Pinus banksiana. The Jack Pine
Posted: February 12th, 2010, 11:13 am
Firstly this is not my tree. It is on loan to the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia by Jim Miller of Canberra. The owner, Jim, is our most senior volunteer at the collection and he has done most of the care and trimming of this tree while at the collection. We are learning a lot from him about this wonderful species of Pine. Jim is also a member of the Bonsai Management Committee which oversees the running of the collection.
The National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia displays bonsai and penjing from around Australia created by Australian artists, but is not limited to Australian native plants.
The Jack pine here is estimated to be about 30 years old and was collected as a 10 year old wild seedling in the early 1990s from an Arboretum near Canberra that was planted about 70 years ago to trial trees for suitability in the Canberran climate and suitability for use as forestry trees for timber. The trials led to the widespread use of the Radiata or Monterey pine in Australia for timber for use in the housing and construction industry.
Goodness knows who thought the Jack pine might be suitable for forestry in Australia, but thank goodness they were planted as it has turned out to be great for bonsai if you are in a colder part of the world. The arboretum is at about 1,000 meters or about 3,300 ft altitude and is about 200 klms or 125 miles inland on the east coast of Australia. Canberra is at about 640 meters or 2,000 ft altitude and is about the same distance inland. Summers are hot and dry, winters are cold and dry.
The tree was collected by Jim and grown initially for many years using no special techniques but as the tree matured and became a bonsai the standard techniques for Japanese black pine have been followed. The Jack pine is a two needle pine and has a needle around the same size as a Mugo pine or Scots pine (around 20mm to 45mm) and therefore needle size is not a great issue; it also has a short candle growth and so it is well on its way to being good bonsai material. It seems relatively hardy in the climates that suit it and Jim has found that needle size does reduce considerably with age and standard bonsai pine techniques.
For bonsai, we all want the shortest needle length possible, as well as compact and vigorous growth and it seems to tick all these boxes, so I was very surprised when I found out it wasn’t widely grown as bonsai in its native countries of Canada and USA.
Anyhow here is a series of photographs of the tree over the last few years.
Pic no 1. Firstly a picture of a Jack Pine forest in North America. Pic no 2. The tree in Jan 2005, which had been potted for the first time into a bonsai pot in spring 2003. Some wiring and training commenced in earnest in 2001. Pic no 3. The Jack pine as offered for loan to the collection in October 2007 (spring). The second branch on the right is a little weak or thin and will be bulked up slowly over the following years. The tree is standing more upright after its second repot. Pic no 4. On display to the public at the NBPCA during May 2009 (autumn). Pic no 5.The tree here is in active spring growth with the candles elongating visibly. Some carving was done with a Dremel that is not obvious but removed a lump above the first branch. Candles are snapped or removed as necessary as per usual pine techniques. Pic no 6. The tree in early summer after spring growth and just before the use of a variation of the “Needle Reduction Technique”; ie the removal of some or most of the new spring growth on the strongest of the branches on the lowest 1/3rd of the tree. Pic no 7. The tree the same day after the cutting off most of the current years new growth on the lower 1/3rd of the tree. Pic no 8. One week to ten days later the new growth on the middle third of the tree is shortened or removed. Pic no 9. Finally another week or ten days later the new growth at the top of the tree is almost completely removed (mid-summer). The tree is photographed about another week later on. The weak 2nd branch on the right has gained some more foliage and vigor and has mostly not been trimmed; so as to allow it to elongate. The tree buds back freely on wood from this year to about 4 years old and is so dense in places that the numerous buds are thinned very quickly. Mostly Jim cuts into this year’s growth rather than totally remove the entire candle as he finds it doesn’t bud back so ferociously. If he completely removes all the new growth it buds prodigiously at the cut point and you get a mass cluster of buds.
Pics no 10 to 12. Some close-ups of the growth on the lowest branch. It will have a slightly wooly appearance until around early May when, once the extent of back budding and autumn growth is determined, it will have some needles thinned out, more buds removed, some shortening back of growth and anything sticking out of the profile removed, plus have all old needles trimmed off. Less growth will be removed on the lowest branches and more on the top most area.
Pic no 13 The tree as it was last May 2009 after the above process. It stands 48cm/19” high, 44cm/17” wide and 37cm/14” deep.
The tree has been repotted every two years once it went into a bonsai pot in 2003, except for 2009 when it was on display, so will be repotted in August 2010.(Late winter/Early spring in Australia)
There are so few of these in Australia that not a lot of work has been done on them and maybe, like the Mugo/Scots/White pines, they could/should be repotted in autumn or summer. Hopefully the American and Canadian bonsai people will use them more and let us know what they find out.
