plucking eastern red cedar needles

[mboatman]

I have a habit of plucking needles of above said tree. Mostly i pluck the ones that are brown and yellow. Is this a safe idea? Also will this induce backbudding? I have praciced this for years with no known issues and i have had some backbudding, not as much as i would like but better than none at all. Any takes?

[MatsuBonsai]

Removal of the old yellow and brown needles should open it up and allow more light and air in to (hopefully) promote back budding. What you really want is lots of healthy growth, particularly long runners to induce back budding. Lots of energy means lots of growth.

Unfortunately, some of the old bonsai literature (incorrectly) advocates pinching to promote back budding. Pinching does not promote back budding, but instead slows growth and increases density on the tips. Pinching is for finished trees.

Any pictures?

[cglanton]

Is that just for cedars, or non-pine evergreens as well Matsubonsai?

[MatsuBonsai]

That is for most scale junipers. Eastern red cedar is Juniperus virginiana.

[plantmanky]

The best way to induce vigorous back budding on Juniperus virginiana is to "prune" the branch and remove the active tip growth. As John rightly said, this is true for most scale conifers including this Juniper. Just removing the old yellowing needles increases light penetration into the inner foliage but in and of itself does not induce vigorous back budding. Most junipers are "tip dominant" meaning that the tips of the branches grow actively and not the older inner foliage. Pruning out the tips will force the inner branches to produce new active tips to grow which is what back budding is all about. Just remember that with almost all conifers you need to keep some green foliage on the branch which is where the new buds will emerge from.

[cglanton]

Thanks John!