AusBonsai

I have a double trunk Pine (not sure what type), the main trunk is formal, approximately 30cm tall. The second comes out right at the base and bends up, about 20-25cm tall. It was one of my first trees, a friend used it as a little Christmas tree in a pot before he gave it to me, I cut it back and started wiring etc but didn't really know what I was doing. I haven't done much with it since and its not very nice looking. The main trunk has good taper but the branches and foliage are not very good. There seems to be vigorous foliage growth at the crown but no where else.

What I am thinking of doing is removing the second trunk completely and creating a jin. As for the main trunk I was thinking of completely removing all of the branches except one, having it come out at right angle to the trunk with a foliage bad on top, then removing all of the bark and making the whole trunk dead wood.

My few questions.

Is this possible without killing the tree?
Is there a particular time of year to carry out this sort of thing on a pine?
Should it be done before/after re-potting?
This will be my first attempt at creating dead wood and using lime sulfur... Any tips? Dilution? Etc.
Does the trunk continue to grow after doing this sort of thing?

Thanks in advance

Post a pic so people can see the tree. People tend to bea bit shy with comments when no pics available.

Josh

I ssume youre going to Jin the trunk above the single branch?
If so then you can do that OK, but would do so in stages.
Same applies to the second trunk as well. Cut the bark back to a bout 1" above the base, then take back a few months later.

check the Wiki fro times to do major work, but with pines, in spring
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... hould_I%3F

Ken

Hi Concept,
First, removing ALL the bark from a trunk will kill everything above where you removed the bark. The inner bark is the conduit for energy and nutrients to flow from leaves to roots so there must be an intact bark path from roots to leaves to keep both alive. This means you can only make shari on one side of a trunk if you want branches to survive. It is possible to have a spiral path of bark up the trunk from roots to living branch but this does not always work.

Roots that do not have a bark connection to live branches will die. Branches that do not have a bark connection to healthy roots will die.

Jin and shari can be created at any time of the year.
Leave the bare wood to dry out for a week or so before treating with lime sulphur.
I use lime sulphur undiluted, straight out of the bottle but others have recommended diluting with equal amount of water so that it goes on better.
Do not get strong lime sulphur solution on leaves - will kill the leaves and may kill the tree.
Do not get strong lime sulphur solution on the soil - may kill the tree.
It is also recommended not to get it on nearby bark though I have not seen any adverse effects from this myself.

Your concept of a straight formal trunk ith a single branch at right angles does not sound very aesthetic to me Maybe a picture would give others the opportunity to give some advice.

some examples...I think it is not too bad?//

Here it is...

Yo, that's no pine! That's a CEDAR =D.. made the same mistake two years ago.

-Mo

Nor is it a Cedar; it is a Picea glauca "Albertiana conica" or dwarf Alberta spruce.

Grant Bowie wrote:Nor is it a Cedar; it is a Picea glauca "Albertiana conica" or dwarf Alberta spruce.

I stand corrected =D Thanks Grant

Thanks all for your input and the species correction.


Now that we know it's a different species, are the ideas I have still possible?