developing pines

[craigw60]

I wanted to put these comments on the "new JBP" thread but it seems to have been locked
I hope these comments are taken as constructive
A pine trained like this with foliage only in little tufts out on the tips will never make a good bonsai unless you are prepared to graft foliage back into the branches. If you look at the lovely old Japanese pines Webbos has been posting you should notice that its very rare to see the confluence of branch and trunk, this is because the foliage runs all the way in on the branches and not just out on the tips. when you have branches bare right out to the tips it is impossible to create the foliage stepping which is so desirable in coniferous bonsai
My second point is that to take a pine of such a young age and strip off all the branches/foliage, then pot it into a bonsai pot means the tree will never really develop much beyond what it is now and if it does its going to take a very long time. Its important with pines and most other species to develop some trunk calliper before you put the tree into a bonsai pot and use the pot only for developing the branches. In the early days of bonsai in Melbourne this practice of potting up pines way to early was very common and there are a lot of these trees around now 30 plus years old. A few of them have matured into nice trees but the vast majority have lovely bark and very thin trunks.
Craigw

[shibui]

I agree Craig. Pines are unlike deciduous trees which we can let grow wild then cut back and expect new buds to emerge from the stumps. With pines it is essential to prune regularly to keep needles close to the base of branches so ramification can be formed when the trunk is sufficiently developed.

I have a couple of the type of pines you referred to- really great trunks but with foliage only at the ends of the branches. These developed this way simply because I did not know the techniques for pinching and pruning that would have kept growing buds in the interior and also wanting to develop a 'finished' tree far too quickly.
After unsuccessful attempts over several years to get back budding I have resorted to grafting to get growth closer to the base of the branches. Once these are established I'll have to regrow the branching, more carefully this time. Otherwise I might have to resort to a drastic restyle to make best use of what I have.

[daiviet_nguyen]

I have far less experiences with pines compared to Craig and Shibui, but base on what I have experienced, I agree with what they shared above.

I have seen also that black pines will develop thick trunks in a few short years in the ground, but like most trees, branches will go wild. We have to keep a watchful eye with pines on the grounds too: it is a balance between letting the trunk develops while ensure sufficient number of suitable branches for later styling.