barrosinc
Masterpiece
I really like what BVF did there... cutting the lower right branch and compacting the tree.
Potawotami13 is referring to the "Pines" book in the Masters Series. From Stone Lantern.
That book is made up of reprinted articles from Bonsai Today. Many, if not all, of which are translations of articles originally published in Japanese.
There is good info in the book. But many of the articles are written by different authors, so the techniques vary from one to another.
Paradox, good luck with that!
The nebari is better with A, no doubt.
I'll try to take a better photo of B tomorrow.
Sometimes the cons can add character...if there are enough pros. From what I see...I see something worth the challenge.Oh, this tree has few pros... I'm just trying to minimize the cons!
Well, the first thing to know is they grow SLOW. So, don't be doing trunk chops thinking they will grow back out in a year or two. They won't. They don't back bud readily. They will, but treasure and protect those back buds.
They do not tolerate decandling. The growth you get in the Spring is what you get. If you get more than two candles extend, reduce to two. If you get a really strong candle that extends too far beyond the others, break it off to match the others. Be sure to leave some needles.
Since the spring is the only time you get growth, the new needles are hardened off by the end of summer. The previous year's needles will start to turn yellow and brown, and fall off easily. Knock them off, and wire. The crotches of JWP split open easily so be careful. You should make sure the tips, the tufts of foliage, are pointing up. They shouldn't be pointed straight up, up at about a 45 degree angle. If they are pointed down, they will die. Straight out, and they'll be weak. There should be no hanging needles.
Repotting is just like JBP. In fact, most of them are grafted onto JBP stock like this one.
Styling: JWP should have rounder, softer apexes that JBP. Since these are mountain pines, it is acceptable to have jins and Shari.
The key thing is to try to keep the foliage close to the trunk healthy. The branches will eventually get too long, and have to be cut back. I've seen many "hollow" JWPs. By that I mean they appear to have a full canopy, but when you look inside, it's bare. Only long thin bare branches with only a tiny tuft of foliage at the end. Try to avoid that by keeping the canopy open by wiring and creating oafs of foliage rather than a "helmet".
I hope this helps.