Australian Black Pine ?

[edprocoat]

Does anyone have any experience with these? The local Lowes has ten in 1 gallon pots for $7 and they have amazing just over 1 inch thick trunks , several have branches near the soil line while others about 5-8 inches up. The trunk as thick as they are are flexible enough to bend slightly. They have candles on the top, some of the branches have 2-3 smaller branches growing off them at the top. They are between 18-24 inches tall.

I have killed all 3 pines I have tried over my 40 years of Bonsai and I think I have learned enough of what not to do that I may be able to grow one of these.

I tried searching here and the only reference was from a woman in Naples Fl. who when asked what she could grow down there listed Autralian Pine in an old thread titled Conifers Rule, which would be good as I am down there for the winter months. These trees would need trunk chopped but look great. I wonder if they backbud on the trunk?
As flexible as the trunk and branches are I wonder if they are like spruce and will not keep shape?

ed

 

[coh]

Are you sure they're not Austrian pine (Pinus nigra)? I have occasionally heard of people using them for bonsai...in fact, I have a couple in the ground for possible future use. Haven't had them long enough to know how they compare to standard black pine. Australian pine usually refers to Casuarina equisetifolia which isn't a pine, technically. They are common bonsai material in warm climates but I wouldn't expect to see them sold in Ohio...

Chris

 

[edprocoat]

Are you sure they're not Austrian pine (Pinus nigra)? I have occasionally heard of people using them for bonsai...in fact, I have a couple in the ground for possible future use. Haven't had them long enough to know how they compare to standard black pine. Australian pine usually refers to Casuarina equisetifolia which isn't a pine, technically. They are common bonsai material in warm climates but I wouldn't expect to see them sold in Ohio...

Chris

Yes it did say Pinus nigra on the label, I was sure it said Australian though but I have made one or two mistakes during my life....
These are being sold in Ohio, they did say cold tolerant to -20, I will have to go back and look again with my reading glasses on this time.

ed

 

[JudyB]

Ed, I'm sure it would be austrian pine. I have a large stand of Austrian pines (50) that I planted as 1 gallon pots when we first bought the land we are living on. They are used extensively in Ohio along freeways and in parks. They seem to be pretty susceptible to borers and other problems. Most of the stands I know of, and mine as well are looking a bit ragged these days. I wish now in retrospect, that I had used a different pine, or perhaps a spruce planting instead... seems like every year I'll loose one. And as I planted these about 25 years ago, it's no small project. They might work fine for bonsai, but watch out for pests.

 

[edprocoat]

Thanks for all your responses. I have decided after looking at my existing stuff that I have enough challenges at this time with the damage everything has taken this spring. I do not know if they would make good Bonsai or not but they were great looking trees for the size of them. Even the bark looked like a mature tree, but I think I will have my hands full nursing back to health what I have already. I also read where these come from northern climates and doubt they would do any better than my spruce did in the Florida heat last winter.

I am sure you know how it is though when you see something like this, the old man I would love to work on that feeling blocks the sense distracting from the practical. My best bet would be to direct my energy towards preserving what I have right now, I think I lost my little Ilex schilling vomitoria to the freeze, my tropicals lost as much as half their foliage and the new maple I bought has been through hell and looks like it. I really hate killing trees, 2012 has seen 2 definite dead ones and my ilex looks as if it will be the third. Thats the most I have ever lost in a year and its only just started. Previous record, two pines in one year. I usually wind up with them being stolen.

ed

 

[Ang3lfir3]

austrian black pine .... pinus nigra .... make fabulous bonsai .... I believe its a common collected species for Walter (as he lives in Austria , iirc ) and Vic has a beautiful one she has been working on for a few years....

re: florida heat..... yeah not good .... they NEED a cold winter (so do japanese maples, hint hint)

 

[edprocoat]

re: florida heat..... yeah not good .... they NEED a cold winter (so do japanese maples, hint hint)[/QUOTE]

Sheesh, your kidding? That sucks as my maple is suffering already, so if I get it healthy and it gets to Florida and receives more abuse, thats just firiggin' wonderful! I see japanese maples all the time in yards in Fl. though they are usually the red ones like bloodgood and the lace leaf varieties and as I am not familiar with maples at all and would not know a green one is Japanese unless I seen it labeled, I thought because you can not go into a home depot or lowes down there without seeing a red leafed Japanese maple and I know that other green leafed maples varieties do grow down there then this would be fine. Now I feel like abandoning this instead of putting any more time and effort into it only to have it die because of no cold weather exposure. 2012 has not been a good Bonsai year for me at all so far.

I feel like the old joke where the man gets the news from his doctor he has 3 months to live and says I want another opinion, so the doc tells him he's ugly....

ed

 

[Victrinia Ensor]

Yup they can make good bonsai...

V

 

[edprocoat]

Yup they can make good bonsai...

V

Oh sure, rub it in... Thats beautiful.

ed

 

[Victrinia Ensor]

lol... thanks brother.

V

 

[fore]

Is that a collected one Victrinia? Where did it come from? Just curious as I didn't know they grew here natively if it is collected.

And heck yes, that's one beautiful pine! (You, Will, Dan just have some awesome collected material and made even more so in your stylings! Always a pleasure to see one!)

Chris

 

[Victrinia Ensor]

Thanks for the kind remarks... Truth be told Eric (ang3lfir3) is more the collector than I. I love going, and hunting. But I usually leave the hard parts to him. (sheepish grin) So he deserves more credit than I.

As to the tree... I acquired it from an estate sale of a local member. Unfortunately I don't know how it came to him... but it's a very old tree, the barking is consistently excellent to the small branches. As it is lacking chop marks, it's either collected, or grown from seed in a container for a very long time. It was sort of all over the place when I got it. I took it to a workshop with Kathy Shaner a couple years ago and she helped me bang it into shape. So she gets credit too...

I do love it though, and was pleased that it's so happy in it's Dale Cochoy 'bacon' pot.

Kindest regards,

Victrinia

 

[QuintinBonsai]

Austrian black pines are widely planted here as landscape trees in SoCal. Partly because they adapt well to hot weather, and are good wind break trees. I have about 6 seedlings growing from these pines.