AusBonsai

Beautiful trees Hohn. I'm looking forward to seeing mine develop mature bark like yours.

Can I ask how long these trees have been in training?



Steve

Finally got my radiata finished today, completely thinned and wired out.
This tree was collected in the mid-70s by Nef Saffin and styled at a John Naka workshop, he undercut and lowered the branches which was pretty revolutionary in those days. I bought it 16 years ago and it had lots of big flat branches, I cut each branch back to the first sub branch and have re-grown them with more downwards movement.
It is a bit over 1m tall

Craig, I really love the bark texture and subtle movements of the slanting trunk on this tree.

Cheers.
Mojo

Nice skeletal branches Craig it's going to be nice and dense when your done.

Nice pot too, maker?

Thanks Mojo, this tree has always been full of compromises and will continue to be, it seriously lacks taper and the branch placements are dubious to say the least however now its getting some age and the bark is becoming beautiful enough to compensate for its numerous faults.
Hi Scott, pruning like this back as hard as I can is an annual event and is necessary to maintain the vigour of the internal growth. With regards to the pot I don't know who made it. The tree has been in this pot since I have known it close to 30 years, I recently purchased a nice big drum pot and may move it onto that at the next re-potting, it is much more suited to a round pot I think.
Craigw

craigw60 wrote:Hi Scott...With regards to the pot I don't know who made it. The tree has been in this pot since I have known it close to 30 years, I recently purchased a nice big drum pot and may move it onto that at the next re-potting, it is much more suited to a round pot I think.
Craigw

Agreed, a round pot would suit this tree better, I just like the shape of the current one.

I think the size is right though, definitely post some pics after repotting.

This is the time of year I prune my radiata pines. I find they are starting to set buds now which will develop over the winter and into early spring. The trees have been fed heavily all summer.
I shorten all the candles back by half or further if really strong and pinch the tips off the weaker shoots, bud select on the tips and reduce all growths to only 2 at any one point, cut off the needles above and especially underneath the branches and look for every opportunity to shorten the branches without compromising the ramification.
By mid to late spring this tree will be covered in new growth
Craigw

I am. Nice looking tree there Craig, thats a formal upright am I right.. I like the tapered trunk and the droop in the branches to show some age.
I would like to see some shots of the side to see the branches that you have filled the gaps with, especially in the bottom left because it looks to be pointing towards the viewer which they say is not good! I will have to look through this thread If I haven't already Loooks like a good one

that does look like a nice radiata craig, the nebari looks interesting, have you got any plans for it?

Craig
I love your large radiata, everytime i see it in the flesh i drool

Craig can you show some closer pictures of the needle work you have done? I have quite a few Radiata with some good movement, but I want to learn more about Radiata and their needle techniques.
There was some discussions today at our meeting about using some material in our own area, one of our members brought his Radiata and this was discussed.

Thanks
Mick

This is one I have had since 1998. It was my very first dig tree in my early days of Bonsai.

Peter

Craig,

Magnificent Radiata.

When you say you cut the candles do you mean the new shoots. I also pruned my pines last week but no candles. My undersanding of candles is the long candle thing that is yet to open that you snap of. Mine just had heaps of new shoots that had to be reduced to two, it gets it's "candles" in it's spring growth.

I also pruned the growth back in the first half of Dec 2011. The year before last same deal, prune in Dec and March. Did you do yours back about then also.

ALso interested in what your feeding it and how often

Again a beatifull tree and hope to see more of it.

Regards
Rudy

I have been growing this tree for 25 years and 20 years in a bonsai pot so it has been a very long slow process. My plans for it are more of the same, feeding wiring, pruning and potting.
All my trees get the same fert. regime across the board. Weekly feeds of seasol power feed and a monthly application of campbels organic plus which contains fish meal, seaweed extract, blood and bone and dynamic lifter.
By pruning I mean cutting the new shoots back leaving only a couple of bunches of needles.During the growing season I pinch out the strongest shoots with my fingers.
Matthew, by the time you are my age you will have a lot of pines which should be much better than mine
Peter that is a lovely tree
Here's a close up of the branches
Craigw

WOW some nice pines ive seen in this forum me want one wrong time to go dig some up but will give them a go soon