Pruning conifers or how a beautiful evergreen crown is formed? Pruning pine: rules for crown formation.

Foreword

Pruning conifers is a popular destination for those who prefer topiary art. And all due to the fact that it is easy to take care of such plants - it does not take much time and does not require special investments. Moreover, conifers normally tolerate a haircut, they do not need careful care, since they grow rather slowly.

Required Tools

Pruning rules: learning from the pros

Pruning conifers is also attractive because it allows you to create real works of art on your site. But if this is your first time taking up a pruner, you don’t need to set yourself the main goal of creating a juniper or an intricate object, you need to start with simple forms: cones, balls, pyramids. And with time, the rest will come, and the trimming process itself will become interesting and creative.

Basic Rules:

You need to start working on next year after transplanting or planting a seedling;
When pruning, be guided by the design of the crown, because sometimes it can simply be cut by doing the most minimal work;
In one run, the cut mass should not be more than 30% of the total green mass of the tree;
After pruning, you should not leave bare branches, because conifers, unlike other plants whose shoots are covered with greenery, will simply dry out;
Do not forget that some types of these plants are poisonous, and therefore, when working, use gloves and clothes that you don’t mind throwing away, because if resin gets in, you won’t be able to wash it off;
It is important that the tool for work is well sharpened and clean, do not forget to also wipe it after cutting each tree so as not to “catch” the infection.

Pruning conifers: timing and technique

A lot depends on timing. By choosing the time, you can stimulate the growth of branches, their maturation, the laying of fruiting buds. Most often, work is carried out in the spring (March-April), which is correct for most fruit species, however, such a schedule is not suitable for decorative types. Suitable dates clippings:

Spring is considered the most favorable period, since at this time the growth of new shoots is stimulated. The plants that undergo "processing" include juniper, thuja, dwarf pines.
Summer pruning is suitable for all conifers (to ensure sunlight), as well as for varieties with spring bloom, which leads to the laying of new buds and shoots. If you work in March-April, you can cut off future buds, which will lead to "damage" to the appearance. In addition, such work inhibits vegetation and is carried out when old branches are removed and bushes are thinned out.
Plants that are characterized by early growing seasons (larch, cypress) are best cut in November.

But timing is not the most important key point is the cutting technique, on which depends and appearance shrub, and its normal development. That is why you must strictly follow all the rules regarding this issue. The most famous method is considered to be a "cut on the kidney", which we will tell you in detail.

Main points of work:

The correct cut should have a slope of 45 degrees to the kidney, and its lower edge should be higher than the level of the base by a maximum of 2 mm.
If you cut too low, the “wound” will heal for a long time, because of which the kidney will either give a small and weak shoot, or dry up, and if you cut too high, the shoot will deviate strongly to the side, the fat will dry out and become an obstacle to rapid overgrowth. wounds."
The branch, which is in a raised position, is cut to the outer bud, in an oblique view, the cut is made to the inner bud, the side cut is carried out only if it is necessary to rotate the branch in the tier.
If you are going to shorten the shoots, it is advisable to leave spines up to 2 cm long, as they will "protect" the kidney from the process of tissue death.

But with old and thick branches there is another work to be done. Firstly, you should not cut them with a knife or pruner, as there is a high chance of leaving a "laceration" that will take too long to heal. It is best to use a file, and make the cut itself along the top of the “ring”. Be sure to hold the branch during the removal process so that it does not break off and damage the bark. After work, go through all the places of the cut garden pitch helping plants recover faster.

Caring for plants before and after cutting

Pruning coniferous trees and plants is a huge stress for trees. That is why a lot of attention should be paid to the care and condition of the tree before the work is carried out. So, for example, if your thuja or juniper look “not very” healthy, you should definitely strengthen the plants. For this, there are various top dressings, mineral and phosphate fertilizers. Also, one should not forget about high-quality watering without going “beyond”, because many conifers need two or three waterings per month, and an excess of moisture will negatively affect their root system.

It is also necessary to monitor the condition of the plants after the removal of the branches. Special stimulants are suitable for this - adaptogens, which strengthen and support trees and shrubs after such a stressful "operation". The main thing is to carefully read the instructions so as not to "overfeed" the plants.

You can stimulate the growth of roots with zircon, but epin is perfect for the crown - the price of these "medicines" is quite low, and they have an excellent effect, which has been proven by many gardeners.

Such pruning of conifers will allow you not only to beautifully arrange the crown of plants, but also make them even stronger - pests and conifers and fruit trees cannot interfere with growth and development.

The formation of coniferous trees and shrubs is most often carried out due to improper selection of the species and variety for a particular place in the garden, and less often when a full-sized tree, such as Scotch pine, is specially planted to form a plant in the style of niwaki (garden bonsai).

