rest off. People in my backyard have been surprised it is grafted as the black pine and ponderosa bark match so well.
The first photo: A few grafts on a bankan (twisted-trunk) Ponderosa pine. The scions are a black/red pine hybrid, which I chose for the thin Red pine-looking needles. This tree has a very Red pine feel to it. And ponderosa foliage on small and moderate sized trees just does not look good to me. I know for some this is controversial, but it does look a lot better than the ugly grafted trees we see with black pine base and white pine top. And it is a way to use the wonderful material we have in a new way.

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Literati bonsai with one branch

After: It’s ecentricity lies in its striking simplicity. It is a Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora).



Before. This bunjin clearly has some potential; especialy with its aged, elegant trunk and ample branching to chose from.

In conclusion: nature is a perfect art to work with. Read more!