a scots pine experiment

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kez
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a scots pine experiment

Post by kez »

It has been a long time for me between new material, I think perhaps 2 years since I had some raw stock

I finally got myself motivated and went and bought a tree I have ummed and ahhed over for a while now, a grafted scots pine.

Why did I um and ah?

well, it's nursery material, not grown for bonsai, which means it could well be rubbish, it's overgrown so the growth is a long way from the trunk and also very hard to see into, and its a graft, ahh no a graft

It's not a bad one though
pine 1.jpg
pine 2.jpg
So why did I buy it?

I havent styled raw material in 2 years!

Also it's old, the graft is barely visible and it's a dwarf variety of scots pine, so good bonsai material with even smaller needles.

Now this is never going to be your traditional pine, but I have those, and this is actually quite fitting with the thread just started by squiz on pine styling.
I wanted this tree to be wild, I wanted it to be like the pines I admire when driving around the southern highlands of NSW, those big, old, beaten, messy, not at all bonsai like pines that look fantastic

I always asked myself (again much like what squizzy was asking) why I had never seen a pine growing in nature that looked anything like the pines I admired as bonsai, so with this tree I wanted as best as I could to try and bring some of that in, and I think the material was right for it.

Now as I said above, this tree is full of problems, and some haven't been addressed yet, some have kinda (i'll finish the jin) and some I don't care about whatsoever (yes, I know it has reverse taper, I DID happen to notice). I'm done with writing trees off because of a few issues, if you have a perfect tree awesome! but I havent seen one yet.

Anyway, here it is cleaned up and branches selected
pine 3.jpg
And here it is styled, I can't decide what I want to do apex wise (if you can call 3 branches an apex) but once it fills in I'm sure I'll work it out
pine 4.jpg
pine 5.jpg
I hope you all enjoy it, I enjoyed styling it, I enjoyed the challenge, and most of all I think I enjoyed thinking about a tree where my first step wasn't to bring the branches down

It's a bit of a rant but so what, it got me thinking and hopefully it does the same for others

Cheers,

Kerrin
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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by boom64 »

Great work Kerrin,
Agree 100% what you are saying about design ,more freedom less conformity.......Cheers John.
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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by Boics »

Always a good job Kerri.

Are you sure it's a scotts pine?
Trunk and foliage reminds me of one of those bunnings christmas tree's (of which I have one).
Name escapes me right now unfortunately..

Edit: Picea Glauca Christmas Star?
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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by kez »

Nah Boics, pinus sylvestris saxatilis

It’s a dwarf cultivar, no idea how it will go with bonsai rigours but it’s been in that pot a while
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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by The Munt »

Really like the look of that mate good job. :cool:
It’s all about the new experience!
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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by kez »

Well this tree has had quite a year

I have never had a tree thicken so fast, and looking back at the initial work I am staggered by how much growth it had over the spring/summer

I took the wire off very lazily over the last 2 months and I am embarrassed to say this tree has the worst wire scaring I've ever been responsible for. On the plus side, the areas where I first took the wire off have already begun healing so I don't it will cause any lasting damage

Anyway today I decided I would rewire the tree and here it is
IMG_6658 (1024x683).jpg
I was tempted to pot it up but it might be slightly late, maybe early spring. Either way, so far I feel the experiment with nursery stock is going well

Kerrin
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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by LLK »

Very nice! Love the styling.

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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by MJL »

The outcome of your ‘experiment’ looks fantastic. You’re Einstein vs my work that’s reflective of a primary school lab. Another beauty Kerrin.


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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by Gerard »

Not sure what the future plans are, but I really like the 'squat' stature and very wide spread. This gives the tree a unique character.
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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by kez »

Thanks folks

Future plans are just to keep it going in the current direction, I don’t think it would work if I tried to “traditionalise” it, and I really enjoy the current form. It’s been a nice surprise to see it develop as it has thus far
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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by Jake fowler »

Another good looking tree Kerrin!
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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by kez »

Potted this tree up about a month ago, thinned out and removed some branches also
IMG_7939 (1280x853).jpg
Cheers

Kerrin
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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by Greg F »

Looks very nice Kerrin.

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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by MJL »

Sh!t that’s good. So, so good in 2 years. You’re showing me and others how to get better....


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Re: a scots pine experiment

Post by juan73870 »

very cool :)
pot suits it to a tee, also :tu:
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