Pruning Pine Trees

Pine trees are basically very hardy in nature. It can be grown at home without much care and maintenance. For this reason, more and more people opt for growing these trees in their home garden. However, there are some common problems faced while growing pine trees. Sometimes, they tend to grow too large for the area where it has been planted. They are also often get attacked by various insects and as a result, the affected parts become weak. In order to tackle all such problems, pruning pine trees is a must.

How to Grow and Care for Pine Trees?

Before we discuss the pruning technique, let us find out about the suitable conditions needed for the growth and development of the pine trees. Even though they can survive in poor soil conditions, the ideal soil for growth of pine trees is moist and well-drained soil. The best time for planting the seeds are the months of December or January which is likely to germinate by March or April. They should be planted in small pots with the seeds placed vertically down just below the surface of the soil. Proper exposure to sunlight and regular watering is a must at this stage. However, a baby pine tree may get burned in the scorching afternoon heat. Hence, it should be kept in a shady area during that time. When the seedlings have grown to 6-10 inches in size, they should be transplanted into bigger pots in an outdoor area. After two years, the size of the pine trees will be so big that they have to be planted in the ground.

Most of the pine trees species are adapted to drought condition and hence, they require occasional watering. They should be watered in the fall in order to prevent drying out in the winter. For the first five years, you should fertilize the tree either during early spring or late fall.

How to Prune Pine Trees?

Pruning is an integral part of the pine tree maintenance. It is a process that involves removal of dead, diseased and injured parts of the plants. It will also improve the shape and size of the tree. This will encourage the tree to grow denser foliage. The ideal time for pruning pine trees is the later part of the spring season. To begin with, look out for the dead or injured parts of the tree. It is likely that most of these dead branches would be found near the trunk area of the tree. Once you have located one or more of the dead branches, remove them from the tree either with the help of a pruning saw or lopping shears.

Many of the branches of pines tend to touch the ground, which often look very haphazard. So, these branches need to be eliminated to give a neat and straight look to the tree. This will also make the basic clean up work under the tree much easier. If the pine tree is tall enough, then you have to use a pole pruner to cut the higher branches of the tree. It consists of a saw and a hook blade that can help you to reach out to the upper part of the tree quite easily. The new growth of pine tree takes place in the form of pine candles. The center pine candle grow rapidly and make the tree taller. It has to be pruned by half with the help of a sharp pruning shears when it is still soft and light green in color. In the next season, new buds will grow at that site only. Moreover, pruning the pine candle helps you to control the size of the pine tree as per your requirement.

Now, we know that pruning pine trees will keep them away from many kinds of pine tree diseases and ensure a proper growth. However, care has to be taken that you do not end up over pruning them. In other words, do not prune too many branches from the tree at any given point of time. This is because it would slow down the overall growth of the tree and would weaken the remaining branches of the tree in the long run. Therefore, it is recommended to keep two-third part of the branches of the pine tree intact.