I think it’s important to understand what pinching does and to dispel the incorrect notions of what it could do. This is a lengthy topic, with its use spanning across conifers, broadleaf deciduous etc, so I’ll cover a high level dive into it and reference back to the picture (Podocarpus Tōtara Aurea).

Pinching is the shortening of the new shoot while it is still young, fleshy and starting to elongate. I would assume this is why the term pinching was used, as you can you use your fingers to remove the growth easily.

Seen here, this is a look at the shoot a week or so AFTER it was pinched. When I pinched this shoot, it was a 1/3 of that length. As you can see, the shoot still extends out a bit further. Notice at the pinch sight, numerous buds set.

By performing this action, how are we informing the tree as to how to respond?

– Stop elongating at this shoot.

– Redirect your energy to other shoots, generally further back (interior) on the branch or elsewhere on the tree.

Why can’t we just prune when it hardens off, what’s the hype with pinching?

– Managing the trees energy. (Before I kick off here, if this hasn’t clicked yet). The single most important aspect of bonsai knowledge you can have is learning how to understand the trees energy and how to manipulate it.

Back to it…

If the tree is a battery and starts with a full charge going into spring. It flushes out dispelling half of its battery. Most of that going into a few shoots that have elongated way beyond the silhouette of the tree and are not useable in the design. We then cut it off. That is a waste of resources if you ask me and the tree has now less resources to put into those generally weaker interior shoots. (Let’s assume the tree here is in refinement and healthy).

However….

A tree/ branch in development that needs thickening, needs length, lacks health then there is no need to pinch but let it extend.

In summary we pinch because.

– We are maintaining a trees silhouette.

– We are manipulating the trees energy to achieve that silhouette.

What does pinching not do?

– In general terms, it does not create back buds. The buds/ interior shoots that were already there may be further empowered to grow as a result of pinching that exterior empowered shoot.

A quick side note….this leads to a discussion on a common pitfall of pruning technique, future blog post..

I’ll start to wrap up, if you want your Podocarpus Tōtara to bud back on the trunk, branches, you just need a super strong healthy tree that has been allowed to grow freely, 9 times out 10, you will see buds on the trunk or branch appearing.

Make the knowledge connections… if I’m in refinement and pinching to maintain my trees silhouette am I concerned with getting a new bud on the trunk to grow a branch? Or conversely for development. Often it’s not black and white, but you get the jist of it.

Final thought for those hanging in, everyone heard never to pinch a juniper….over time the tree gets weaker….there is no knowledge that I’m aware of that can advise how long you can pinch a Tōtara or if I might say elongating species in refinement for, before they can/ or may start to get weak…unknown.

What is known, balance often wins. It may just be as simple as letting the tree grow freely for a period of time.

Aspects not covered here and optional for those looking for self study, look up Auxin and Cytokinin.