I have read in a bonsai book that hitting the trunk of a pine with a hammer, softly will cause cell damage and as the tree repairs this damage the diameter of the trunk is increased. The book continued to say that one should only do one side of a tree at a
time.

I am interested in if the hitting the trunk with a hammer really works. I have a Japanese Black Pine that I am growing in the ground. I have about 2 1/2 inch trunk maybe 3. I have good sacrificial branches all the way down to the ground. I have a good curv
e in the trunk and I have a new top picked out. The problem is that through out the trunk I have very little taper. This spring I will cut it back from 5 foot to 2 foot. My problem is I have little taper from zero to 18 inches then the taper of the new top
. I plan on the finished plant being around 28 - 32 inches so I may not even need to be concerned at this time.

If the hitting the trunk with a hammer at the base causes the cells to break and then swell to repair themselves it may be worth it, giving me a little better taper at the base. This is not a small seedling in a bonsai pot. This is a 5 ft Japanese black pi
ne in my yard.

Thanks Joel

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