Stone pine

[Craig]

Quite some time ago i had a Stone pine and i started to really like them,something about the foliage draws me in and then for one reason or another it died. Since then i have learnt alot more , and a while back I had a chance to buy a decent tree at a very good price, so i will start to follow the progress of it here,, unfortunately i was too keen and didn’t take a before shot, i removed only a couple of branches. Some branches were wired and alot of foliage was removed, cleaning out dead needles to allowed the inner part of the tree to breath and back bud. Below are pics from after i worked on it the first time.





the next pics below are from January 2012 and it had been about 5 months since i trimmed , cleaned and wired this new stone pine.

The tree has responded very well and put alot of new growth out. It had been receiving regular pinching of the new shoots to encourage back budding all thru spring and into summer.









The difference of 5 months care can easily be seen below.



Below is how the stone pine looked in May/June 2012, Very healthy and starting to look like something useable.









So I have been pleased with the way the tree is heading now , however recent posts here on Ausbonsai have affected me for the better.
I have for a while now been trying to guide myself into uncharted territory as far as tree styling goes.
This particular Stone pine was always going to be grown as you see it here with no intention whatsoever of reducing the height,
but
I decided to be brave and once again do something a little on the wild side.

Would You, Could You, Should You, what would you do?
I'm still working on it now but tomorrow I'll post up my new Stone pine ,

[Luke308]

I really like where this tree is heading. I am guessing someone is going to say it doesnt have enough taper and you need to chop it back. I think I possible a sacrifice branch grown low on the trunk would be a better option if you are happy with the height of the tree already.

The only thing I would suggest without seeing the surface root situation is to plant it at a slight angle. Otherwise its great to see someone daring to be different and use some different material

[MattA]

Would You, Could You, Should You, what would you do?

Of course, maybe, definitely, something brutal..

Look forward to seeing the next incarnation.

[Craig]

A sneak peak at what I think may be the best tree I've put together so far. pics tomorrow.

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[golgotha]

Drastic change, looks similar in height and shape to a cedrus libani i'm growing atm.

[anttal63]

You have hit the nail on the head mate and found the tree with in. The tree now moves and has age and character. The drama of the dead wood makes it far more interesting to the eye. Well done. A couple of years ago i collected some large straight raidata,s that im planning to do a similar feel to. If you havent already then get your hands on Dan Robinsons book you will appreciate it !!!

[FatMingsBonsai]

Very dramatic styling from the original style Craig !! Good work, I really dig it

[cuwire]

My god ... you people from WA are dangerous buggers .... and you chopped the pot as well

Cheers

[Craig]

All, Thanks for the comments, Yes I even chopped the pot

As can be seen I removed ALl branches bar 1, De-barked the top section of the trunk did some pre-wiring. Some recovery and growing time now .

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[PaulC]

Hi Craig,

Once again, well done, my kind of tree !!

I will be working on a few cedars soon, as well as some picea that I hope to get a similar feel with.

Thanks for the pics.



Regards,


Paul C

[MattA]

[Andrew F]

Great work Craig, the left hand side looks like it could be a front as well.

[Sabamiki AKA Craig]

love it

[MoGanic]

Great work Craig, the left hand side looks like it could be a front as well.

Seems to work better with the left as the front - more aesthetically pleasing.

[Bebbas]

Ok...I am going to show how green I am in the Bonsai world as I am a newbie.
I check out your starter plant...not bad
Then you prune a little,wire a little and I think it looks fantastic in the pics with the blue background.
Then I scroll down some more and I think OH NO!! He's accidently run it over with the lawnmower!!
But your rapted and I obviously have a LOT to learn!