Allepo....

[Asus101]

Well I brought this allepo a while back, and have had it sitting around so I could boost its health to a workable state.

The tree was about 10 ft or so, and was cut right back hard. I have left the top bit alive so I can do some si-diao work later on.

As far as I know allepo can take complete cut backs, as they bud very well on old wood.

There are a few bad points with this tree:
It has a boring straight trunk before comes to any sort of movement. This could be fixed by creating an extensive shari coming from the top part of the tree.
There are only two main branches that are rather thin and lanky. Good part though is they can be bent very very easily. While I know it is possible to use those two branches to form the tree, I don't have the knowledge to do it.

Roots are very healthy, there is a thick mat of microrhiza, but it needs a re pot soon.
I would like to learn some more on the species before doing any root work.

[BonsaiBoy]

Youll have this bent and twisted into shape soon mate. Is that branck on the left going to stay or go? I dont like the way it grows from the inside of the curve.
BB

[Asus101]

I dont know what I will do with that branch. I'll try styling this some time soon, I might take it up to canberra with me in a few months and talk to Grant about it.

[Asus101]

And guys I would like to know what you would do. I have so much utter rubbish and so little good stock (due to being so remote) that I would like to make a good go of it.

[Pup]

Not knowing the species I am loath to make any sort of comment as to what. However you say they shoot back well.
If that is the case they are very much like Pinus pinea.
What is the diameter of the trunk at soil level?, are there any shoots lower than that first branch? How tall is it?.
The bottom of the trunk does not have much movement. If you tilt the pot at look at it from different angles. Using wedges helps so you can increase and decrease the angles. Also slowly turning as in 360% will give you some Ideas.
Looking at the minimal amount of taper it is a candidate for Bunjingi!!.
Where the first branch and that small one emerge,on the trunk, there seems to be some sort of scar.
What ever it is along term project. I have asked these questions so that maybe myself or some one else here can point you in the right direction.
It is very much like the pinea in appearance.
Just had another look at it tilt it to the right at the point where the first heavier branch comes out of the inside chop( leave a stub of at least 25 mms ) so that is the new leader. If as you say it shoots back it should give you plenty of choices for a smaller informal up right. As I said it is not an over night wonder.
Hope this is some sort of help mate. Pup

[Asus101]

They seem to heal pretty ok, and there are a lot of shoots all around the area of the two branches, but because the stregth is being stolen they wont really grow too far before carking it.
I have seem in bonsai focus/Europe what artists over there do with similar one or two branched tree's, that's why I am confident something good can be pulled out of this.
The only reason I have not cut back and restarted the leader, is so I can jin/shari that top bit all the way down to the base to fix that taperless trunk (like you picked out pup).
The trunk is pretty fat, a good 5 or so inches, and being in the same pot for awhile Ill need to re-pot this spring when bud start to swell (I'll mix in old soil with new...)

I have taken every thing you have said about cutting back ect, but I want to try bring in the European style of thinking (re: styling) here. I feel that we have a very American style where we cut back instead of looking at other solutions ( and I have so much I need to cut back and grow lol, I just want something to work on now!).
Cheers though for the insight, I'll keep it in mind when i finally come to working it.

[anttal63]

if it were mine i would chop it to just a couple of shoots on the lowest branch. then water and fertalise like crazy and should shoot up and down that trunk this spring. let it grow for a year or 2 then have a look at what you got.

[Pup]

Asus if you look at Soltans post on Bonsai design principles there is a juniper that is a Top and the first two branches come from the BACK.
Japanese NOT American. jpg2626 I think.
I have seen what you talk of it is also applied by Kevin Willson of the UK and Sandro Segneri. Did it on one of Peter's trees.
Also Tedy Boy of Indonesia worked with a piece that most would dismiss very much as yours. Turned it into a nice tree.

[Asus101]

Asus if you look at Soltans post on Bonsai design principles there is a juniper that is a Top and thefirst two branches come from the BACK.
Japanese NOT american. jpg2626 I think.
I have seen what you talk of it is also applied by Kevin Willson of the UK and Segro Sangrini. Did it on one of Peter's trees.

I'm talking of the American style of chopping all back and regrowning before trying to creatively using what there is.
Kevin does it it a lot with scotts pine, he is very good at it and where my original thinking has developed.
I shall troll through that thread and see if I can spot the tree you are talking about.

Antonio, the hard part about that, is there are only limited shoots all coming from the same area. While it can or should be able to be cut back hard it wont be for at least another season (two if i repot now) that it will be strong enough to withstand the punishment. Its still something to consider, and I most likely will cut the sub branching back hard, while looking for another way to work with the main branches I have now before cutting it all off.

[Brad Loma]

And guys I would like to know what you would do. I have so much utter rubbish and so little good stock (due to being so remote) that I would like to make a good go of it.

Cut it back just above the lowest shoot, pot it up orplant out, feed and water for a few years and see what presents. If nothing suitable shows, ah well, move on.
B.

[Asus101]

And guys I would like to know what you would do. I have so much utter rubbish and so little good stock (due to being so remote) that I would like to make a good go of it.

Cut it back just above the lowest shoot, pot it up orplant out, feed and water for a few years and see what presents. If nothing suitable shows, ah well, move on.
B.

I will cut a number of things down this year that was collected last year, just I would like to see if there is another way of fixing the problems before cutting it all off and starting again. I am also worry that if I am wrong on the species and I do cut too far back I will kill it.

[Elias]

G'day Asus,

That is an interesting piece of material, with many challenges. I had not seen this species as a bonsai before but with further reading I found a few websites have a little bit of info on them.
Wikipedia states that an eradication of the species in in plan in SA, so hopefully you should be able to find more specimens to work on and it also has references to a few other species that are very closely related to it ...
I assume that being an invasive species that it is fairly fast growing...?
Phoenix Bonsai.com had this info:

Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis)
yellow needle tips probably indicate that soil is too wet; do not overwater, especially in spring and summer -- allow soil to ALMOST dry out in between waterings, and then thoroughly rewater; NEVER bare-root ANY pine; pull off longer mature needles to maintain size and shape; Aleppo is different than most other pines in that this produces both juvenile and mature needles; February and September are best pruning months; in May and June use chelated Iron fertilizer, and in July and August when the monsoon comes, use Organo rose food; do not pinch new growth during July and August; NOT an indoor bonsai candidate; buds back better than other pines; do not prune and repot at the same time.

Anyways an interesting species I hope some of the info is useful. Hope to see some future updates to see how the tree responds to the trimming, thanks for sharing.