Aleppo pine

[Albo]

I picked this Aleppo pine up about a year ago. Did a drastic bend.

[Albo]

I put it into a larger grow pot last year and it responded well. Did a bit more styling last night.

[Raniformis]

That looks much better than the first bend, I reckon you've done alright at this point. Are you aiming for the full lush canopy you see in the park trees or just winging it?

[Albo]

At the moment I’m kind of winging it. There’s no apex to speak of. I’d say I’ll bring one of those branches up at the top for an apex.I may end up laying it more on its side and bring the primary (currently cascading) branch up for an apex. A lot of ways it could go.I’d really like it to back bud to give more options but not sure if this species will do that on old wood, probably won’t. I’ve found it a very hardy species so far. All this bending and it kicked on over summer like nothing happened. I did some root combing out and into a larger grow pot. Pushed buds everywhere but not on old (needless) wood.
I’m just really getting all the straight lines out of it and get it as ramified and strong as possible. Cut back to 2 buds.
I’ll see what it does in spring and assess from there I think.
When I doubt, just leave it for a while.
It will tell me what to do eventually.
Or one of you guys on here will give me an idea, ha ha

[GavinG]

If you don't mind me saying this, I think you've already made an interesting and funky literati from literally nothing! Because the trunk is slender and tall, it won't support thick luxuriant foliage as a design. You already have all the branch shape you need, maybe just keep the foliage sparse, and keep it as close in as you can, and wait for another fifty years for the bark to get really seriously old...

I think it has good bones as it is, well done!

Gavin

[Albo]

Thanks Gavin, I’ll take that as a compliment.

You are probably right with the literati advice.

I like picking up cheap material like this and just going for it. If it fails it’s no loss. I think I paid $15 for this stick in a pot.
And I’ve discovered I’m liking Aleppo pine.
Only problem so far with the species is the juvenile growth is way shorter than the mature foliage. I have trimmed the mature foliage to a similar length as the juvenile. That’s fine for a developing back yard tree.

I will be interested to see how the bark develops in time.

[Matt S]

Well done on getting some interest into your material. I’ve found it’s hard to get Aleppo pines to back bud on old wood, so protect those inner buds. The mature needles are quite long and straggly, and the best examples I’ve seen have just stuck with the juvenile buds and removed the mature needles. Up to you of course.

As you probably know these are often growing at war memorials, and if you scout around there are usually seedlings growing nearby in the leaf litter.