The find of a lifetime?

[HarleyD]

Hi everyone!

Today I dropped into Orient Bonsai Nursery (against my better judgement) and I couldn't believe this black pine that I found! It's huge and was half the price of some of the other more compact pines there. I'm guessing the owners didn't see much potential in it but I see an amazing literati bonsai in this pine.

IMG_1788.jpeg

My long-term vision for the tree is something like this:

bonsai.jpg

It's not looking particularly healthy at the moment. The needles are generally dull in colour and much of this season's growth is short and immature despite the fact that it's now early Autumn. I was thinking about slip-potting it into a large wooden box to help it regain some strength, but i'm not sure whether to do it now or wait until early spring.

Cheers,
Harley

[Robp]

Gday HarleyD,
Some pics would be good,just to show the structure of the tree a bit more.
But first impressions is that it a good tree by the looks.
Happy for you and your tree.
Make a progression thread please.

Cheers Rob

[dansai]

New foliage looks healthy enough. The older needles definitely looking dull and won't be contributing much to the strength of the tree. You can remove all the old needles now which will also give you a better gauge of the rest of the tree.

There is no need to put into a bigger box. I would be waiting until late winter/early spring and doing a proper repot pot with root work and even putting it back into the same pot. New mix and some root work will invigorate the tree. Putting it into a large box will only mean heavier rootwork down the track. This is based on your desire to head towards a literati tree. As in, you don't need more growth and thickening, you just need age.

You can give it regular feed over the next few months which will set it up for a successful repot. Autumn is a great time to wire to set structure.

If it were mine, I would remove old dull needles, feed well for the next 2 months and then wire out and set the structure late April/early May. I'ld also leave all the newer foliage intact. It looks like you may need some inner buds to cut back to as it develops so you want it growing strongly. When you wire it out you can set the main line of the branches, and if you are wiring branches down, make sure to wire out to the tips and turn them up to maintain vigour in those areas.

[HarleyD]

Thanks for the advice Dansai. I ended up cleaning it up a bit yesterday as you suggested:

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Next, the plan is to shorten the trunk a bit. The top node doesn't have much growing from it and can be removed. I should probably try to find some cut paste for conifers first though.

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I'll wire it up at some point during winter and the lower branches will be remover at some point in the future.

This tree also has a large wound on one side of the base. Not sure what happened to it. Maybe a shovel or something. Does anyone know whether this coould create any issues for the plant? Anything in particular I should watch out for?

IMG_1793.jpg

[shibui]

There's probably a number of possible causes of that scar - hit with a shovel while digging (though the shape seems to be the wrong way round for a digging accident), Possibly a large root broken off at some stage (which would explain the shape being wider at the top)
Whatever happened it was pretty vicious judging by the size and depth of the cut.

That scar appears to have good callus all round the edges so is starting to heal. I can't see callus at the top so you might just gently explore under the bark to see how far up till you find callus like around the edges.
It is unlikely to get bigger now and should gradually heal over. The only caution is if the exposed wood decays so the new bark can't grow over. It may take a few years for the new bark to roll over that cut so I would be treating the exposed wood with a preservative like lime sulphur to keep it intact while it heals properly.

Have you considered keeping some of that top as dead wood? It's probably not necessary and many don't think dead wood belongs on pines but it is easier to keep it until you're sure than to try to put it back after it's gone. Be aware that a cut that size will take quite a few years to heal and disappear. Jin can give a reason for top scars like this - ie make a feature instead of trying to hide the scars.

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

There's probably a number of possible causes of that scar -
Whatever happened it was pretty vicious judging by the size and depth of the cut.

My guess would be a "whoops" moment with a whipper snipper.

[TimS]

There's probably a number of possible causes of that scar -
Whatever happened it was pretty vicious judging by the size and depth of the cut.

My guess would be a "whoops" moment with a whipper snipper.

Having recently done this to one of my garden tree umes yep looks a bit whipper snipper-y

[shibui]

Now that you mention it that does look likely.
I have a big Japanese maple trunk in the grow bed with similar marks where it was attacked by the deutscher slasher a few years ago.

[HarleyD]

Thanks for the info Shibui! You're a wellspring information as per usual.

I hadn't thought of keeping the top as deadwood. I'm not sure whether it would fit with the design I had in mind for the tree at this point, but it might be a good reason to bide my time and consider other options. Either way, I think that I'll be able to hide both scars on what I consider to be the back of the tree, thankfully.