AusBonsai

This is a red pine that I inherited. It was imported from Japan and was probably the last one to come into the country before the blanket ban was imposed. It took me ages to get the tree healthy after I got it and I have never been happy with its style. I think it carries too much foliage for a bujin tree and the branch structure is too wide. I took it into Hiro and he suggested dropping the two main branches to form a hanging branches. This is a solution which Jow had suggested some months earlier. Yesterday I did the job, the tree looks pretty disheveled at the moment and needs to be completely re-wired but I will leave it alone for a while now(too much root work to be done on deciduous trees) and hit it once the root pruning is done.

Mate, that is stacks better.
Mick

Craig

I like it alot better and think the tree has a lovely trunk line, i agree the foliage is too heavy for the trunk but In time with branch thinning , wiring etc and of course your expertise it will come up a treat. Im partial to redpine literati style and have been doing alittle work on some of mine. This tree suffered in rockhampton but the buds are looking alot better since i bought it south. Some thinning and wiring down the apex still needs sorting and i think i need to repot it.Excuse the poor photo and didnt mean to jump in on your thread also Again good work with it and getting it just back to health can be a challange in itself.

Thanks Guys the tree will be much better once I get the twigs wired into steps and it has settled down a bit.
Noah your pine has a fantastic structure but it looks a bit like mine did a couple of years ago. I really mega fed mine last summer and the foliage colour improved out of site, its also got a lot more buds for this springs growing season. If I were you I would give your tree lots to eat this coming summer.
Craig

Looking good Craig, I cant wait to see it when it is fully wired.

I finally feel like this tree is going somewhere
Craigw

Did you bring this one to the meeting Tuesday? If that was the same pine, the 2D of a photo does NOT do it justice.... the steps have really worked on this....

Hi Makkanan, yep thats the one. My photography is terrible I know. Yes I am really pleased with the way its coming on but as I discussed with Jarrod it is still carrying too much foliage for a bujin tree. I will look into that over the next 12 months and work out what else to remove.
Craigw

A couple of weeks ago I hard pruned and wired the twigs of this tree, its looking like a badly plucked chicken at the moment but is covered in tiny buds so should improve over the next couple of months.
The hanging branch has settled in nicely.
Craigw

Thats looking great Craig. I think old Ron Andersen would approve of the restyling you have done !

Hey Craig,

That red pine has got buckets of character and good to see Rons' name in print.

Anyone else out there got a Ron Andersen tree? If so maybe start a new thread.

Grant

Hi Craig,

Looking good, would you mind detailing what exactly you did regarding the hard prune...

Did you take off all new growth?

Grant Bowie wrote:Hey Craig,

That red pine has got buckets of character and good to see Rons' name in print.

Anyone else out there got a Ron Andersen tree? If so maybe start a new thread.

Grant

The Andersen trees were dispursed by me to several Melbourne bonsai enthusiasts as per his wishes. A few went to Ballarat and I still have a few.

I hope Ron would be very pleased to see his tree being worked hard, unfortunately he didn't get very long with it.
Scott, I have been feeding the tree heavily for the last couple of months in preparation for the pruning so it was growing very strongly. I cut every twig back to the last few bunches of needles including the new growth and its now starting to bud back on the wood just behind the needles.
The last thing I want for this tree is its branches getting any longer so am trying to force the growth back in.
Craigw

Brian wrote:

Grant Bowie wrote:Hey Craig,

That red pine has got buckets of character and good to see Rons' name in print.

Anyone else out there got a Ron Andersen tree? If so maybe start a new thread.

Grant

The Andersen trees were dispursed by me to several Melbourne bonsai enthusiasts as per his wishes. A few went to Ballarat and I still have a few.

Hi Brian,

I visited Ron at his home not long before he died and he explained the way he was dispersing his trees and caring for them in the interim with help from others. I am glad they were to go to loving homes.

He certainly did a lot for Bonsai over the years and his memory lives on in his trees.

Grant