AusBonsai

Don't you love it when a tree finally gets into a proper bonsai pot after years of training?

These two Pinus radiata were collected about 8 years ago from a club dig at Mt. Crawford forest. The radiata's are grown there commercially and after an area is felled it's left alone for many years before replanting, so a lot of self sown trees can be found. Most are broomsticks but occasionally you can find one growing from under a log or rock with an interesting trunk.

The first one grew untouched for a few years before I took it to a Mauro workshop back in 2014. Here's a crappy photo of it that I took just after cleaning it up prior to the workshop.
It was then repotted into a plastic colander for a few more years. Yesterday I gave it a trim and a wire and decided it was time to put it into a proper pot as I wanted it to slow down so I could start refinement.

The pot was custom built by Luke Parsons specifically for this tree. He's being kept pretty busy these days with orders but he kindly squeezed me in and produced this lovely pot for me in short time.
The second tree was also taken to a Mauro workshop and then recently Rui Ferreira had a go too.
Both trees can now rest until spring and then I can start working on the finer details.

Matt.

Looking good Matt

Nice work Matt

It’s the second one for me. Can you do without that leg root on the first one? It looks awkward to me?

Squizzy

Matt S wrote:Don't you love it when a tree finally gets into a proper bonsai pot after years of training?

Matt.

Ha, I wish I could say yes Matt but I am not at that level yet. I reckon I will love it when I get such trees though! Well played on both - excellent work - the 2nd is probably my preference, just.

Also, +1 on what Sqizzy said about the root on the first.

Top stuff - thanks for posting.


Bonsai teaches me patience.
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Two great trees Matt .Great features and terrific movement .Well done. Pot is a winner ,will have to get an order in soon . Cheers John.

Got to be happy with that Matt, nice work mate.

cheers Anthony

Matt S wrote:Don't you love it when a tree finally gets into a proper bonsai pot after years of training?

These two Pinus radiata were collected about 8 years ago from a club dig at Mt. Crawford forest. The radiata's are grown there commercially and after an area is felled it's left alone for many years before replanting, so a lot of self sown trees can be found. Most are broomsticks but occasionally you can find one growing from under a log or rock with an interesting trunk.

It was then repotted into a plastic colander for a few more years. Yesterday I gave it a trim and a wire and decided it was time to put it into a proper pot as I wanted it to slow down so I could start refinement.

Hey Matt,

How much root mass was taken when these were dug? I dug a couple of these out but they haven't made it.
What time of year and after care helped these two successful?
I think they are coming along nicely.
Cheers, Mitch

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Hi Mitch,

Both of these trees were dug from a boggy area and didn't have a lot of roots attached, but I had a good success rate on that trip. They were dug in July and the ground was moist. Back home I planted them in an open mix with lots of chopped Sphagnum moss but kept all the original soil around the base. I'd read a lot of articles from the UK saying Sphagnum moss was good for collected pines and that live moss was best. They were kept in a shady spot out of the wind and misted twice daily, and there were weekly applications of Seasol.

The following year I dug a few trees from the same forest but from a different area and a different time of year and had little success. It was in mid August and the ground was quite dry so the digging was harder. I treated the trees the same way when I got home but after the success of the previous dig I wasn't as vigilant with the misting, plus a few weeks later we had a burst of hot weather and I lost all but one. Others on the same dig had similar stories.

I haven't been back since (I have too many trees now!) but if I did I'd go in early winter to make sure they got settled before the hot weather started and I'd keep up the misting. Having said that I get no frosts or extreme cold where I am so there's no problem getting them through winter. I also wouldn't bother if the ground was too dry. Dig up as much of the rootball as is practical and leave the original soil in place, you can remove it in subsequent years when the roots have moved into the new soil. Olives are much easier!

Cheers,
Matt.

Thanks for your reply Matt, great info.
I'm wanting to dig some more this year so I'll wait for the weather to cool a bit more and after some rain. I don't get frost or really cold weather either so should be right there too. I'll follow your aftercare and hopefully have better luck myself. Cheers mate

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The last couple of days I've been cleaning up the old needles on these two radiata, reduced all shoot clusters to two, added some wire and tweaked a few branches. I've noticed that some of the branches still hadn't set so the wire goes back on for another round.

This last growing summer I just pinched out the candles and the juvenile shoots by about two thirds and I was pleased that there were more candles this time round. I only got one flush of growth. They were fed quite heavily before Christmas and during the last few weeks, plus a few doses of Seafuel bloom and the colour has improved, although hard to see in these photos.

I took Squizzy's advice and lowered that upward root on the right hand side. I originally thought it added to the impression of a tree that had been knocked over but you guys were right, it looks better now.

I'll post a pic of the other tree when it's finished.

Nice looking tree mate.

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That pot! I'm definitely going to hit Luke up for something the second I have a tree worthy.

Two beautiful trees there Matt, never been overly into pines but yours are very nice ... the temptation is real.

i really like how the tree has progressed over the time you've had it. Luke sure does make a good pot. He's making me a pot currently for a pine i have here.

Have you seen his latest post he put on facebook? so damn beautiful pots there. https://www.facebook.com/AdelaideBonsaiPottery/ i feel like im turning into watto with my pot obsessions

Thanks for the nice replies people. Keels - Luke continues to pump out great pots. If you check out his Facebook page, last night we started a conversation where I sent a photo of a tree that I need a pot for and he is going through the design process.

Here is the second radiata, all trimmed up and wired. The long jin always felt temporary and is now gone. The stick that props up the tree is still there although the tree stands without it, but it still feels a bit wobbly without it. The bottom portion of the deadwood has rotted away despite lots of Earls wood hardener so now I'll have to figure out what to do with the rest of the Shari to match it better. The foliage is filling out which I like.

A radiata will never look as manicured as a JBP so these two trees will always look a but scruffy, but after seeing some good examples in Melbourne a few years ago I reckon I should be able to reduce the size of the needles a bit more.

Matt.