The Mighty Huon Pine

[Rory]

The hard thing about growing the Huon Pine is that you will find that if you cut the entire tree back and do not leave much foliage, you are asking for trouble. So, as you will see in the 'after photo', I have slowly been pruning it back each month, and will cut it back further next year. In the past, I have made this mistake before from suddenly cutting back and not leaving enough foliage, and they usually do not make it. They make glorious bonsai, but they are slow growers. It is certainly not a very common sight to see a huon pine bonsai, so enjoy. I have no idea where or how this one is going to look, so I am just kind of letting the tree come to terms with itself first.

Before (May 2013):



Today (August 2013):

[marcela]

Hi bonsaibuddyman,
I acquired a group of these earlier this year, I know it needs to be repotted and have been given advice that later in this month will be good to do it. I really like the this species and look froward to learning more about it. Like what you are doing with yours.
Marcela

[bonsaibontanist]

Great to see somebody attempting to bonsai these amazing trees they are a more than worthy subject.
As long as they survive the pruning you should have a good tree for the next 1000 years or more.
One stand on Mt Reid is 10,000 years old as it air layers itself into a clone forest.

Sadly I live in Queensland with hot weather so growing all the amazing species you guys can down south is near impossible.
Still I can dream of one day moving to Tassie and being able to bonsai magnificent species such as Huon Pine, Pencil Pine and Nothofagus gunnii.
keep us posted on these trees progress.
Regards

[Josh]

I have one of these that I'm just letting grow for now to see what it does. Do you know how they handle root pruning?? That's probably 20 yrs worth of growth you just cut off Please keep updating, will be watching with interest.

Josh

[Dario]

Best of luck with your Huon Pine Bonsaibuddyman. Hope you don't mind get a little off topic, but I had to post this pic of this amazing Athrotaxis cupressoides.

Sadly I live in Queensland with hot weather so growing all the amazing species you guys can down south is near impossible.
Still I can dream of one day moving to Tassie and being able to bonsai magnificent species such as Huon Pine, Pencil Pine and Nothofagus gunnii.
Regards

Hope you like it bonsaibotanist...

Athrotaxis-cupressoides.jpg

Cheers, Dario.

[bonsaibontanist]

A magnificent pencil pine indeed! I cant wait to go back to Tassie.
Thanks for posting

[Rory]

Great to see somebody attempting to bonsai these amazing trees they are a more than worthy subject.
As long as they survive the pruning you should have a good tree for the next 1000 years or more.
One stand on Mt Reid is 10,000 years old as it air layers itself into a clone forest.

Sadly I live in Queensland with hot weather so growing all the amazing species you guys can down south is near impossible.
Still I can dream of one day moving to Tassie and being able to bonsai magnificent species such as Huon Pine, Pencil Pine and Nothofagus gunnii.
keep us posted on these trees progress.
Regards

Yeah, they are definitely worthy. Style wise, they really lend themselves to weeping bonsai beautifully, because of their natural weeping effect. This was the first tree I wanted to bonsai when I first got into bonsai, but took me so long to acquire some. I too wanted to move to Tasmania when I was younger, but my wife says if I move there she wants a divorce because of the cold I can understand that I suppose, but on the other side of the coin, when I met her 10 years ago, she wanted to move to the Gold Coast, and I told her she was going to fall in love with me and wouldn't end up moving. She laughed, not believing me, but then that is what happened,

Hi bonsaibuddyman,
I acquired a group of these earlier this year, I know it needs to be repotted and have been given advice that later in this month will be good to do it. I really like the this species and look froward to learning more about it. Like what you are doing with yours.
Marcela

Thanks Marcela, Yes, I recommend persisting even if you lose them all. I lost all my first set that I acquired from lack of understanding and knowledge when I was starting out, but I kept on with them, and tried my hand again... and again. Yes, you probably can repot at the end of the month that is fine, but how old is it, and when was it last repotted. Do not cut back the roots heavily, and make sure it was always kept in a larger bonsai container than a normal bonsai. Do not cut back the foliage any more than say 20% at one time. In other words, always leave 80% of the foliage for at least a month. When Huon Pine are young, and this is a relative term, - as you probably know, they grow to about 2000 years as a solo tree - but as a young huon (under 10 years), they need a lot of care. Actually, I shouldn't say that, they just require a lot of knowledge, not really a lot of care, as you can't treat them like you would a hardy shrub, otherwise you'll be using it for kindling. Any queries, just let me know.

