FredL

OK, at this point, I have 16 collected Short Leaf Pines collected in part (7 of them) 20 months ago and in part 8 months ago. They have turned out to be incredibly interesting. They have all adapted very well to growing in pots or grow boxes and are doing very well. One gave me a scare last August, when I thought it was surely dying, but it seems to have turned out that its foliage is actually quite healthy but simply much more grayish in color than the others. Actually, there is considerable difference in the foliage of the various trees, but it all seems to be merely individual differences since they are now all growing in pretty much identical soil mixes and, otherwise, identical circumstances.

I've started doing some initial styling on the seven I've had the longest; mostly just pinching them back early last Summer to try to get them more compact and "bushier". Nothing really serious, yet. But, in looking at them all at the beginning of our Winter here, what I observed that is making wonder how I can do better with them is that the tops of the trees are growing much more vigorously than the lower branches.

This is NOT OK!.

I have seen some ideas about how to deal with this, such as pinching back the lower branches less than the top (which I already did) and pinching the lower branches first and waiting tilll later to pinch the top. What I'm wondering is whether it is a bad idea to pinch the top of the tree back repeatedly during the same growing season.

I'd welcome the experience of others on the subject of improving the vigor of lower branches on pines and decreasing the vigor of higher branches and the apex.

Fred

Advertisement