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Scots pine candle pruning
http://www.weetrees.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13814		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  SeanR [ 26 Jul 2015, 20:39 ]
Post subject:  Scots pine candle pruning
Hello all, i was wondering if someone can help.

I recently bought a Scots pine, the first pine i have bought. I have read a lot on the internet and watched videos by Ryan Neil on youtube, but im a little confused and im going to sound stupid when i say i cant find the answer.

My tree is healthy but needs to back bud in certain areas where there are longish inter-nodes. The candles/needles on the end of the branches are long. Not sure what to do.

Some books etc say to cut the candles back to two sets of needles, that will encourage back budding BUT other advice says to leave the candles/needles as that will encourage back budding???

Im a bit concerned, should i wait until autumn and then cut them back, dont want them growing into branches.

Thanks in advance to anyone that helps.
Author:  NickB [ 26 Jul 2015, 23:15 ]
Post subject:  Re: Scots pine candle pruning
Pictures of your tree will be useful.

Assuming your tree is healthy and vigorous to begin with..

Generally, if you want back budding you wait for the candles to stop extending and the needles to harden off before pruning back, and then you can leave 2 or more pairs of needles on a new shoot.
I tend now to wait until the old needles are turning yellow and starting to drop so I can see what will be left before I start pruning back. Scotties should produce loads of back buds.
Not pruning them back wont cause back budding because Pines are apically dominant and naturally push all their energy into the tips of branches, especially towards the top of the tree. No need to back bud in a forest environment if you are trying to grow tall.
Author:  paulpash [ 27 Jul 2015, 09:02 ]
Post subject:  Re: Scots pine candle pruning
A pic is really needed because vigour is key. Get it strong and pushing long candles and it will backbud some, even without pruning. This may sound trite but do you know what new growth looks like and how far each candle has extended this year?
Author:  Bill [ 27 Jul 2015, 16:12 ]
Post subject:  Re: Scots pine candle pruning
paulpash wrote:
vigour is key

:smallthumb:
i was surprised to see one back-bud after bud selection in spring. grew well after collection last year, not plucked or pruned. i went for the early pruning in mid may this year as the tree is very vigourous, pruned all strong and medium candles back to about the same amount of needles as the weak ones, which seemed to prompt the new buds to grow too.

i would recommend just balancing the energy like this, at this point in the season i think its probably best to let the needles harden off, as Nick said. if its strong, this may be enough to get some back budding. i wouldn't recommend pruning hard to 2 pairs as we don't know if it has much old foliage; reducing the total amount of foliage drastically is not a good idea if you want to keep the energy pumping, which you need for back budding.
thats my 2c but im no expert, just learning and trying methods out.
Author:  SeanR [ 27 Jul 2015, 17:22 ]
Post subject:  Re: Scots pine candle pruning
Nick, Paul and Bill, thanks very much for taking the time to reply. I did intend to add some pics but its been none stop raining for two days, i managed a few this afternoon.

Paul, i do see new growth on the tree, many of the candles are still bright green. Ive not owned it long so need to build up some knowledge before doing anything with it, it looks like it was pulled out of a field not so long ago. There are new buds here and there, ive marked one with an arrow lol
Author:  SeanR [ 27 Jul 2015, 18:43 ]
Post subject:  Re: Scots pine candle pruning
Some more pics
Author:  SeanR [ 27 Jul 2015, 18:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: Scots pine candle pruning
last few
Author:  Andrew Campbell [ 28 Jul 2015, 00:05 ]
Post subject:  Re: Scots pine candle pruning
Personally, if it were mine, I would leave it alone this year. You haven't had it long. Unless you can get some details as to when wire was applied, when it was last repot or fed or anything like that...then I would just water and feed it for the rest of the year.

See how it responds to your garden. Let it gain vigour (it seems like it's behind as the season goes). Back budding will come with better health. Then next year, do as nick says. Cut back to a few pairs after candles have extended and hardened off.
Author:  paulpash [ 28 Jul 2015, 11:23 ]
Post subject:  Re: Scots pine candle pruning
The candles do look to have extended well & it looks a good colour but I always try and leave it a season to get to know the tree and I think you could easily do this with this one. The only thing to watch is wire biting in as the branches will start to thicken from now into Autumn. What substrate is it in and do you know when it was last repotted? If you can't obtain this info I'd inspect the rootball around March time and see what space it has to expand and go from there. Try and keep it just damp over Winter.

Maybe review the branch structure a bit too - there looks to be a lot of branches so make sure each pad has sufficient light and air to grow and be healthy.
Author:  Bill [ 28 Jul 2015, 15:14 ]
Post subject:  Re: Scots pine candle pruning
nice new growth but not very vigourous imo. if you leave it, it will be stronger next year. there is not much old foliage, so if you trimmed back the candles to 2 pairs now, you would have less than half the foliage to be drawing energy up and so less chance to get your back budding.

i agree with Andy in that it looks a little late, which would further incline me to leave it, but it looks like fairly even growth across the tree so no huge need to balance it like i said above.

there are some branches with 3 sub branches coming off them, keep an eye on those. its not urgent but as the tree grows well and those bits thicken, it can turn ugly.
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