• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

  • Blog
    • How-to Guides
  • Podcast
  • Shop
    • Bonsai
    • Books
    • Soil
    • Soil (wholesale)
    • Supplies
    • Tools
    • Video Consulting
    • Northern California Bonsai Resources
  • About
    • Workshops

A project pine

February 19, 2013 by Jonas Dupuich

I’m fond of referring to selected trees as “project” trees when the journey to become a bonsai is a long one. The black pine below has something resembling a bunjin feel – a euphemism, in this case, for a tree with no branches along the lower part of the trunk. I removed the top half of the tree last year. This year, Daisaku Nomoto removed the top branch and wired what was left to create an apex and main branches.

Black pine

Black pine – January 2013

Black pine

After wiring

I don’t expect these branches will mean much in the final design. The goal now is to stimulate new buds and develop new branches closer to the interesting bends. To help keep the branch undergoing the biggest bend intact, Nomoto called for raffia. I suggested he try the black construction tape used at Aichi-en. You should have seen the look he gave me. I offered some gentle encouragement, and eventually Nomoto gave the tape a try and made the bend.

Plastic

Construction tape doubling as raffia

I haven’t seen this tape in the US – I brought back the roll we used from Japan – though we might have something similar.

✕

Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight

New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Filed Under: Bonsai Development Tagged With: Black Pine

Previous Post: « From landscape tree to bonsai – part 3
Next Post: Japanese plum before and after »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pulkit Cohli says

    March 2, 2013 at 9:15 am

    Out of your whole collection, I think this is the best looking bonsai project.. Good work! 🙂

Footer

Follow Bonsai Tonight

Subscribe

Instagram ● Facebook ● Twitter
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Shop
  • About

P.O. Box 6560, Alameda, CA 94501 · 510-915-2025 · jonas (at) bonsaitonight (dot) com

© Copyright 2009-2023 Bonsai Tonight · All rights reserved · Privacy · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can opt-out if you wish. Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT