these trees are named.. due to their blue color... i have 3 different ones ... they are not chosen because they are blue xmas trees ... and frankly.. mine defy all logic in growing like an xmas tree ... if you want the annual job.. and you like messing with it.. then go for it ... but due to its size potential.. and its lack of proper shape in your eyes.. and with the beauty of the house.. it might just be time to be done with it.. and research and find something that will be work free for decades to come.. and be what you actually want out there. .. frankly in the first pic.. the blueness is rather drab.. given all the green with red brick ... if you could find a yellow upright for your zone... you might just have one stunning landscape .... think outside the box whatever you decide is fine with me.. but right now.. you can remove it with a shovel ... and not have to pay for removal.. with a little hard work ... but it never hurts to whip out a checkbook good luck ken

This is the reference I always look to: American Conifer Society - Pruning conifers Dax

Chipping in from bonsai again (hope you donÂt mind) but there is no real difference (only scale), as George probably knows, between training a 15 ft tall pine and a 2 ft tall one when it comes to growth control. Though for a final image or shape itÂs of course much easier to wire a 2 ft tree into shape than it is "bending" a 15 footer. However, I think it should be possible to style your tree to give a windswept image. To compact shape and build up foliage pads you combine pruning branches back to a fork in late winter with candle pinching and shoot selection in spring and late summer, although as far as bonsai is concerned exactly how to do what and when can be a "hot topic" on occasion. These actions are designed to force budding further back on the branch to stop that "bare branch with a pom pom of needles at the end " effect.. Always leave viable buds on the branch or it may die. A good idea is to sketch down your ideas based on what the tree has to offer . i.e. general trunk direction and utilising major branch placement as you canÂt magic up a 3ft long branch just where you need it all of a sudden The biggest factor to overcome is most pineÂs tendency to grow radiating "wheel spoke" branches at intervals up the trunk . ThereÂs a link below to a rather "arty" photo of a tree in Oregon. ItÂs called "windswept" but probably isnÂt strictly speaking with that ramrod straight trunk. More probably had one side burned off in a forest fire or broken off from a near neighbour being felled. Now that this tree has been isolated and exposed to the winds by logging (probably), only the branches have taken on a windswept look. The trunk looks hurricane proof! Compare it to the genuine article. http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/TREE_WINDSWEPT_FROM_COSTA_RICAN_DESERT.jpg So perhaps consider reducing the height to the 3rd ? branch whorl up (just above the fence line) and inducing a lean using thin wire rope and a screw-in eye anchored to a sturdy point. (disguise the wire with a clematis or similar, they grow along my clothes line just fine  2 inches a day sometimes) Prune off the branches on the " windward" side maybe leaving a few damaged stubs as evidence of wind action then select branches to retain on the leeward side. You could even leave a branchless stub at the top of the tree, strip the bark and tear bits off it like it had been broken off ( called a "jin") Now how all of this would fit in with the concept of a Japanese garden I couldnÂt tell you. I can email you virtual image of what I mean. Once again, hope you donÂt mind me chipping in with my 2c worth. Here is a link that might be useful:

Don... thanks for the enlightening response.. makes for much more interesting reading than the brief, do it this way..!... musingly, I suppose I don't rate things or experts much anymore. I've seen some incredible work done by people that have never had pruners in their hands (Jando etal) and some absolutely atrocious and hideous caricatures come from seasoned hands. Perhaps it depends on where one has been... The notes on the backgrounds of the gardeners is perhaps a live lead on a 3 year research project. Thanks. noting that these gardens are in northern Kyoto, the need of the gardens relates closer to 'mountain', therefore the gardens might reflect this in the training of the pine. Photo's would also help to see the differences. I would wonder if 'all' the pine in a garden were pruned this way. If they were in the south the shapes would change as they would from one persons garden to the next, whether there or here. Q2: Timing makes an incredible difference in N. America. Not so much in Japan due to the climate, humidity, soil etc. Here it is best to understand when the roots begin to grow and when dormancy actually sets in, if it does, whether by weather or drought. Both induce senescence and dormancy, in which needling directly effects the amounts of sequestered energy delivered for storage to the root system. Most often the needling regimen in Japan results in the restriction of the root system (natural root pruning). In turn the timing is noted by a variance in the green/black color of the needles/bark (black pine - red 'dulls' about 1/2 CMK down), rather than noting the change of color - browning of senescence, of 3 year needles in the normal tree. Same difference, just an earlier removal by 10 to 14 days that results in a decrease of about 20% of energy. Q3: I actually chuckled. For a moment an eyebrow crooked upwards and speculated whether you'd done your homework, only to be dismissed. I write pretty much as speak. The difficulty of attempting to describe a nuance in international terms is nigh impossible. ergo, I chuckled. nope, don't know which one you favour..., preferring to mutually understand that pine are pruned according to the required result for the benefit of the garden, from natural pruning to kado matsu and stiffly expressed, meant to get attention cloudlike disks... every job is unique. Q4: then if the plant materials are rotting, I would have to surmise that they are not properly xeriscaped.. since Japanese gardening IS xeriscaping. Many of the planting admonishments in the Sakuteiki refer to xeriscaping, taboos being the fast track presumably for not needing to explain the whys to youngin's that don't listen anyway. a last note to all interested in pine pruning in the south, a reminder that the San Diego garden has their pruning sessions happening soon. ...............edzard Don, thanks for the responses, I'm certain they assist many people that share this forum as they do myself in comprehending the variables of N. America. (--will email, though later, between hungry grizzlies, the eaten neighbors horse, just getting back & am leaving, have just a bit more travel-work to do - not enough time and mental ram space at the moment to hold an intelligent conversation.)