This spring I pruned the candles in effort to curb the rate of growth and get a little control. I have it tied to the right fence in attempt to get a lean but am not sure how much I can safely pull on it. Yesterday I removed a couple front branches to reveal the trunk and weighted a couple of branches. What do you think? What else could I do, and what advice as to when. I am happy with the height now and think perhaps next fall I would remove the center upright candle to stop height growth? Thanks for your time, Thia

This spring

Today

From peeking at this forum I know there are a lot of focused and talented Japanese gardeners, it is rather intimidating.

My tree has gotten to be about 15 feet, perhaps more. I felt very brave to prune the candles this spring. I see you say that you pinch the terminal and lateral candles. My understanding is if your do this in the spring, new ones will form but the overall growth has been slowed. But if you pinch in the fall the candle will not return. Is that correct?

I think you are right about cutting back the lilac to the right. Do you have any shaping ideas that you think would work? I am very unsure. Do I want long twisty branches, short compact bushy branches? Thanks much, Thia

Though for a final image or shape it’s of course much easier to wire a 2 ft tree into shape than it is "bending" a 15 footer.

However, I think it should be possible to style your tree to give a windswept image.

To compact shape and build up foliage pads you combine pruning branches back to a fork in late winter with candle pinching and shoot selection in spring and late summer, although as far as bonsai is concerned exactly how to do what and when can be a "hot topic" on occasion. These actions are designed to force budding further back on the branch to stop that "bare branch with a pom pom of needles at the end " effect.. Always leave viable buds on the branch or it may die.

A good idea is to sketch down your ideas based on what the tree has to offer . i.e. general trunk direction and utilising major branch placement as you can’t magic up a 3ft long branch just where you need it all of a sudden

The biggest factor to overcome is most pine’s tendency to grow radiating "wheel spoke" branches at intervals up the trunk .

There’s a link below to a rather "arty" photo of a tree in Oregon. It’s called "windswept" but probably isn’t strictly speaking with that ramrod straight trunk.

More probably had one side burned off in a forest fire or broken off from a near neighbour being felled. Now that this tree has been isolated and exposed to the winds by logging (probably), only the branches have taken on a windswept look. The trunk looks hurricane proof!

Compare it to the genuine article.

http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/TREE_WINDSWEPT_FROM_COSTA_RICAN_DESERT.jpg

So perhaps consider reducing the height to the 3rd ? branch whorl up (just above the fence line) and inducing a lean using thin wire rope and a screw-in eye anchored to a sturdy point. (disguise the wire with a clematis or similar, they grow along my clothes line just fine – 2 inches a day sometimes)

Prune off the branches on the " windward" side maybe leaving a few damaged stubs as evidence of wind action then select branches to retain on the leeward side.

You could even leave a branchless stub at the top of the tree, strip the bark and tear bits off it like it had been broken off ( called a "jin")

Now how all of this would fit in with the concept of a Japanese garden I couldn’t tell you.

I can email you virtual image of what I mean.

Once again, hope you don’t mind me chipping in with my 2c worth.

However I do see alot of dominant growth at the top of your tree and you need to prune this back so it's vigour is reduced. Last year I took out half the apex of my tree and it hardly slowed it.

I wouldn't try much wire or stake work on the main trunk but you could try and raise the lower branches to be more horizontal with bamboo supports and pull down upper branches.

The most radical reworking of your pine would be to remove the entire top at a point where two upper branches can take over as a dual 'roof'. Bonsai types like this and there is a natural pine (probably sylvestris) near me that has this and looks great (must take a picture sometime).

It will look really seriously hideous at first but it'll pay off.

Candles...look at your shortest...all the rest should be snapped off to that length. Ideally all of them should grow all the same length, hence snapping only the long ones. I've seen pines that have reached this level of candle growth. pick 3 good candles and snap off the rest.

When? beginning of the year. Over de-candling will/might tell the sap to give up an go somewhere else.