If the size of your pine trees exceeds the space capacity of your property, a radical pruning is required. You may also keep your pine trees as bonsai and want to maintain their shape and stunt growth with heavy pruning. Whatever the reason for your pruning shears, here you will find valuable tips on what you need to pay attention to so that your pine tree recovers well from the severe pruning.
Special equipment must be used for pruning tall pines
General
Basically, if you show symptoms of a disease, i.e. if the needles turn brown or shoots die, you absolutely have to cut back your pine trees. Otherwise, a radical cut can help
- to inhibit growth (pine as bonsai)
- or thin out the pine (remove branches from the crown)
The best time is in winter, as pine produces less sap in the cold season.
Below are three instructions for heavy pruning of three popular pine species.
Cutting the mountain pine
- in May or June remove old branches and thin out the tree
- cut new candles in half
- the mountain pine tolerates severe pruning down to a third of the branches and twigs
Cutting the white pine
- if the outer shoots get longer, cut back the shoots in the middle
- You can drastically cut back strong shoots, delicate shoots only carefully
- especially remove shoots that grow too close together
- Do not cut shoots that are less than 1 cm long
- Old needles from the previous year usually turn brown in late summer. You must remove these
Pruning of the Japanese black pine
- in May, cut back the Japanese black pine by two thirds
- in June, cut back any needles that are too long to a length of 1 cm
- in October remove the superfluous and disturbing branches. Strong branches usually hinder the development of tender shoots. You can cut them back a lot, as they will form again in the coming spring