White pines from Iwakiri’s garden

Kyushu bonsai enthusiast Mr. Iwakiri has been growing white pine for about as long as he’s been growing black pines. His garden provides plenty of evidence for this.

Iwakiri’s pines

Triple-trunk white pine

Iwakiri reaches for a branch

After pointing out a young white pine with a massive trunk, Iwakiri showed us the pot the came in when he bought it several decades ago. The trunk, at that time, was about the size of a cigarette.

White pine today – the apex is still under development

The tree’s original pot

The trunk today

A number of the pines in the garden were around 10-12 years old from seed. Almost all were developed as semi-cascade, exposed root specimens – a very popular style for the the variety.

Exposed root white pine

Exposed root white pine

Exposed root white pine

Exposed root white pine in progress

For more details about developing exposed root pines, see “Repotting 1 year-old black pine seedlings.”