Little Black Nishiki

[Gerard]

I have had this grafted nishiki for a while now and think it will make an excellent shohin. The graft is particularly well done and I think this will stand up to the scrutiny which a shohin will get, hopefully the beautiful corked bark will shine through.
I need to make some correcr decisions with branch selection as wiring is difficult on this bark.
Any suggestions or virts will be most welcome.

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[Craig]

Beautiful little pine gerard, wish it were mine

[Andrew Legg]

Hi Gerard,

Looks like a cracker mate! From what I can see from these pics, a semi-cascade is the way to go, but the big question in my mind is whether you can get the needles down small enough to "make the tree work". I'm not experienced enough with pines to answer that though.

Good luck with it though, and I'll be watching with interest to see the progress!

[bodhidharma]

Lovely little tree Gerard. I love the Nishiki Pine. Looking forward to its progress.

[Jamie]

gday Gerard

I really like this variety, have seen some amazing ones too, a major prob is the graft not corking like the rest of the tree but yours seems to be done well. I would consider informal upright from what i can see as the trunk is a little straight to much for semi, in saying this it is possible aswell. there are plenty of lower buds to choose from to develop this tree.

look forward to seeing it.

[Dario]

Hi Gerard, this is a corker of a pine...pardon the bad pun
Whilst an informal upright is probably a good idea with the lowest branch as a sacrifice, if it were up to me I would try my hand ant a twin trunk.
No doubt many will disagree with this option, but this is what I would do.
I think it would make a very interesting tree and perhaps give it more appeal that the usual option of an informal upright, and hence make it more unique.
In no way am I knocking what Jamie said what so ever!!
Whatever you go with I am sure it will look fantastic as this is a little ripper!
Will follow this with much interest!
Where did you source this from Gerard...hope you don't mind me asking?
Dario.

[Jarrod]

Great little pine Gerard, guessing it came from MS?

I think nishiki need to be large trees to show off the bark as best you can. Grow it on for a few years, you have two sacrifices set up, let them run and have a nice big tree in several years.

[Dumper]

[Gerard]

Hi Dario,

No I do not mind at all that you ask where I got it, (Jarrod is spot on MS) Michael S.
Michael is a club member from the Bonsai Society of Victoria, he does not have a commercial nursery but often sells trees at club meetings but the best opportunities are at the annual sales day or the annual show.
I have a very high regard for Michaels trees they are always prepared with an eye for bonsai and his grafted trees are always well done.

The next opportunity will be the BSV show on October 8th and 9th At the Box Hill Town Hall. (Shibui usually sells some of nis nice stock at the same place)
The best time to arrive is......... before me

[Dario]

Hi Gerard, and thanks for all the extra info! Yeah I have been meaning to come to BSV but have been a little sidetracked of late.
Sounds like the perfect opportunity to pull my finger out!
Cheers, Dario.

[Gerard]

Just a quick update, this tree has lots of new growth after 3 weeks

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[Gerard]

I have come to the conclusion that shohin will be too difficult to pull off. Foliage is very dense and needles are quite long.
Now that it is time to cut candles, I have a few thoughts.
-If I let the tree run free.
I will achieve that thickening which I want and more of that corky bark but the internodes will be longer. So far the tree has small spaces between branches and interesting changes of direction this should increase higher up the tree ans serious wiring is not an option.
-If I cut candles now the tree will bud back and still have time to put on some growth
-if I wait 3 weeks I will have shorter needles and possibly more buds but less thickening.

So I decided to do it now!
I still have many options for style and I was pleased to see how much the tree had grown

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