Apprentice Patch Clark is back with a Japanese Black Pine. This is our sequel to A Juniper Makeover.
A tall Black Pine with nice bark and plenty of issues. For one thing, after the first foot there is no taper. The branching also has no rhythm or movement, which is why it looks like a stove pipe brush.
Another view of our pipe brush.
Patch has found a likely spot to reinvent this pine.
And suddenly we have a new story to flesh out.
Looking for long, thick or stubby branches to remove.
Like this one.
One possible front.
Another possible front.
This pine has a big, low branch with an awkward movement in it. A thick branch like this would look great on a thick trunk, but here on a thinner trunk it looks out of place. It also has a secondary problem. The low branch has deadwood in it. You can remove the deadwood and still move the branch, but it is another knock against using it.
A thought—remove the low branch.
The low branch thinned.
Low, thick branches can cause trouble on removal. If this branch were cut off in one swoop, that may kill off part of the root system. Instead, we weakened it and will fully remove it within a year.
Patch digitally “removed” the low branch to show the future design. Without that thick low branch the trunk looks thicker and gains interest. The stub up on top will be shortened later. And the branch raised to complete the trunk line needs a few years to develop convincing taper.
The redesign was invasive enough that the tree needs a year to recover. We’ll return to this pine next spring for the repot.