Nursery Rescue JBP

[battt]

Hey all. I was out buying some border plants and spotted a neglected but vigorous JBP thunbergii for £50. It was developing quite bad whorls and I thought maybe I’ll just make a garden tree. On getting it home, I think it has a nice natural trunk movement and realised perhaps the taper can be solved with a sort of elbow. It’s possibly not the right time to be doing this but I went ahead and cut and wired a new leader where 6 branches were coming from. I’ve left some side shoots in the hope they will support the tree in recovering. They may well be sacrificial as they’re very long. I’ve not touched the new leader or it’s children except cut a couple strong candles. The candles are all still very soft.

I’ve not had a pine before. This tree will be in development for some time but I was wondering how people might encourage the right sort of growth going forward. I have 6 shoots on this new leader all from the same place so it needs urgent attention if we want to avoid more taper problems, and I’d like to encourage more growth closer to the trunk while also thickening this new leader.

Any suggestions? The videos I’ve found are all about next stage development but not really dealing with these whorls and elongating stems that I need to bud back.
Thanks for all you do.

 

[sorce]

I'd try to cut that root free.


Sorce

 

[Potawatomi13]

Lowest 2 branches removed were likely best future for tree. Suggest selling/giving away and getting tree with foliage, branching closer to trunk or plant in yard. And get off the booze.

 

[battt]

It’s very embedded in the bark. Quite weird. I don’t think it has an end that would come free but I’ve not explored far below the soil yet - I didn’t want to disturb it a lot with all the pruning as well. Should it just carve out?

 

[Srt8madness]

Lowest 2 branches removed were likely best future for tree. Suggest selling/giving away and getting tree with foliage, branching closer to trunk or plant in yard. And get off the booze.

I disagree, there are still two low branches from that whorl that can be used as the new trunk. The one on the right of the first picture would keep some nice movement.

 

[battt]

Lowest 2 branches removed were likely best future for tree. Suggest selling/giving away and getting tree with foliage, branching closer to trunk or plant in yard. And get off the booze.

I’m not sure - they were very long and spindly with weak growth on the far ends. I guess from being shaded under the rest. That larger low cut was 3 such branches in a cluster coming out. I kept the ones with shorter internodes and healthier growth. I do have a default of just putting it in the yard and I think it’ll look nice there too over time but thought I’d see if people had any ideas/advice before I do anymore.

 

[battt]

That branch on the right is interesting - it comes from the trunk and the furthest back is the primary branch with the one to the front coming off it close to the trunk and a little further along is a small branch coming down from the bottom of it

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

The bark and candles lead me to think this is a JBP ‘Thunderhead’ cultivar, which can pose some challenges to bonsai…thick branches, congested whorls, long needles. However, it can be done. Sorce doesn't really do pines, and I wouldn’t get hung up on that root, it will fuse.

If this was my tree, I would probably let the tree get taller: cut at the red lines, and (in the fall) wire the branches out in the blue arrows. You need to reduce whorls to one branch and one section of trunk. Reduce growing shoots to one pair.

Feed heavily and hope for some back-budding to get the foliage closer to the trunk.

 

[battt]

The bark and candles lead me to think this is a JBP ‘Thunderhead’ cultivar, which can pose some challenges to bonsai…thick branches, congested whorls, long needles. However, it can be done. Sorce doesn't really do pines, and I wouldn’t get hung up on that root, it will fuse.

If this was my tree, I would probably let the tree get taller: cut at the red lines, and (in the fall) wire the branches out in the blue arrows. You need to reduce whorls to one branch and one section of trunk. Reduce growing shoots to one pair.

Feed heavily and hope for some back-budding to get the foliage closer to the trunk.

Thanks Brian - this is very helpful. Did you have an image with lines on? Maybe it didn’t attach? That would help immensely!

 

[Srt8madness]

The bark and candles lead me to think this is a JBP ‘Thunderhead’ cultivar, which can pose some challenges to bonsai…thick branches, congested whorls, long needles. However, it can be done. Sorce doesn't really do pines, and I wouldn’t get hung up on that root, it will fuse.

If this was my tree, I would probably let the tree get taller: cut at the red lines, and (in the fall) wire the branches out in the blue arrows. You need to reduce whorls to one branch and one section of trunk. Reduce growing shoots to one pair.

Feed heavily and hope for some back-budding to get the foliage closer to the trunk.

Are the thunderheads grafted?

I recently passed on a thunderhead in favor of an Austrian for the reasons you mentioned above. Not that Nigra pines don't have the thick branch problem, lol. Didn't find many positive experiences with the cultivar.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Oops…here you go.

 

[battt]

Oops…here you go.

View attachment 440150

Superstar, thanks Brian.