Decandling is a great technique for improving ramification or for maintaining it. What little ramification my red pine forest has can be attributed to a few years of decandling. I don’t currently have any plans to further develop the trunks in this forest, so the branches are getting all of my attention. Here is the group planting before decandling.
Red pine forest – June, 2011
Top 1/3 decandled
2/3 decandled
Completely decandled
In addition to removing the spring shoots, I removed some extra vigorous branches to better balance the tree. The shoot below is quite vigorous – more than I want for this bonsai.
Vigorous branch
The branches below are better suited for development into branch pads.
Desirable growth
Where extra-vigorous shoots were crowding out more refined growth, I removed the vigorous shoots.
One of these shoots is not like the others
Extra-vigorous shoot removed
As I worked, I found a few anomalous shoots like those below. They weren’t spring shoots, but they weren’t exactly summer shoots either. Where did they come from?
Mystery shoots
About two months ago, I thinned these trees and shortened some of the candles – see “Thinning a red pine forest” for details. On one or two occasions, I accidentally broke the candles before they had time to develop. It was as if I “de-candled” these branches on the early side. The result of these mistakes are the strong shoots you see pictured above. As these shoots would continue to develop ahead of the properly decandled branches, I removed them to maintain balance.
Mystery shoots removed
After removing all extra-vigorous shoots and plucking needles from some of the more dense areas, I wrapped up my work for this season.
Decandling complete
This forest is another good candidate for wiring this fall. Once the branches are in place, I plan to repot the group in a slightly smaller pot.
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