bonsaial1

Hi Andy, it's nice to see you peek in every once and awhile. I guess I must go into more detail to let you understand my reasoning. I have bought 2-3 of these pines and cut the back hard twice within a 1 year period. They have always rewarded me with a flush of new buds. the tree was so large to begin with, ( 5 feet tall) that the engine beneath the soil will take some beating. In detail what I will do is not prune the entire tree but selectivly prune 2 potential leaders. I need to induce a bud or two lower on a leader type branch, so as to grow a sacrifice leader to add taper to the tree. The huge jin on the left of the tree was left there so the trunk would not dry out till I new the top would live. Once I induce some taper into the meager trunk that supports the branches, I will cut off the sacrifice branch, and probably start training the tree into a more horizontal shape. The picture I have included is something like I would like to see. Thanks for the warning, trust me I will go slow. This whole tree is being trained on one branch the size of a pencil.

Best regards, Al Keppler

__________________
Real men don't wear coats with "happi" in the title.