Pine tree formation

Regardless of the reason that forced the gardener to create an artificial crown, the ways to curb growth for formation are common:

Crown thinning - removal of a branch, in whole or in part, to thin out or create the desired shape of the crown

Removal of thickening shoots

Shortening (pinching) - removal of a part of a young pine shoot, the so-called candle, at the moment of its full extension. Usually this is the end of May - the beginning of June, when the needles on the candle have already begun to deviate. You can remove up to 2/3 of the length of the candle

Branch stretching - fixing a branch in a given position. It is carried out by any improvised means, preferably with protection of the pine bark at the attachment point

Shoot fixation

In the conditions of the Moscow region, they tolerate annual pruning and pinching well. .

When forming a pine, you need to evaluate your strengths and capabilities, since every year the volume and height of pruning will increase. If the formation usually begins with pinching a few candles, then over the years their number grows exponentially.

It should be remembered that inhibition of growth and heavy pruning depresses and weakens the plant. Crown thickening contributes to fungal diseases, needle rust, blister rust

needle rust

blister rust

In order to reduce the risk of diseases, the pruning tool must be constantly disinfected (at least with vodka). Plants after pruning should be supported by treatment with some kind of stimulant - epin-extra, zircon, HB-101, emistim. And mandatory treatment in spring and autumn , for example, drugs Ordan, Abiga-peak, etc., alternating them.

Consider examples of formation.

Formation of Scots pine

Planted in 2002, height 70 cm. Several years are allotted for rooting and the formation of several tiers of branches. In 2006, the branches were thinned and fixed for a horizontal arrangement

Scotch pine, beginning of shearing in 2006

As the pine and surrounding plants grew, the concept of formation changed.

Scotch pine, 2014

The annual pruning of young shoots has led to a strong thickening of the "clouds" at the ends of the branches. And this causes difficulties with the obligatory combing of needles, which dies off from pines every autumn.

Scotch pine before shearing, 2016

And as a result - blister rust of several shoots. Therefore, a strong thinning was carried out and several shoots were left to continue the growth of branches.

Scots pine after shearing 2016

Combing out old needles, especially with signs of fungal diseases, is a mandatory care for coniferous plants

Fungal disease of pine

It is better to shake off such needles on some kind of lining, then burn

Collection of needles

Giving a ball shape to a pine tree

The pine was planted in 2002, and after a few years, shortening of the young growth began throughout the crown. For several years this worked, but as soon as the plants planted nearby grew and began to shade part of the crown, the shape of the ball was broken. I had to gradually remove the lower tiers of branches and raise the ball up

Scotch pine forming a ball

Now it is no longer pinched, but simply cut with curb scissors

Shearing pine with curb scissors

Mountain pine formation

Mountain pine species was planted as a small seedling. No one counted on a high growth rate of pine, but soon it occupied the entire area so that it began to interfere with the passage. I had to start cutting. A mistake was made - on the abandoned trunks, all branches were removed except for the apical ones. The branches on the trunk of the tree contribute to its thickening, but the result was “clouds” on thin trunks, which had to be maintained in an upright position by tying them

Pine rock formation

We conclude that it is impossible to remove all tiers of pine branches at once. If it is necessary by design, then the process should take place over several years. If, nevertheless, all the branches are removed, we save the shoots that grow along the trunk. They will help thicken the trunk and may later be useful for shaping.

To give the pine "lightness and airiness", thinning of thick "clouds" was carried out

Mountain pine thinning shoots

Pine tree formation in nivaki style

With the classic formation of pine in the style of nivaki, it is necessary:

Leave right amount branches in each tier. The Japanese believe that the number of branches should be odd -3 or 5

We form an odd number of branches in a tier

Thin out the branch at the base of the trunk. Leave the overgrown shoots around the perimeter, removing the central, largest candle, pinch the rest slightly

An example of the formation of a pine branch

We leave well-placed shoots

After this procedure, the branch should resemble a triangle located in the same plane.

The result of branch formation

In subsequent years, continue the formation, leaving well-lit shoots, fix and bend them in accordance with your idea of \u200b\u200bthe possible end result.

The formation of spruce, larch, thuja will be considered later, when a young growth for a haircut grows.

In the suburbs you can not cut everything trees and shrubs - the constant removal of the vegetative mass depresses them as well as coniferous crops. Traditional haircut:

Hawthorns blood red and unipetal
Cotoneaster brilliant
vesicle
River maples, Tatar
Derain white, blood red, offspring
Chubushnik
Currant alpine and golden
Willow - types

The shape of the haircut, in principle, can be any, the smaller the foliage, the more difficult it can be. Be sure to pay attention to the growth rate. For example, the vesicle will have to be cut at least 4 times per season. But when cutting alpine currants, you can limit yourself to 2.

