AusBonsai

While I am by no means completly o'fey with the growth and training habits of this difficult species. I am having a go and learning along the way.
Yours in Bonsai
Jon

Good start there john, keep up the year round maintenance on this one and it will be a good tree in future.

The only thing that I can contribute here is a semi-cascade.

Wow! That's really nice Stymie - Is that one of yours and if so was it a collected tree?

Jon

Nice Jon! Looks very similar to one of mine however I have been able to reduce the needle length over the last couple of years.

Stymie, that's awesome! Please tell us more about it!

S.

Hi Jon,

I like your tree. It has more than enough branches for informal upright style.

Hi stymie,

What a manificient black pine you have! I do not believe I have seen one of that quality in Melbourne yet.

Would you please tell us more about the history of this pine? I would appreciate that very much.

Best regards,

Viet.

excellent jbp don, is it yours? how long have you had it?

Jon. I assume that it was collected originally but not by me. It was also most likely to have been imported. The deadwood is very natural looking but the branch tips have to be wired upwards on a regular schedule. I can't give any indication of it's true age. It was sold by an old gentleman who had it for many years and never took it to a show.

Here's one of my JBP's that I have been working on for almost 3 years.
It's nothing special but give it 30 to 40 years and it may be

Steven

Heres a black pine i've been working on, also nothing special but it is a "learning tree"

AusBonsai wrote:Here's one of my JBP's that I have been working on for almost 3 years.

Black Pine - purchased April 2006.jpg

JBP11-09-08 (10).jpg

It's nothing special but give it 30 to 40 years and it may be

Steven

Amazing transformation in such little time Steven!

Are you going to grow a sacrifice branch to thicken the trunk? or put it in a larger pot (or ground) for a few years? I only have one pine,and not much experience, but from what i read, that would be the fastest way to produce a thicken trunk. The 30 - 40 year expectation might be lowered a bit...

JayC

Thanks JayC,

The leader is sacrificial and I potted it up into the one it is in only a few months ago. It was hammered by the hail we has in Sydney a couple of weeks ago as did the JB Pines in my garden.

S.

nice progress on that one steven, should be a champ in the near future.

Jon, and anyone else interested in growing Black Pines - I put a link to an article in Viet's post "Black Pine (1)" regarding needle reduction and foliage control. The author is Julian Adams, and the article appeared in International Bonsai, 2005, No. 2 pp. 17-21. I found it helpful, but you're probably much more experienced than I in growing these trees. It may be of interest to some, though. It is, of course, northern hemisphere, but he does stipulate seasons rather than months! Apologies if you've already seen it.

Nice trees, by the way, all of you.

Scorpio

I have learned to respect the words of Harry Harrington and submit this link to his ideas in pine refinement.
http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATPine%20Pruning.html
A look at the full site will reveal other succulent information.