The pine below is several years out of the ground and is showing signs of becoming a bonsai.
Japanese black pine
In the past year, I wired the primary branches and made two grafts near the apex. This winter, I thinned crowded areas and rewired the branches. Here’s the tree after thinning.
After pruning and pulling needles
And here’s the tree after wiring.
After wiring – 18″ to top of future apex
I have yet to determine the front, but I expect it will be within 30 degrees of of the two markers in the front of the pot.
To help gauge the shape of the trunk, here’s a shot of the pine from the right side.
Right side
I’ll repot the tree this winter. The work for the coming year will look like last year’s work – grafting, pruning, and rewiring. I expect the silhouette to take shape over the next two-to-three years.
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Ken Roberts says
Is the long apically oriented limb (trunk?) intended to be part of the finished tree or is it a sacrifice limb? If a sacrifice; how would you avoid or treat the huge wound that will result? And why prune it? If you intend to include it, then why not start shaping it now?
Jonas Dupuich says
Good question Ken – I plan to remove the long apical branch (you can see the outline of the future silhouette in the third and fourth photos). The resulting wound will be about 2″ which will heal before too long if the new apical branches are left to grow.
Jesse Strong says
You don’t show any in this post but I know you use a lot of colanders. It looks like you use one brand for all the sizes. Is there a website or store you buy these from? I’ve found a few that work over the years but can never find a constant supply of any I like.
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Jesse – I have yet to find a consistent supply either. I buy them online from different sellers every year and from local grocery stores. The main thing I’ve learned is to avoid the translucent plastic colanders as they only last one growing season.
Fer Rangel says
Hi there. For how long did you left it to grow on the ground? How much is several years?
And did you put something below to prevent the apical root to grow freely?
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Fer! I acquired this tree from Telperion Farms so I don’t know how old it is or how long it was in the ground. The tree was grown in a fabric bag to keep the roots in check, but the bag had very few roots within the bag when I acquired it.