Pinus banksiana. The Jack Pine

[NBPCA]

Firstly this is not my tree. It is on loan to the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia by Jim Miller of Canberra. The owner, Jim, is our most senior volunteer at the collection and he has done most of the care and trimming of this tree while at the collection. We are learning a lot from him about this wonderful species of Pine. Jim is also a member of the Bonsai Management Committee which oversees the running of the collection.

The National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia displays bonsai and penjing from around Australia created by Australian artists, but is not limited to Australian native plants.

The Jack pine here is estimated to be about 30 years old and was collected as a 10 year old wild seedling in the early 1990s from an Arboretum near Canberra that was planted about 70 years ago to trial trees for suitability in the Canberran climate and suitability for use as forestry trees for timber. The trials led to the widespread use of the Radiata or Monterey pine in Australia for timber for use in the housing and construction industry.

Goodness knows who thought the Jack pine might be suitable for forestry in Australia, but thank goodness they were planted as it has turned out to be great for bonsai if you are in a colder part of the world. The arboretum is at about 1,000 meters or about 3,300 ft altitude and is about 200 klms or 125 miles inland on the east coast of Australia. Canberra is at about 640 meters or 2,000 ft altitude and is about the same distance inland. Summers are hot and dry, winters are cold and dry.

The tree was collected by Jim and grown initially for many years using no special techniques but as the tree matured and became a bonsai the standard techniques for Japanese black pine have been followed. The Jack pine is a two needle pine and has a needle around the same size as a Mugo pine or Scots pine (around 20mm to 45mm) and therefore needle size is not a great issue; it also has a short candle growth and so it is well on its way to being good bonsai material. It seems relatively hardy in the climates that suit it and Jim has found that needle size does reduce considerably with age and standard bonsai pine techniques.

For bonsai, we all want the shortest needle length possible, as well as compact and vigorous growth and it seems to tick all these boxes, so I was very surprised when I found out it wasn’t widely grown as bonsai in its native countries of Canada and USA.
Anyhow here is a series of photographs of the tree over the last few years.

Pic no 1. Firstly a picture of a Jack Pine forest in North America.

Pic 1. Pinus_banksiana_forest.jpg

Pic no 2. The tree in Jan 2005, which had been potted for the first time into a bonsai pot in spring 2003. Some wiring and training commenced in earnest in 2001.

Pic 2 Jan 2005.jpg

Pic no 3. The Jack pine as offered for loan to the collection in October 2007 (spring). The second branch on the right is a little weak or thin and will be bulked up slowly over the following years. The tree is standing more upright after its second repot.

Pic 3. Oct 2007.JPG

Pic no 4. On display to the public at the NBPCA during May 2009 (autumn).

Pic 4. May 2009.jpg

Pic no 5.The tree here is in active spring growth with the candles elongating visibly. Some carving was done with a Dremel that is not obvious but removed a lump above the first branch. Candles are snapped or removed as necessary as per usual pine techniques.

Pic 5. 13th Oct 2009.JPG

Pic no 6. The tree in early summer after spring growth and just before the use of a variation of the “Needle Reduction Technique”; ie the removal of some or most of the new spring growth on the strongest of the branches on the lowest 1/3rd of the tree.

Pic 6. 11th Dec 2009 morning.JPG

Pic no 7. The tree the same day after the cutting off most of the current years new growth on the lower 1/3rd of the tree.

Pic 7. 11th Dec 2009 afternoon.JPG

Pic no 8. One week to ten days later the new growth on the middle third of the tree is shortened or removed.

Pic 8. 18th Dec 2009.JPG

Pic no 9. Finally another week or ten days later the new growth at the top of the tree is almost completely removed (mid-summer). The tree is photographed about another week later on. The weak 2nd branch on the right has gained some more foliage and vigor and has mostly not been trimmed; so as to allow it to elongate.

Pic 9. 7th Jan 2010.JPG

The tree buds back freely on wood from this year to about 4 years old and is so dense in places that the numerous buds are thinned very quickly. Mostly Jim cuts into this year’s growth rather than totally remove the entire candle as he finds it doesn’t bud back so ferociously. If he completely removes all the new growth it buds prodigiously at the cut point and you get a mass cluster of buds.

Pics no 10 to 12. Some close-ups of the growth on the lowest branch.