I have one of these that I'm just letting grow for now to see what it does. Do you know how they handle root pruning?? That's probably 20 yrs worth of growth you just cut off Please keep updating, will be watching with interest.

Josh

Hi Josh. Thanks mate. I have another 10 year old Huon, but I just haven't uploaded images yet. The other ones I am growing are smaller, and they are all 2 years and 5 years old. It is cool to just let them go, and see what they do, but I seriously recommend cutting back any wild growth occasionally, just to ensure you get foliage close to the main trunk, if that is what you want. Otherwise, Huon Pine, have a bad tendancy to give you long strangly looking branches which are hard to correct later on. Haha, in regards to the growth, you are close, as that entire bonsai is 10 years old, so that was 10 years gone. But alas, I would say in about 5 years it will be worth it. Okay, as far as root pruning goes, if you want my advice, treat this the same as the above growth, so in other words, don't cut back the roots hard. I would say, only cut back roots probably every 2 years or so, depending on how old yours is. If it is older, maybe every 3 years or so. And always, always! keep them in a larger pot than your standard bonsai. You live in Victoria so you should be okay for weather. Just really really watch them in summer. This is the nail biting period for them, as they love winter, love spring, but hate summer. If the soil is just about dry and it is going to be sunny the next day, it will be dead if you forget to water it that day. But they wont lose all their green foliage for about 5 weeks, and in the mean time you'll think everything is hunky dory. Obviously human nature says, "oh cool, okay, i'll just water them all the time", but this will also kill them. So, just probably treat them water wise as you would a callistemon, in that they too can't be left too close to dried when sun is near. (if that makes sense, sorry).

[Rory]

I am down to 2 out of last 4 still remaining. Sadly, where we have moved to doesn't get a whole lot of sun. So I have moved the remaining 2 into the sunniest location, and they are doing well. We lost a 5 year old and a 10 year old Huon Pine, and prior to that, we lost a 20 year old Huon.

These are our last remaining Huons left. You would think they would have trouble from the hot summer, but for the last 10 years or so, we haven't had problems with others, but once I moved into this new house, the lack of sun was evident. I just didn't realize how much so until the last 6 months or so.

gallery/album.php?album_id=406
gallery/album.php?album_id=325

Well, you live and learn, so at least my goal is now to keep these remaining 2 alive. They are a magnificent species, but my gosh they are slow growing, and when you don't have a lot of sun, even more so.

[Elmar]

Is there an opportunity to harvest any seeds?

I guess from reading about the one in Tassie, you'd be better off taking cuttings…


Cheers
EZ
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rory]

Is there an opportunity to harvest any seeds?

I guess from reading about the one in Tassie, you'd be better off taking cuttings…

Yeah mate, you're gonna have to wait a while for anything decent from a cutting. I'm about done for trying to bonsai huon pine. These last 2 are my last effort. Unless we move to a sunnier spot, I wont bother.

[Jarad]

Hey Rory,

How did the last 2 Huon Pines fare?

[Rory]

My mother couldn't care for them anymore, and we didn't get enough sun for them. I also lost all conifers as they just wont grow with our conditions. All dead. I have replaced Huon Pines with Casuarina now, and they are much hardier and appreciative of our area. They were all thriving and doing well in Sydney though, before I had to take them off my mother, so don't let people tell you they wont live in Sydney.

Ray Nesci sells Huon Pine starters for $12, but they are young and thin. Mine were old and fat, but if you like them, just ring before you go to check he has them. His nursery is in Dural, Kenthurst.

[Jarad]

My mother couldn't care for them anymore, and we didn't get enough sun for them. I also lost all conifers as they just wont grow with our conditions. All dead. I have replaced Huon Pines with Casuarina now, and they are much hardier and appreciative of our area. They were all thriving and doing well in Sydney though, before I had to take them off my mother, so don't let people tell you they wont live in Sydney.

Ray Nesci sells Huon Pine starters for $12, but they are young and thin. Mine were old and fat, but if you like them, just ring before you go to check he has them. His nursery is in Dural, Kenthurst.

I was planning on going on an adventure to Rays some time, now I have another reason to go.

Dad went to Tassie and fell in love with them so he bought a dozen seeds (as well as a dozen Celery-top and
King Bill seeds) so I was going to give them a go. But seeing as they are so slow growing, saplings would be the better option.

[Lorie]

Great heads up, unfortunately I have just trimmed about 40% off mine see how it goes hey

[jarryd]

Hi Lorie,

Do not worry to much about taking 40% foliage of a huon pine. They will bounce back fine. . If you are planing on thickening them up however it is best to leave as much foliage as possible on your tree.