AusBonsai

Hey all!
This is my first pine, and it's a black. I bought it from a bonsai mate 6 months ago, and he had owned it for about 2 years. Since the first photo it's grown really well.

So! It's time to think about the style! I was really unsure of what to do with it, then I noticed that the first lowest branch has grown itself a lot of sub branches, which led me to think I could make the whole tree out of this one single main branch. Of course I'm always curious as to what all of you might do with a similar tree of this stock, so feel free to give me any feedback or ideas, i love em.

Birthday - 2.5 years ago



After letting it grow - today - it's 35cm from soil to tippy top
You can see just how much the first branch has thickened up, (it's the same branch that's pointing towards the chair in the first photo above.



Top down view - today



Here's the underside of the branch i'm resting all my future hopes and dreams on - today (after a needle trim)



And a sketch of what it may look like after a crazy wrap and wire and couple years growing. I'm not sure if I'd want the jin there or not. It might lead the eye away from the foliage too much.



Thanks!
Jozaeh

joseph i like your stretch. I have a big one almost identical to your stretch yet i havent carved the removed branch yet, ill get a pic up. i think this is quite achievable. You will get thicknessing at those two branch points in the trunk that will lead to a bulge down the track.

Matthew wrote:joseph i like your stretch. I have a big one almost identical to your stretch yet i havent carved the removed branch yet, ill get a pic up. i think this is quite achievable. You will get thicknessing at those two branch points in the trunk that will lead to a bulge down the track.

ha ha! I can tell that you're maybe using a spellcheck? But that's fine, I don't mind joseph, and a stretch kind of fits because my sketch is actually a stretch of the imagination, ha ha!

ahh i'd love to see a pic of your similar pine hey! Definately share it sometime when you can. And i'll keep an eye on that bulging at the branch spots..
thanks!
Jozaeh

It looks as though you've managed to achieve nice short even needle length in the time you've had it.

Waltron wrote:It looks as though you've managed to achieve nice short even needle length in the time you've had it.

Ah yes! I know pretty much NOTHING on how to work with pines (let alone black pines), but yes, the needles have done well hey. I'm happy with that!
Jozaeh

Jozaeh, I agree with what Matthew has said, the design you have sketched is very doable, the branches are there, located fairly favourably, the biggest obstacle to achieving you sketch's concept is the base of the trunk, the taper and nebari.

My suggestions are:
Give the tree some root run, free draining media, plenty of water and a good organic feed.
Give the tree plenty of sun, good air circulation around the pot and foliage.Work to preserve low and desireable buds and branches by allowing plenty of light to penetrate the canopy.
Resist the urge to get the tree into a bonsai pot before the trunk is nearing what you have proposed in terms of taper and curvature.
Sort the roots out as radially as you can, that will take more than one repotting, perhaps 3 or more.

Buy Boons DVDs on JBP, they simplify JBP structuring and needle reduction, his techniques work well.

Cheers,
Mojo

Nice work so far !!! I love your future vision and that jin too. You will have a nice tree in the not to distant future.

anttal63 wrote:Nice work so far !!! I love your future vision and that jin too. You will have a nice tree in the not to distant future.

Thanks anttal63! I'm looking forward to it so much,

Jozaeh

Mojo Moyogi wrote:Jozaeh, I agree with what Matthew has said, the design you have sketched is very doable, the branches are there, located fairly favourably, the biggest obstacle to achieving you sketch's concept is the base of the trunk, the taper and nebari.

My suggestions are:
Give the tree some root run, free draining media, plenty of water and a good organic feed.
Give the tree plenty of sun, good air circulation around the pot and foliage.Work to preserve low and desireable buds and branches by allowing plenty of light to penetrate the canopy.
Resist the urge to get the tree into a bonsai pot before the trunk is nearing what you have proposed in terms of taper and curvature.
Sort the roots out as radially as you can, that will take more than one repotting, perhaps 3 or more.

Buy Boons DVDs on JBP, they simplify JBP structuring and needle reduction, his techniques work well.

Cheers,
Mojo

Oh thanks SO much for that information Mojo. I've been giving the tree the draining, water and feed, sun and good circulation since i've had it, so i'll be keeping that up for sure. And yes, I deleted the 'ooh in a bonsai pot!' urge from my bonsai desires a while back, so the tree will be safe from that, ha!

And i'd love to check out some of Boons media on the JBP, i've got heaps to learn.
thanks again!
Jozaeh

Joseph,

I've got those DVDs that Boon has put together and they are fantastic. Worth every penny I believe. Here's a link for them if you're interested. viewtopic.php?f=102&t=7721&p=109428&hilit=Boon#p109428

The tree looks very healthy too. You've done a great job!

Scott Martin wrote:Joseph,

I've got those DVDs that Boon has put together and they are fantastic. Worth every penny I believe. Here's a link for them if you're interested. viewtopic.php?f=102&t=7721&p=109428&hilit=Boon#p109428

The tree looks very healthy too. You've done a great job!

Ah fantastic! I love that there's so much to brain sponge soak up hey, and learning about the pines would be so cool. And yes, I'm always trying to focus firstly on the healthiness of my trees, and this pine has really done well. It makes me smile knowing it's feeling great.

thanks again!
Jozaeh