Aleppo Pine: 6 months of training

[jonathanv]

Hello Everybody

I bought this tree as pre-bonsai stock from The Bonsai Emporium in the Swan Valley (Perth). The owner of the nursery has a really nice example of one of these and I want to try and recreate my own version of it. I have attached a few photos to show you guys my inspiration.

So far what I have done:

Wired the lowest branches in a pretty heavy gauge (6mm I think) and moved them much lower

Wired the 2nd from bottom set of branches to move them into desired position (3mm)

The top 2 sets of branches I basically massaged into place.

At the moment all the wire is removed for the spring growth spurt. I had a bit of wire bite but nothing too bad. Everyday I bend/massage the branches/tiers to make them radial

I'm really happy so far with what has been accomplished and I think that it has happened really quick. The tree is about 10 years old from what I remember and I paid around $100 for it. I plant to keep it in the grow bag for another year or so and then find a nice pot to put it in

Any suggestions/Comments are appreciated

[Watto]

Good start, please keep us updated.

[Mbunro]

Hi Jonathan,
as watto said its a great start, but i cant help but feel that the tree your using as inspiration (an amazing tree in person) is the wrong one for the stock you have purchased.
if your tree were mine id be putting some more kinks in the trunk and going for an informal upright as your tree has some got some great movement coming out of the soil and i think it could be a wasted opportunity to not take advantage of that,

[jonathanv]

Hi Jonathan,
as watto said its a great start, but i cant help but feel that the tree your using as inspiration (an amazing tree in person) is the wrong one for the stock you have purchased.
if your tree were mine id be putting some more kinks in the trunk and going for an informal upright as your tree has some got some great movement coming out of the soil and i think it could be a wasted opportunity to not take advantage of that,

Thanks for the advice, I see what you are saying. The trunk still has quite a bit of flex in it and could be moved. The inspiration I was mostly taking is from the great radial branch structure. I'll keep you guys posted!!

Cheers

[Ryceman3]

That "inspiration tree" looks like a high bar you have set for yourself ... it's a pearler and I like the way you are working towards it. No two trees will (should?) ever be the same but drawing inspiration from what you see is a good way to set a target and focus your energy on an end goal. Looking forward to seeing this progress - nice start.

PS : I don't have an Aleppo ...mmm, I'm tempted.