Help with My First White Pine

bonsaivienna

Seedling
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I just inherited a Japanese White Pine (Pinus Parviflora "Miyoi") from a friend who started, then gave up, on the tree. I am very much a novice, so this is earlier than I expected to be jumping into a pine. But, here I am.

So a couple of things are challenging about this tree, and I'd appreciate guidance from the experts on this forum.

(1) The trunk starts out at the base pretty well. It sure looks like this was a graft, but the main part of the trunk has a decent taper. But then, it splits immediately into 3-4 big branches. I have no idea which ones to keep v. cut. There does not appear to be any way to follow the traditional "first branch 1/3 of the way up" guidance on styling. Please help.

(2) The tree was originally purchased from a local nursery, and so it was not originally trained as a bonsai. So there are a number of spots where a significant clustering of shoots grew out, making for unsightly bulges on the main branches. Some of those shoots have been pruned, but the bulges remain. What to do with these?

(3) The tree is growing vigorously, particularly at the top. I have pruned out some of the multiple candles that were shooting out of some of the branches (in exactly the kind of clusters that created those unsightly bulges described above), and it appears that there will be much better ramification that will develop on those branches. But I'm not really sure what to do with the ends of the more mature branches at the sides and base of the tree. So the question is... What's the best thing for me to do with the tree for now? Just let it grow out the rest of the summer, and then revisit/prune/shape during the late fall/winter?

It may be that this is just not a very suitable tree to turn into a bonsai... Which is fine, I can use it as a "learning experience." But I would really appreciate any general thoughts/comments on where to take this tree. Now that I have it, I'd like to make the most of it!

Thanks in advance.

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0soyoung

Imperial Masterpiece
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Looks to be grafted on p. thunbergii (Japanese black pine), which is quite normal. It is rare to have a p. parviflora that isn't grafted. One aspect of styling this tree will be figuring out how to disguise this. Eventually both will bark up an it will be hard to discern where the graft is, but that is 20 years or so down the road. Generally we want one trunk that becomes just two branches and those branches become two and etc. More branches from one node tends to make the node into a knob is the basic reason why.

P. parviflora branches remain flexible to an older age that many other pines. You will have more styling development options if many/any of these main branches are fairly sill fairly easy to bend, else got what you've got. It is unlikely that the tree will ever pop buds to give you foliage back closer to the trunk, but grafting is a future possibility.

Probably the first thing you need to concern yourself with is simply tending to the foliage. The good part is the basic routine can be done to any pine:
  1. Break long buds/candles to match the shorter ones on the tree in spring, before needles are being expressed.
  2. If new shoots are too long, they an be cut back to 4 to six lines of fascicles (needle bundles) after the new needles have hardened.
    1. On white pines this is when the needle sheaths drop.
    2. On other pines this is when the new needles have turned dark green and are no longer easily pulled off by a gentle tug with your thumb and forefinger.
With other pines one can often do more things and at times other than these, but for p. parviflora, this is it.

Were it me, I would focus on handling the foliage for now - even wire some pads this fall. But, do check how stiff those branches are - other BNuts will likely give you many ideas for future directions that you might take with it.
 

sorce

Nonsense Rascal
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Pretty foliage!

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce
 

discusmike

Omono
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I like the material,not the lowest graft but it transitions well.Ive seen imports with horrible grafts ,it will take a long time but i believe you inherited a good candidate,nice short needled compact growth,learn everything you can because they can be finicky,especially watering n doing root work,you should have the tree repotted at a bonsai nursery the first time so not to kill the tree,take it slow,and take preventative action with fungas n watch for mites,there are a few here that are excellent with pines and will. Be glad to give advice,good luck! And learn how to approach graft!
 

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
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Are you located in Vienna, Austria, EU? If yes, there are many fine bonsai artists in your area, that are familiar with your climate and how JWP respond to your climate.

Myself, I have found JWP a delicate pine, best handled by leaving it grow without bud or candle pruning in spring or early summer. I work mine once a year, in autumn. I prune excess shoots, thinning to two at any point, & prune excess branches, then wire, then leave it alone for another 12 months.

This is a young tree, the diameter of the trunk and branches will be much greater before you exhibit this in shows. Don't worry about the reverse taper for a couple years, there will be plenty of time to fix it later. Keep the multiple branches until you formally settle on a style and design. Don't prune branches until you have a plan, you have a few years to decide. You can't glue branches back on so it's okay to go slow.
 

iant

Chumono
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Beautiful foliage. I've had no luck with white pines. (other than southwest white pine.) I've killed two out of two...
The circle root at the base is very distracting to me.
The rest of the tree looks good.
Ian
 

BeebsBonsai

Shohin
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I think this tree has a lot of potential. The lack of ahoot selection has caused a lot of ugly reverse tapered branching, but that makes your decision for you. I say let the candles grow out on the knotty ugly branches all year, then in the spring of next year scion graft them to places alongn the trunk where you want branches. The trunk size is already there. You get to build your own bonsai. Keep the branching that doesnt have an ugly knot and cut off the rest once you know your grafts have taken. Also would be a great idea to reach out to local professionals or knowledgeable artists to get their opinion. Perhaps theyd even help with the grafts.
 
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