How to Prune Japanese Pine Trees
Japanese pine trees are very similar to the European and American varieties. All have year-round needle-shaped leaves. They also have clusters of five to nine needles protected by a papery sheath at their base. Pruning Japanese pine trees is also very similar to pruning other kinds of pines. The only big differences are the reasons for pruning. While American and European pines are generally pruned to control their size, Japanese pines are often pruned to a certain shape as well. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Prune your Japanese pine in mid-spring when the new growth begins to show. The needles will show as spongy, bright green clusters called "candle-growth" because the clusters grow straight up from the ends of the branches.
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Cut away as much candle-growth as desired, trimming from the sides to control width and from the top to control height. Japanese pines are usually trimmed to a mushroom shape with a rounded top and sides. If the pine has multiple stems, the growth on each stem should be its own mushroom.
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Never trim growth once it has hardened. As the pine grows, it loses needles close to the trunk; trimming hard growth will seal the end of that branch and cause it to lose needles on both ends and become bare.
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Cut large, long branches low on the trunk. These branches help the trunk grow and thicken, but Japanese pines should have the most foliage on the top. If the trunk is thick enough to support the tree, trim low branches at their base and fill the gap with pruning compound.
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