Pic 10. Dense foliage.JPG

Pic 11. Lots of buds.JPG

Pic 12. Showing new buds at tip, new forming behind and more down bare wood.JPG

It will have a slightly wooly appearance until around early May when, once the extent of back budding and autumn growth is determined, it will have some needles thinned out, more buds removed, some shortening back of growth and anything sticking out of the profile removed, plus have all old needles trimmed off. Less growth will be removed on the lowest branches and more on the top most area.

Pic no 13 The tree as it was last May 2009 after the above process.

Pic 13. May 2009.jpg

It stands 48cm/19” high, 44cm/17” wide and 37cm/14” deep.

The tree has been repotted every two years once it went into a bonsai pot in 2003, except for 2009 when it was on display, so will be repotted in August 2010.(Late winter/Early spring in Australia)

There are so few of these in Australia that not a lot of work has been done on them and maybe, like the Mugo/Scots/White pines, they could/should be repotted in autumn or summer. Hopefully the American and Canadian bonsai people will use them more and let us know what they find out.

[NBPCA]

I hope you enjoy the posting.

If you have any questions about this tree I will answer where I can or I will get the answers from Jim.

Come and see this tree for yourself. It will be rotated out of the collection probably this year so come and see it if you can.

Grant Bowie

[Bretts]

I remember Jim telling me about Jack pine years ago while he was sitting in for Leigh one day. It is great to see his tree he was talking about.

[NBPCA]

I remember Jim telling me about Jack pine years ago while he was sitting in for Leigh one day. It is great to see his tree he was talking about.

I was so impressed with the tree I bought one for myself from Leigh a few years ago.

I will be overhauling it soon and will take pics.

Grant

[NBPCA]

Hi all,

This tree is about to undergo some candle snapping and removal today so I quickly took a shot. It was repotted about 4 weeks ago is is doing fine.

Lots of new growth and incredible back budding.

Grant

IMG_2720.JPG

[Steven]

This is a lovely tree and I'm looking forwards to seeing the after shot. Who is doing the work Grant - you or Jim?
It looks much bigger in the photo than it is in real life. I guess the short needle length adds to the deception.

Regards,
Steven

[NBPCA]

This is a lovely tree and I'm looking forwards to seeing the after shot. Who is doing the work Grant - you or Jim?
It looks much bigger in the photo than it is in real life. I guess the short needle length adds to the deception.

Regards,
Steven

Jim has already done the work during the quietish start to the morning.

It is now too busy here to take off the shelf and photograph so it will be later in the day.

The old needles are almost full size. ie 25 - 30mm but as the tree becomes fuller over time I hope they will reduce considerably even more.

We are also trying to get the 2nd right hand branch stronger by leaving it alone.

Grant

[NBPCA]

After trim, candle snap and some removal.

IMG_2726 - Copy.JPG

Grant

[Pup]

Looking good Grant, looks like Jim knows what hes doing, so let him carry on while you have a break eh .

By the way mate what was the final count for Floriade Did you crack the 60,000 hope so it must be a plus for Australian Bonsai hopefully.

Thank's to your self and staff and all the volunteers.

Cheers Pup

[NBPCA]

Looking good Grant, looks like Jim knows what hes doing, so let him carry on while you have a break eh .

By the way mate what was the final count for Floriade Did you crack the 60,000 hope so it must be a plus for Australian Bonsai hopefully.

Thank's to your self and staff and all the volunteers.

Cheers Pup

Hi pup,

We had 61,829 visitors to the collection during Floriade.

One full time staff(me), one part time staff(Leigh) and 38 volunteers.

42 full day shifts and 171 x 3 or 4 hour shifts were filled to ensure adequate management of the crowds and bonsai.

Also(but don't tell anybody) we met with the architects for the building of the new collection site today. Not bad!

More in the future.

Grant

[Gerard]

One jack pine recently acquired from Canberra has found a new home in Melbourne. This tree was very sparse when it was re-potted recently but the owner is excited by the prolific number of new buds. Looks to be happy in its new home.

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017.jpg

[Grant Bowie]

They are a lovely pine and are a great addition to the pines we use in Australia.

The back budding is phenominal!

Jim candle snaps initially and then trims out later. He found that if he removes candles too early he gets so many buds in a cluster at the tips.

Grant

[NBPCA]

Hi all,

Barely a month since the last photo of this tree was posted but what a difference a month makes.
.

Jack Pine compressed.JPG

IMG_2726 - Copy.JPG

IMG_2720.JPG

[Leigh Taafe]

Better pic too!