K.A. Rutledge

Hi Al,

You wrote:
"Here's a recent pic of the little tree with this years candles open. I will prune the tree hard in about 30 days. This will induce a flush of new candles. I will keep only 2 on each tip, and the needles will shorten."
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If I understand correctly that this tree was cut down and wired this year, if you do what you mention above, you will have a dead pine in about 2 - 3 months (max). With such drastic work having been done (already too much at one time for a black pine), it needs to be left to grow freely for at least a full year.

Good luck!

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas