As summer growth hardens on Japanese black pines, the time comes to pluck needles, cut extra shoots and wire branches that need moving. I recently worked on the black pine below with Boon Manakitivipart at the Shinpukuji Temple near Okazaki in Aichi, Japan.
Black pine in Fall
I’m used to doing fall work on Japanese black pines, but I’m not used to working on very large trees. To avoid moving the tree, we worked on it in the garden, standing on beer crates to reach the top branches.
Extra needles removed
After spending a day removing old needles, we got to work wiring. It was sunny and nice when we started the work, but it rained the third day.
Boon setting branches in the rain
We pulled a few of the main branches down a bit. We added a screw to a large root to anchor two of the guy wires.
Anchor for guy wires
We shortened the main branch on the right and created a small jin. We used this jin to pull remaining branches toward each other.
Many wires
Here’s the completed tree.
Wiring complete
Happy in the rain!
Stay tuned – plenty more pics from Japan coming soon!
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John says
Jonas, great job. Both you and Boon look to be having a great time, even with the rain. Thanks for posting. John
bonsaijapan says
Looks like you are having a great time over there! I spotted you on Peter Tea’s blog as well. It will be great to see some pics from your studies and travvels in future posts. I am planning to be in Japan for most of December and you photos are already getting me excited!
Joe.
Josh Plorde says
Great work, beautiful material. What and opportunity, you may not want to come back!
Josh