JBP- what to do?

[missybonsai]

hi everyone!
i got this tree from my parents for my birthday earlier in the year. trouble is they think its the epitome of the perfect bonsai anway i'd just like some advice on what to do with it in future. it has some potential, just finding it thats the problem, but most likely suited to shohin, me thinks.
Front


Back


Right


Left


Close up of trunk



Thanks heaps

[Handy Mick]

Hi Missy

I think at the moment your pine looks fine, it is young, you should look into decandling it though, to get some finer twigging.
Use the search function and find out when to start.

Mick

[Tony Bebb]

G'day Missy

If your parents won't diown you, I see a nice little tree there and would cut it at the red lines. Leave the stump at the top red line till the branch on the left gets stronger, then cut back to the blue line probably in Autumn.

Missy pine.jpg

With a view to making it look like this

Missy pine 2.jpg

You would of course end up changing the pot.

Tony

[kcpoole]

Hi Missy
Love parents

I was thinking the same as Tony when I saw the tree.
The branch on the left is too long with no close in buds, and is on the insid of thebend anyway, It might back bud if you cut the tip back to first shoot on the end and the top section does not have any taper.

Just tell them that the ends dies back in the summer heat

Ken

[Craig]

Hi Missy , It looks like the trunks are still workable, i'd like to see it go in the general direction of the Mugo Pine at 6:25 in this clip from Lindsay. http://vimeo.com/27749192 . With 2 trunks that twist and turn , maybe tilt the main trunk over a little more .Just something different

[Andrew Legg]

With a view to making it look like this

Missy pine 2.jpg

Tony,

Do you think the needles would reduce enough to support a design like that?

Cheers,

Andrew

[missybonsai]

Thanks for the feedback guys i have to say that Tony's suggestion speaks to me more than Craig's, but i have to ask the same question as Andrew: will the needles reduce enough?

[Tony Bebb]

but i have to ask the same question as Andrew: will the needles reduce enough?

The needles will come down to 2 cm with good maintenance over a few years. You will have a very nice little tree with a powerful trunk in proprtion to the height.

Tony

[Bretts]

My first thought was to use only the lowest branch and twist turn and wrap that branch. Could be a very interesting little tree in a few years with lots of growth but I like the other idea as well.

[soda]

What you should do is take photos for all the people with a 'what to do' problem.
Really great pics!

[missybonsai]

What you should do is take photos for all the people with a 'what to do' problem.
Really great pics!

Im sorry, im not entirely sure what you mean? Thankyou i think

[Andrew Legg]

What you should do is take photos for all the people with a 'what to do' problem.
Really great pics!

Im sorry, im not entirely sure what you mean? Thankyou i think

"Thank you" was the correct answer!

[missybonsai]

What you should do is take photos for all the people with a 'what to do' problem.
Really great pics!

Im sorry, im not entirely sure what you mean? Thankyou i think

"Thank you" was the correct answer!

Thanks, after reading it again, i realised what you were saying So thankyou very much Soda

[missybonsai]

Wow its been more than a year since I asked for advice on this tree and i only just made some changes yesterday, how lazy am I?

So I decided to go with Tony's idea for the tree, and pruned the tree yesterday. I am new to pines so decided to take it slow and leave some of the top foliage on, as I wasnt sure how the tree would handle being chopped back to only two small branches. I also left a stump from the scraggly pom-pom branch on the left, to make a jin out of in future. Anyway, heres some pictures to show you what I've done:
Front


Back


Left


Right


I plan to leave the tree to rest until maybe autumn, then chop off the top. I've also done a lot of reading on the pruning and pinching of Japanese. Black Pines. After maybe a year or so, would you chop the two banches back to a few (5-6) needle clusters to attempt and get some division in the branches, or leave as is and bend quite severely to achieve the design shown by Tony?
Thankyou!

[The Specimen]

Wow how come your photos come out so big?