The National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia displays bonsai and penjing from around Australia created by Australian artists, but is not limited to Australian native plants.
The Jack pine here is estimated to be about 30 years old and was collected as a 10 year old wild seedling in the early 1990s from an Arboretum near Canberra that was planted about 70 years ago to trial trees for suitability in the Canberran climate and suitability for use as forestry trees for timber. The trials led to the widespread use of the Radiata or Monterey pine in Australia for timber for use in the housing and construction industry.
Goodness knows who thought the Jack pine might be suitable for forestry in Australia, but thank goodness they were planted as it has turned out to be great for bonsai if you are in a colder part of the world. The arboretum is at about 1,000 meters or about 3,300 ft altitude and is about 200 klms or 125 miles inland on the east coast of Australia. Canberra is at about 640 meters or 2,000 ft altitude and is about the same distance inland. Summers are hot and dry, winters are cold and dry.
The tree was collected by Jim and grown initially for many years using no special techniques but as the tree matured and became a bonsai the standard techniques for Japanese black pine have been followed. The Jack pine is a two needle pine and has a needle around the same size as a Mugo pine or Scots pine (around 20mm to 45mm) and therefore needle size is not a great issue; it also has a short candle growth and so it is well on its way to being good bonsai material. It seems relatively hardy in the climates that suit it and Jim has found that needle size does reduce considerably with age and standard bonsai pine techniques.
For bonsai, we all want the shortest needle length possible, as well as compact and vigorous growth and it seems to tick all these boxes, so I was very surprised when I found out it wasn’t widely grown as bonsai in its native countries of Canada and USA.
Anyhow here is a series of photographs of the tree over the last few years.
Pic no 1. Firstly a picture of a Jack Pine forest in North America. Pic no 2. The tree in Jan 2005, which had been potted for the first time into a bonsai pot in spring 2003. Some wiring and training commenced in earnest in 2001. Pic no 3. The Jack pine as offered for loan to the collection in October 2007 (spring). The second branch on the right is a little weak or thin and will be bulked up slowly over the following years. The tree is standing more upright after its second repot. Pic no 4. On display to the public at the NBPCA during May 2009 (autumn). Pic no 5.The tree here is in active spring growth with the candles elongating visibly. Some carving was done with a Dremel that is not obvious but removed a lump above the first branch. Candles are snapped or removed as necessary as per usual pine techniques. Pic no 6. The tree in early summer after spring growth and just before the use of a variation of the “Needle Reduction Technique”; ie the removal of some or most of the new spring growth on the strongest of the branches on the lowest 1/3rd of the tree. Pic no 7. The tree the same day after the cutting off most of the current years new growth on the lower 1/3rd of the tree. Pic no 8. One week to ten days later the new growth on the middle third of the tree is shortened or removed. Pic no 9. Finally another week or ten days later the new growth at the top of the tree is almost completely removed (mid-summer). The tree is photographed about another week later on. The weak 2nd branch on the right has gained some more foliage and vigor and has mostly not been trimmed; so as to allow it to elongate. The tree buds back freely on wood from this year to about 4 years old and is so dense in places that the numerous buds are thinned very quickly. Mostly Jim cuts into this year’s growth rather than totally remove the entire candle as he finds it doesn’t bud back so ferociously. If he completely removes all the new growth it buds prodigiously at the cut point and you get a mass cluster of buds.
Pics no 10 to 12. Some close-ups of the growth on the lowest branch. It will have a slightly wooly appearance until around early May when, once the extent of back budding and autumn growth is determined, it will have some needles thinned out, more buds removed, some shortening back of growth and anything sticking out of the profile removed, plus have all old needles trimmed off. Less growth will be removed on the lowest branches and more on the top most area.
Pic no 13 The tree as it was last May 2009 after the above process. It stands 48cm/19” high, 44cm/17” wide and 37cm/14” deep.
The tree has been repotted every two years once it went into a bonsai pot in 2003, except for 2009 when it was on display, so will be repotted in August 2010.(Late winter/Early spring in Australia)
There are so few of these in Australia that not a lot of work has been done on them and maybe, like the Mugo/Scots/White pines, they could/should be repotted in autumn or summer. Hopefully the American and Canadian bonsai people will use them more and let us know what they find out.
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Did you crack the 60,000 hope so 
Pup