First serious purchase of a pine.....thoughts?

[misfit11]

And here I thought anything could be grown in Sonoma county, what seems to be the issues with them? My local nursery also sells grafted white pine

We don't get the cold in the winter that they need. They slowly decline.

 

[Seany]

We don't get the cold in the winter that they need. They slowly decline.

And yet OP's neighbor has these trees growing healthy in a climate that isn't anywhere near as cold as Sonoma gets.

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

@Fidur
I can recommend the Bonsai Today Master Series Pines bonsai book.
The book has a lot of information about Japanese black and white pines.

 

[bonsaiwood]

I have never owned a JWP so I have no input on the species itself. But I can speak to Sonoma’s unique variety of micro climates having lived and farmed there for more than 30 years. Petaluma does not experience anywhere near the cold winter temps as compared to northern Sonoma County, so it is not far fetched a tree demanding several nights of sub-freezing winter temps might suffer more from a lack of cold in a milder part of the County than it would in a notably colder section e.g. Windsor, Healdsburg etc.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Seems a real bonus that the seller . Is very close and has had it a fairly long time . Should be easy to duplicate his care . Cost is a relative thing . If you can afford it . Think about how many things you spend money on that don’t bring you . The joy that tree will . ( taxes come to mind ) . My favourite fishing rod . Was very similar it was expensive and I put it off for a while . But it has increased my joy if something I already . Greatly enjoy . . JWP is very difficult to get here . Sounds like you are the same . If you don’t get it you may regret it for some time .

Edit...just noticed the date the thread began. So he honest nice tree. I'll let my words still stand. As they humor me.

I might ask for progression photos. They are nice to have and corroborate that he's honest.

There goes my new years resolution to trust more.

 

[misfit11]

And yet OP's neighbor has these trees growing healthy in a climate that isn't anywhere near as cold as Sonoma gets.

Despite the snarky remark, I will qualify my reasoning. There are a very few bonsai practitioners in my area that keep JWP. However, most steer clear of them (including many very long-time REBS members with decades of experience) because they apparently don't do well here. I take their word for it. I typically buy more expensive trees and wouldn't be willing to risk wasting bunch of money on a species that doesn't have a good track record on this area. Local nurseries don't carry them so that's another indication that this isn't the climate for them. Larch is another species in this category. I absolutely love Larch and wish I could grow them. Alas, this isn't the climate for them. Thankfully, many, many other species do very well here (JBP, JM, Coastal Redwood, Oaks, Juniper, etc etc).

 

[Seany]

Despite the snarky remark, I will qualify my reasoning. There are a very few bonsai practitioners in my area that keep JWP. However, most steer clear of them (including many very long-time REBS members with decades of experience) because they apparently don't do well here. I take their word for it. I typically buy more expensive trees and wouldn't be willing to risk wasting bunch of money on a species that doesn't have a good track record on this area. Local nurseries don't carry them so that's another indication that this isn't the climate for them. Larch is another species in this category. I absolutely love Larch and wish I could grow them. Alas, this isn't the climate for them. Thankfully, many, many other species do very well here (JBP, JM, Coastal Redwood, Oaks, Juniper, etc etc).

Thx for your reply, mine was not meant as snark. Apologies if it came off that way. As I mentioned, I also followed the local advice and sold my only (grafted) JWP.