Shaping and pruning pine is often done to give it a decorative look, as this plant is considered one of the most popular for landscape design. A properly designed crown will look very neat. In addition, pruning helps rejuvenate the tree. This is quite laborious and painstaking work, but it must be done regularly.
What is pine pruning done for?
Pine is a fairly unpretentious plant, but it requires proper care and timely pruning. With the help of pruning, you can give the plant a different decorative look and make it a real decoration of the garden. To rejuvenate the plant, only sanitary pruning of the lower branches of the pine is carried out, as well as dry and diseased shoots to keep the tree he althy.
It is undesirable that the height of the tree exceeds 180 centimeters. Pruning is best done when the height of the pine reaches one and a half meters. If the crown grows very strongly, then cutting it will be quite difficult. Also, if too many green branches are removed, the plant may die.
How is pine pruned and shaped?
Regardless of the reason for cuttingpines, ways to shorten branches to restrain growth are common, namely:
- crown thinning;
- shortening or pinching;
- stretching branches.
Thinning the crown involves the removal of branches in whole or in part to remove excess shoots or give the desired shape. Shortening or pinching means removing part of the shoot. Basically, this procedure is carried out in late May or early June. Stretching branches means fixing the branches in a certain position.
Pruning of pine should be carried out no earlier than the next year after planting the seedling. It is not necessary to cut more than 30% of the total amount of green mass at a time. Pruning should be done with clothes on, which can then be discarded, as the resin emitted by coniferous trees is not excreted.
After the pruning procedure is completed, the trees need to be properly cared for. It is necessary to apply top dressing, mineral fertilizers, as well as ensure high-quality watering.
Decorative pruning
Decorative pruning of pine helps to give the tree a more beautiful and well-groomed appearance. Plants with a decorative crown are ideal for arranging a hedge, as well as decorating an alley.
Pruning is best on cloudy days to prevent dark spots on the needles that occur when the liquid evaporates strongly. Decorative pruning is carried out in such a way that the crown retains an evenpyramidal outline. Thanks to proper pruning, the tree will look more sprawling and fluffy, becoming a real decoration of the summer cottage.
Niwaki style pine tree formation
When forming a Nivaki-style pine crown, an odd number of branches should be left in each tier. It is also necessary to thin out the branches at the base of the trunk, and leave the growing shoots around the perimeter, removing the central, largest candle, and pinch the rest of the shoots a little.
After this procedure, the branch should resemble a triangle located in the same plane. As the tree grows, it is necessary to continue the formation of the tree, leaving only he althy and large shoots, slightly bending and fixing them to obtain the desired result.
Pruning and shaping bonsai
Japanese-style pine pruning is carried out from the second year of the tree's growth. The trunk of a mature pine tree cannot be formed, as the branches will only break. The tree tolerates pruning well, but it must be done very carefully and no more than once a year.
The formation of the crown for bonsai is carried out using wire. This is best done in late autumn, when the tree is least active. To do this, the branches are bent to the sides and firmly fixed. To give the pine the desired look, you need to remove extra buds every year. Given that the upper buds grow much faster, you need to remove most of the upper buds, leaving the lower ones.
Plucking of needles is mandatory, as this contributes to the penetration of air to the internal branches and shoots. In addition, it allows you to control the width and height of the pine. Plucking of needles is carried out from mid-summer to late autumn.
To ennoble a tree, you need to periodically trim the needles to reduce their length. Pruning is carried out at the end of summer on a fully formed tree.
Pruning pine for rejuvenation
One of the tasks of tree pruning is to rejuvenate it. It is necessary to remove too dilapidated, dry and diseased branches in order to induce dormant buds to more active growth. It is important to cut the branches in such a way that the needles remain on them, otherwise they will simply dry out.
Pruning to rejuvenate pine is carried out every three years. Thanks to this procedure, the tree will look good and will take up much less space.
Best time to prune
To ensure that pine pruning does not harm the plant, it is necessary to carry out all the required procedures at a certain time. In the spring, pruning is carried out in order to form a compact top. Work on the removal of dry and diseased branches is carried out at any time.
During the active growing season, which runs from mid-summer to the end of winter, it is better not to disturb the tree. To stop the growth of the crown and shoots, the branches are shortened after the growth of candles. Shoots should be cut in early spring.
To correct the length of young shoots, autumn pruning can be carried out, but it should be remembered thatonly small branches can be deleted. During pruning, the temperature should not be lower than 5 degrees, otherwise the cut will freeze, which will lead to the death of the plant.
Planting a coniferous tree
Many people are interested in how to plant a pine tree, as well as when to do it. The best time for planting seedlings is spring or autumn. With a later planting, the tree simply does not have time to adapt to new conditions and prepare for winter or dry summer, as a result of which the seedling may die.
It is important to choose the right pine seedlings, they must be with a closed root system in containers. The main advantages of such seedlings is that they are:
- have a well-developed root system;
- protected from damage;
- Roots retain the microorganisms needed to absorb minerals and moisture from the soil.
The bacteria that a tree needs live on the roots and die in the open air in just a few minutes. You should not choose too large pine seedlings, since the younger the plant, the faster it will be able to adapt to new conditions. The optimal age of the seedling is 5 years.
For planting a plant, you need to choose well-lit, sunny areas or partial shade. A tree planted in the shade develops much worse, and also has a sparse crown. When preparing a recess for planting, you need to focus on the size of the container. The recess should be 15-20 cm larger in diameter and 20-30 cm deeper.
Pine badtolerates stagnant water, which is why, if groundwater is located close to the soil surface, then in the planting recess it is necessary to make a drainage layer of gravel or expanded clay (about 5-10 cm high). The drainage layer must be filled with soil enriched with minerals.
The tree must be carefully pulled out of the container and placed in a previously prepared recess, trying to maintain the integrity of the earthen coma. It is best to plant the plant slightly above the soil level, with the expectation that the soil will still sag. The space around the sprout needs to be compacted a little and covered with fertile soil. Then make a small recess for watering so that the water does not spread over the surface. Immediately after planting, the tree must be watered and sprayed with the sprout itself. By knowing how to plant a pine tree, you can create a beautiful garden with these evergreens that are easy to shape and trim.