Also, when choosing a form, you should remember the purpose of the object. Hedge, ball, cone can be a background for other plants, and a nivaki-style haircut is always an accent.

Crop Shape Ball

The ball-shaped haircut is carried out when the plant has formed a sufficient number of shoots. To achieve this, the plant, during the first year after planting, is cut short twice during the summer season. After two years of formation, you can start cutting.

Curb scissors are taken and a hemisphere is formed

The haircut is repeated as the shoots grow. Cotoneaster brilliant grows quickly

Cotoneaster shiny after shearing

If the desired shape is already formed, then you can use a garden brush cutter. It greatly speeds up the cutting process.

Cutting honeysuckle with a brush cutter

Honeysuckle after shearing

Formation of nivaki-style hardwoods

To form a nivaki-style plant, you need to select strong, well-spaced branches and shorten them by different height. Leave a few growing points at the top, removing all the rest along the entire length of the branch. Then cut upper part regularly, leaving 3-5 internodes

Vesicle before trimming

It is also convenient to cut with curb scissors

Shearing the vesicle with curb scissors

Since the haircut is a “blind” method, that is, without paying attention to the growth points of the shoot, after the scissors we take a pruner and remove all remaining stumps. If they are not removed, then drying out, the remaining stumps will spoil the view.

You can only cut with secateurs, carefully cutting all the shoots to the desired height on the “outer” leaf

Removal of stumps on the vesicle

Vesicle after pruning

In May, you need to prune the branches that have not blossomed and spoil the crown with their appearance. For example, the little elm Jacqueline Hillier. Every year it has a large mass of frozen shoots.

Elm small Jacqueline hillier - removal of dried shoots

Perennial cutting of dead shoots takes a long time, but gives the elm a peculiar topiary shape.

Living walls are well obtained from hawthorn. Blood red hawthorn grows quite slowly. For the season - one or two haircuts, but it takes years to create a wall

In conclusion, I would like to repeat once again that the shearing of any plants is an annual, laborious, creative process. If you have started, then it is no longer possible to skip the stages of formation. Therefore, before the start of formation, it is necessary to evaluate your strength, time, desire.

Our native pine Pinus sylvestris)- a grateful and wonderful tree in all respects, quite suitable for shaping and cutting. Its main advantage is its rapid growth. For three or four years, the appearance of a formed pine changes significantly, which cannot be achieved in such a period from spruce or, say, fir. And after five years, from three-year-old seedlings, you can get a lush, stocky and almost seasoned hedge.

In order to restrain the growth of pine and form a dense, compact crown, it is only necessary to break off young growths by 1/3 - 2/3 of the length every year.
Usually, best time for this - May, the main thing is that the shoots do not have time to become lignified and are flexible enough.

Breaking off is preferable to trimming, since in this case the young needles remaining below remain intact.
And when pruning, these needles are inevitably injured and, growing up, their tips will be brown, as if burnt. This is not critical and is only noticeable at close range. It does not harm the pine, but for the owner it is a psychologically uncomfortable look.

If you decide to break off - do not forget about gloves! After this procedure, it is very difficult to wash your hands from resin juice.

If you are ready for a simple but annual procedure for breaking off a pine, then in the same way you can form a fluffy compact Christmas tree for a small garden in a fairly short time.

We must remember that you can not skip the pinch. One year pass, of course, will not make the weather, but in the future, by starting molding, you can get a long, unintelligible evergreen freak.
However, having cut off all the lower “formed” once branches, the freak can eventually turn into a slender fire-barrel ship pine, provided that it has a strong central conductor that has escaped from the captivity of molding.

Just as simply and quickly enough, you can form an ordinary bonsai tree from a pine tree. To give a wild natural look and a characteristic “curvature” of the trunk, that is, to imitate a tree that adapts to natural adversities and disasters (winds, hurricanes, droughts, rockfalls, etc.), you can do this:
1. Initially plant the seedling at an angle. You can put a stone nearby, that is, give the appearance that the pine tree seemed to have had to free itself from under the stone.
Then gradually, as the branches grow (but when they are still quite flexible - without waiting for their final lignification), form the curvature of the trunk: either by tying the branches to supports, or by hanging a load from the branch to bend it into right place.
It is better to do this during the period of the least sap flow - in winter or in March.

To curb growth and give splendor to the needles, pinch or break off young shoots, as described above.

Extra branches that interfere with the desired image - remove, guided by common sense, intuition and your ideas about the beauty of crooked pine.
Search and look at as many pictures as possible on the Internet, books, go to an exhibition of bonsai - do not be lazy to work not only with your hands and pruners, but also with other organs - eyes, head, soul ...

