名媛直播

I had a neglected Japanese black pine transplanted into my yard and I want to transform this tree into a Japanese style garden tree (Niwaki). The tree is quite leggy and I am not sure how to approach my first steps for pruning as I am a total novice. In my online research, I am not finding any videos or tutorials regarding getting a tree like this under control. I am guessing that it needs to be cut back significantly to start and I am looking for some direction as to how I should proceed. Any information someone could impart as to the above would be sincerely appreciated.

Interesting project!

My best recomendation is to get the book Niwaki by Jake Hobson to get the basic knowledge about the topic.

Niwaki pines are normally created when very young in specialized nurceries. It can obviously be done by hobbyists in ground as well. However, they need to be young enough to be bendable.

There is a technique in Niwaki where garden trees is created from mature trees. It is called kobushishitate. I have only seen this technique used on broadleaf trees. I think backbudding from bare wood is essential for this technique which black pines do not.

I would not make big pruning decitions in this case. Rather start yearly bud pinching and remove one or two branches per year from the bottom and up. But you need to have realistic expectations. Real niwaki trees have movement in the trunk. There are no such thing as formal upright pine niwaki. This is why training is started early. On this tree it is just too late for that. I am sure it can become a quite good looking tree in the future, but not really a niwaki tree. Therefore I also recomend doing more research on the faster method commonly used in western nurceries called cloud pruning.