The stories in the needles

I asked Mr. Tanaka once about what part of his apprenticeship he disliked the most and he said “pulling needles”. Then he explained that at Daiju-en, where he was an apprentice they pulled needles for about 3-4 months in a year. Daiju-en is known for its pines, including the candle cutting technique and the discovery of Zuisho pine, both discovered by the farther of the current owner of Daiju-en.

When I started working with pines pulling needles was definitely not my preferred part of the maintenance process. But over the last few years I started enjoying it more and more. I find it to be one of those experiences that really gets you to know your tree, year after year. I try to pull needles a few times a year, depending on how much I get done at different times of the year. Starting in the spring, when the candles start growing I balance the candles and pull down to about 5 pairs of needles on black and red pines (fewer in stronger areas and leave more in weaker areas). If the tree was not decandled last summer this process would have been done in the fall. Then in the summer (June or early July here) I cut candles on strong trees or balance the needles on weaker trees that are not being decandled. And in the fall I select shoots on the trees that were decandled down to two candles (or one in congested areas), pull last year needles and thin out new needles in stronger areas, or pull down to 5 pairs (more or less depending on the strength of the buds) on trees that were not decandled.

One of the things that I noticed is that needle pulling process comes with many special sensations. First thing I noticed is how mentally tiring it is. Looking through the needles for a few hours makes me feel almost dazed and I usually sleep very well after it. The reason for this tiredness is that you have to continuously refocus at different depths - first thing you see are the tips of needles, but then you need to focus on the base of the needles and count them, and often, you doing all the while looking through layers of needles.

There are different techniques people use to pull needles - you can pull with your fingers, you can pull with tweezers, or some just cut them off with scissors. I was shown the "proper" technique of holding scissors in your left hand and moving needles out of the way with scissors while pulling with tweezers in your right hand. I have to admit, I struggle with the "proper" technique, and find the it is easier for me to hold the shoot with my left hand while pulling with tweezers in my right hand.

Puling needles is one of those jobs that really gets you to know your bonsai. Maybe even more than wiring. I often find myself having a conversation with my past self – I often find messages that I left 6 or 12 months earlier. Like when I find a candle with a whole bunch of old needles I wonder “why did I leave so many needles? Did I just miss it?” More likely it is because it was a weak bud and I decided not to cut it during summer. Or maybe I maybe I decided not to pull needles around it the fall before. So now I can see whether it worked or not – if it did the bud will look strong and now I can pull the needles around and decandle in the summer (if all goes well).

Another interesting sensation of pulling needles is the smell surrounding the process. The first smell is the smell of the pine sap - the tree will start bleeding a little as you work and you will get a good introduction to difference aromas of pines. my favorite is red pine, followed by black pine. my least favorite is Zuisho - I get nausiated from the smell of Zuisho sap, so much so that I have considered selling the only Zuisho i have. Depending on how recently you sprayed your trees you might even get a good whiff of pesticides that you used. And the last smell that is the part of the needle pulling process is the smell of burning sap - after a few hours of pulling needles your tweezers will get gunked up with sap and the easiest way to clean them is to burn the sap and then brush it off with a copper brush.

in the late fall/winter I reduce the number of shoots that grew from the spot where the old candle was cut in the summer. There a number of decisions that need to be made at this point. Normally we would try to leave two shoots. The reason not to leave more shoots is to avoid the swelling at the point where the shoots emerge. And that is true not only for pines. But the question is which two. And the answer varies depending on where this candle is in the tree. Often I will try to leave two shoots that are not at 180 degrees to each other. If the shoots are at the top of the tree I might leave two weaker shoots and cut the stronger ones, but at the bottom of the tree or inside i might eliminate the weaker shoots. The goal is always to balance the tree.

The one useful thing to keep in mind is that strong areas will get stronger and weak areas will get weaker, and eventually die. This was explained to me by Peter Tea (more than once and using very short words) and I find that it is one of the fundamental principals to keep in mind. So if you are trying to make weak areas stronger the way to achieve it is to make strong areas weaker, while maintaining the overall health of the tree.

Taking care of the strong areas on the pine is one of the most important things to do to maintain the overall health of the tree so that the weak areas don't get neglected and die off.

Another sensation I notice when pulling needles is that I often get a back pain from bending my back too much. My work table is an engine lift I got from Harbor Freight tools so I can lift the tree or lower it very easily. But I have to remember to do it. What often happens is that I forget to adjust the height of the table in time and end up bending to work on lower branches - not the best strategy. So what I do when I am more conscious is to work horizontally at one level by rotating the tree and then elevating the table to work on lower branches. I pull needles from top to bottom so that i don't drop needles on the areas I already pulled.

The thing that is super important is to not just think about what to do but just do the work. It is important not to be judgmental about the work that you have done last year or doing right now. It is much more important to do the work and make a few mistakes, then not do the work. I often make a list and realize that there is just too much to do, but it is important to do at least what you can. So the important thing is to pick a tree, take it away from the bench that it is on to the working area and work on that tree. You might not be able to get to all your trees, but it is ok. You can do more next time. I often start working on the tree that is not my best tree to get the muscle memory back and the stories in my head straight and then when you feel better about what you are doing work on the better tree. A lot of bonsai is repetitive work so getting in the grove is important.