All this will have to be spent from 6 to 8 years, but as a result it will be possible to get a real “wild” bonsai-like tree that you can admire all year round and proudly show to guests.
Example 1 hedge

Along the road on both sides we planted the same seedlings of Scots pine. On the one hand, the pines were allowed to grow freely, without touching them, and on the other hand, young growths were broken off annually by 2/3. Four years later, intact pines were twice the height and width of those formed by breaking off. Formed pines have become dense, compact, low.

The initial growth of pines during planting was about 1 m. After 4 years, intact pines grew up to 4 meters, freely spreading branches to a width of up to 2 - 2.5 meters.
Formed pines rose to 1.7 - 1.9 m, while forming a dense and dense crown, remaining within 1 - 1.5 m in diameter.
Example 2 Pine - tapeworm.

There were several self-seeding pines on the site. One of them began to pinch every year.
Owner Ekaterina Moskaleva (Kirov) says:

We do pinching in early June, when the growths are already beginning to stretch, but still quite soft. I pinch my hands; if the husband is taken, then he cuts it with secateurs (but then it is very difficult to wash it). Throughout the crown, each candle grows by about 2/3 or even more - I leave no more than 3 cm. It turns out quickly, about an hour. This year (that is, already in the past, in the 14th) they put a ladder - right on a pine tree, in order to pinch the top. And before that, they got it that way. Here is our “plucked” pine (for the last three years), and next to it is the one that we did not touch. And this is how the branches of plucked and not plucked pines look like.

Example 3 single pine, which was abandoned molding.

About 12 years ago, a 3-year-old seedling of Scotch pine was planted near the western wall of the house. For several years, it was regularly plucked in the above way, due to which the pine remained low - up to 2 m. A few years later, as a result of an accident (for a pine), its lower branches were broken off on one side. Then we decided to stop pinching. We cleaned the trunk from below to a height of uniform branching and let it grow freely, as it pleases. In three years, it has grown to 3.5 m, while maintaining a rather narrow crown. For comparison - pines like a loved one pet. And secondly, as in the case of a haircut / pinch - this is a kind of way to relieve stress and calm the nerves! I tell you exactly!

Text: Natalya Melnikova, with the participation of Ekaterina Moskaleva and Alexander Sapelin (illustrations)

How to form coniferous plants for a hedge. When to start work. Pine and spruce bonsai. About this in the article.

Coniferous haircut

From Scotch pine and spruces can be made with a haircut not only a beautiful bonsai, but also amazing, fabulous plants for the garden.
The pruning of coniferous trees is increasingly attracting the attention of lovers of topiary art. And all because conifers are easy and convenient to care for. These plants are very diverse in their forms and color shades, they are attractive, decorative and remain so all year round. But the most important thing is coniferous trees perfectly tolerate a haircut, and due to the slow growth, they do not require increased attention and frequent care.
You can start cutting conifers at any age. Remember, you should start pruning your conifers a year after planting or transplanting. For shearing, good strong specimens of acclimatized plants or representatives of local flora are suitable.

The timing of the shearing of coniferous plants varies from year to year, approximately from the end of May to the end of the second decade of June (25.05 - 20.06).
When choosing a pruning period, one should focus on the phase of plant development, when young shoots are already formed, but the needles have not yet begun to grow.
On average, 1/3 of the length of the shoot is removed.

After pruning the shoots, buds begin to form on them, and by the end of summer they are already well formed. Of these, in turn, young shoots will develop in the next season, requiring pruning. And so every year.
Candles that appear in spring should be carefully pinched - shorten the top of the candle, trying not to damage the young needles at the base of the new growth.
Since the plant's renewal buds do not awaken at the same time, this procedure will have to be repeated as new candles appear. If you are late with this procedure and let the pine grow young shoots, then the candles will soon become woody and can no longer be pinched. On old candles, renewal buds are formed worse, which reduces the decorative effect of bonsai.

Pruning a pine tree is the complete removal or shortening of its branches and shoots. It is produced to give the crown a certain shape, improve and strengthen the tree. Removing pine branches slows down the growth of large-sized plants, and makes its ground part thicker.

Coniferous trees can be cut in winter when the air temperature reaches -10 degrees. Usually they cut their firs and pines at the end of January. You can remove entire branches, you can cut them to the desired length, then dormant buds wake up in the spring and give a new growth.
Of the rules for pruning pine, it is worth mentioning that pine shoots can be cut, leaving a stump, only if this stump is covered with needles (i.e., you can only shorten shoots no older than 2 years). Stumps without needles will inevitably dry out. In case an older branch needs to be removed, it is "transferred" to a younger branch (i.e. removed completely above the younger branch, which becomes the new top).

Spruce to pinch only time to translate in vain, you just need to cut it. Scissors. And she will be fluffy and beautiful without any dances with a tambourine.