ekillians

Von,

I've got a sacrifice branch on 8-9yr old black pine I just got and was hoping for some clarification.

On sacrifice branches you recommend pulling all old needles and only letting new years growth on the branch. Could you comment further on how this works? I'm assuming that the usual method of pulling new and leaving old/weak growth promotes back budding and smaller needles while leaving only new growth promotes further growth on the sacrifice branch and thickens up the trunk quicker than the prior usual method of refinement.

On the sacrifice branch, should there be any chandle reduction and/or bud reduction or just let it grow wild? Or is there a happy balance in orded not to produce an unslightly knob (unless desired to be jinned of course). Any elaboration would be appreciated. (or if you've mentioned it before feel free to link me to a thread).

Thanks Von,

(Bows head slightly, certain not to make eye contact)
-EK

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