Hi Antonio.
Yea, That is a great site
I,m still a bit confused about back budding though? I,m not sure which candles (when they come) I should be removing on this particular tree?
But there is a lot of information on a lot of different species as well. When it comes to fertiliser, I have a worm farm that collects the castings ( or worm wee ), would that be advisable to use every now and then as well? Dad calls it liquid gold!
Sorry for all the questions, but I really want this tree to work. Really, it is my pet tree
I know that it takes years to develop a great black pine, but I have a lot of years ahead of me. I really want to give it the best beginning I can so once It does devlop, It is exactly what I am Imagining.
Cheers
Mick
. scarring on black pines is normally done in the 1st year as a seedling, however you still can do it later. just have to be alot more careful not to bite in too hard. wiring in general, thickens trunks and branches. especialy if you are twisting and bending to shape. this procedure causes you and so should to tear the fibre's. (so that if you are too subtle with your bending and twisting fibres dont tear.) when the fibre's heal again it sets and also thickens the shaped areas. if you are not bending and twisting then letting the wire choke (just starting to indent ever so slightly )has the same effect of setting and thickening. with my bases, i set up a collar with some poly hose and thick wire through it. wrap it around the trunk base at soil level and tighten. the poly tube stops the wire from biting too soon and allows you to choke the the collared area. when young i reccomend the collar one year on one year off. Now that might only be for 6 months at a time, depending on your enviro, water and feed regime. twice usually does the trick. this method is usually used to correct reverse taper, however works to fatten a specific area too. these techniques are no prob on junis too, jamie. 
I wouldnt remove any candles on a pine such as yours yet. really you want branches the desired thickness etc before you start the refinement process , removing candles and bud selection is for when your tree has grown a bit first then you can work on secondary branching. really at this age you want to get good movement in your trunk, thicken it up and when you select your final branching put movement in them too. let the braches grow to desired thickness making sure you have some interior buds to cut back to once the branch is thick enough. this is how i grow JBP but other members maybe using another method which maybe better.
taking the top half of trees of since 2005! 
