New to Bonsai - Mountain Pine

[NSampson]

Hi, i'm new to bonsai. I have grown my bonsai from a seed and its nearly a year old now. I would appreciate any advice on the next step. Should I just keep letting it grow how it is or does it need something like wiring or pruning? Not sure whether it needs to grow some more. Thanks. Picture attached.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Welcome Aboard BonsaiNut!

Hopefully the tree is being kept outside? JBP do best outside. If it isn’t, ease it out over a week.

Might want to wait till fall and then put a couple bends down low in the trunk. Remember bends soften over time due to a tree’s natural growth pattern, so accentuate the bends a bit more then desired down the line.

Encourage the lower growth and let the apex run as a sacrifice branch.

This winter spend some time studying JBP images on the internet and in books. Then decide what size tree you would like in the end… large, medium or small. This will help guide the tree’s care for the future.

Finally please help us help give you advice in the future by entering your approximate USDA Plant Cold Hardiness Zone by double clicking on the icon atop the page, then account details - next scroll down and enter these data in the appropriate areas and save. Thanks!

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Wulfskaar]

Are they bristlecone pines?

 

[Shibui]

Common names can be misleading because the same species can be called different names in different places. Sometimes the same common name can refer to different species in different places. I was going to start by saying we use similar techniques on most pines but some do respond differently so it's important to work out which one you have. Mountain pine seems to come up as Pinus mugho. Can you confirm that your pine is mugho AKA Austrian pine or dwarf mountain pine? It does appear to have longer needles than I'd expect for p. mugho?

DSD has already asked for a location. It's important info because different areas require different timing and sometimes different care because of the local climate and conditions.

The next problem is that there's rarely one way to develop a bonsai. Some people will let their trees grow bigger then chop back to get a shorter, thicker trunk as quick as possible and relying on replacing the trunk with side branches to give bends and taper to the trunk. That method does have some pitfalls. Others prefer to wire and bend early and grow slower to avoid some of the problems with the grow fast method. Takes longer but often produces superior trees. Some people will use a combination or allow sacrifice branches for thickening while managing more compact branches for the final bonsai. All these will work. You really need to decide how long you want to put into this project an what sort of bonsai you are hoping for.

The good thing is that you have some time to research before making decisions becomes desperate. Mugho stays quite flexible for years so it can still be bent in a few years. Decisions on pruning can also wait for a year or 2 until the oldest needles reach end of life and start to fall leaving bare sections of trunk and branches.

Note also that DSD mentioned that pines do not usually live long indoors. Working out how and where to keep this one outside will likely save you suffering as it slowly declines and dies indoors.

 

[NSampson]

Thank you for your replies. I have now filled in my details and moved my bonsai outside!! I have decided to go for an upright medium bonsai and will leave it alone until fall when i shall put a bend in the trunk. I have had a look at some pictures and believe this is a pinus mugo pumillio. Im not sure how i encourage lower growth? But will definitely read up for some more tips.

 

[NSampson]

Common names can be misleading because the same species can be called different names in different places. Sometimes the same common name can refer to different species in different places. I was going to start by saying we use similar techniques on most pines but some do respond differently so it's important to work out which one you have. Mountain pine seems to come up as Pinus mugho. Can you confirm that your pine is mugho AKA Austrian pine or dwarf mountain pine? It does appear to have longer needles than I'd expect for p. mugho?

DSD has already asked for a location. It's important info because different areas require different timing and sometimes different care because of the local climate and conditions.

The next problem is that there's rarely one way to develop a bonsai. Some people will let their trees grow bigger then chop back to get a shorter, thicker trunk as quick as possible and relying on replacing the trunk with side branches to give bends and taper to the trunk. That method does have some pitfalls. Others prefer to wire and bend early and grow slower to avoid some of the problems with the grow fast method. Takes longer but often produces superior trees. Some people will use a combination or allow sacrifice branches for thickening while managing more compact branches for the final bonsai. All these will work. You really need to decide how long you want to put into this project an what sort of bonsai you are hoping for.

The good thing is that you have some time to research before making decisions becomes desperate. Mugho stays quite flexible for years so it can still be bent in a few years. Decisions on pruning can also wait for a year or 2 until the oldest needles reach end of life and start to fall leaving bare sections of trunk and branches.

Note also that DSD mentioned that pines do not usually live long indoors. Working out how and where to keep this one outside will likely save you suffering as it slowly declines and dies indoors.

Thank you for your replies. I have now filled in my details and moved my bonsai outside!! I have decided to go for an upright medium bonsai and will leave it alone until fall when i shall put a bend in the trunk. I have had a look at some pictures and believe this is a pinus mugo pumillio. Im not sure how i encourage lower growth? But will definitely read up for some more tips.

 

[NSampson]

Welcome Aboard BonsaiNut!

Hopefully the tree is being kept outside? JBP do best outside. If it isn’t, ease it out over a week.

Might want to wait till fall and then put a couple bends down low in the trunk. Remember bends soften over time due to a tree’s natural growth pattern, so accentuate the bends a bit more then desired down the line.

Encourage the lower growth and let the apex run as a sacrifice branch.

This winter spend some time studying JBP images on the internet and in books. Then decide what size tree you would like in the end… large, medium or small. This will help guide the tree’s care for the future.

Finally please help us help give you advice in the future by entering your approximate USDA Plant Cold Hardiness Zone by double clicking on the icon atop the page, then account details - next scroll down and enter these data in the appropriate areas and save. Thanks!

Cheers
DSD sends

Thank you for your replies. I have now filled in my details and moved my bonsai outside!! I have decided to go for an upright medium bonsai and will leave it alone until fall when i shall put a bend in the trunk. I have had a look at some pictures and believe this is a pinus mugo pumillio. Im not sure how i encourage lower growth? But will definitely read up for some more tips.

Welcome Aboard BonsaiNut!

Hopefully the tree is being kept outside? JBP do best outside. If it isn’t, ease it out over a week.

Might want to wait till fall and then put a couple bends down low in the trunk. Remember bends soften over time due to a tree’s natural growth pattern, so accentuate the bends a bit more then desired down the line.

Encourage the lower growth and let the apex run as a sacrifice branch.

This winter spend some time studying JBP images on the internet and in books. Then decide what size tree you would like in the end… large, medium or small. This will help guide the tree’s care for the future.

Finally please help us help give you advice in the future by entering your approximate USDA Plant Cold Hardiness Zone by double clicking on the icon atop the page, then account details - next scroll down and enter these data in the appropriate areas and save. Thanks!

Cheers
DSD sends

Thank you for your replies. I have now filled in my details and moved my bonsai outside!! I have decided to go for an upright medium bonsai and will leave it alone until fall when i shall put a bend in the trunk. I have had a look at some pictures and believe this is a pinus mugo pumillio. Im not sure how i encourage lower growth? But will definitely read up for some more tips.

 

[Shibui]

I have had a look at some pictures and believe this is a pinus mugo pumillio.

Pinus mugho is one of the species that is called mountain pine.
Mugho is regarded as a 'single flush' species so when you are looking for info you should probably disregard advice for Japanese black pine because they are dual flush and react different to pruning. Techniques for Japanese white pine and Scots pine will be much more relevant as both those species are also single flush types like Mugho.