Hi All,
Have an “issue” with my Scots Pine where it creates a ton of buds all in one spot that is actually kind of hard to deal with and its starting to get unsightly :). Wondering if this is really an issue or not. I know there are viruses of roses for example that cause excessive new shoot production like a birds nest…
First pic is the tree in spring before shortening the candles, the rest are the bud clusters. This is the second year in a row this has happened.
Regards,
Chris
I have had the same thing happen in the past and I believe it is a type of witches broom - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch's_broom. If caused by an infection I think the only thing we can do is prune back to good wood.
Some witches brooms are genetic and do a nice job of increasing ramification which is the source of some of the nice tight or small foliage cultivars.
I hope someone with more knowledge/experience can chime in since I would like to know the best way to handle them when they occur.
