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Professional Amateur
Join Date: Feb-2005
Location: Arkansas
Country: USA
Posts: 2,639
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JBP needles pluck or cut?
There is a fairly common misgiving among many that plucking needles on Japanese Black Pines is a difficult technique that can lead to the destruction of nascent buds found at the base of the needle pair. Opponents of needle plucking will prune the needle pairs back to the "sheath" at the base of the needles. This technique is frequently used on Japanese White Pines, Ponderosas and some other types of pines.
For JBP, it is best to pluck the needles with good straight tweezers (Such as the Masakuni 812 or 8812). Grasp the needle pair near the base, pull it firmly in the direction that needles grow and discard. A large Japanese black pine well along in development will take several hours to complete. It really works, and if applied correctly can lead to spectacular results.
Below is a picture of a tree that posted a few weeks ago after pruning and wiring. I stated at the time a key reason for plucking needles and wiring was to stimulate bud development back along the branches and in the old needle areas. As you can see from this closeup, both have happened, indeed you can see a pair of buds emerging through the cut paste at the end of a rather large branch.
Cheers,
John
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"Wiring is simple; However, it is not easy to do it right" Boon
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