Pine tree question?

Question

i have noticed when driving on the freeway that the pine trees often only have branches at the very top. the rest are cut off. why is this?

Answer 1

Pines grow what is called a candle, they do this in the early spring and the candles continue to grow into new branches all the way through summer.

Once winder hits these candles are the branches that next years candles will grow on.

Most pine trees will have many little sprouts all along the trunk of the tree as well, this is called back budding.

The main reason why these trees grow mostly at the top is because they are still reaching up to over grow the other trees nearby.

Answer 2

Some varieties of pine will drop any limb that fails to feed itself. The first to go will be those shaded by the ones above them. But if you happen to be looking at lodgepole pine, they tend to grow so closely together that only top branches get any amount of sunlight. This allows them to be a very tall straight pole that is often used for hydro poles.