Brown needles on recently pruned and acquired tree

[MSU JBoots]

I bought an pruned this Austrian pine 3 weeks ago. It’s been looking fine until today I noted some of the needles turning brown. My current thoughts are either:
1. Stress from the pruning
2. Overwatering
3. Underwatering
4. Too much sun

I checked and it’s root bound so it doesn’t seem to hold much water. Therefore I’ve been watering daily. It always seems to be dry so I doubt it’s being overwatered but I could be wrong. I’ve been keeping it outside in full sun. It was from an outdoor nursery already and the tag that came with it said full sun. Any help is appreciated.

 

[MSU JBoots]

Here’s the full tree for reference.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I don't see any obvious worrying signs. Could be that it has bumped into a couple things during the way home and it's now showing some damage.

I'd keep an eye on it, see if it progresses and then decide if it needs special attention.

 

[Shibui]

I agree. Only occasional needles are brown and many of those are bent so very likely physical damage to those particular needles not an overall tree thing. a systemic thing like under or over watering, sun or stress usually shows up on most of the needles not just a few scattered individuals.
Pines can get very root bound and watering becomes very difficult so dehydration can occur easily. Keep watering as often as required and water more carefully than usual as the soil will resist water because of the amount of roots. In extreme cases I have had to resort to soaking the pot every week or 2 to properly hydrate the root mass. Fortunately pines do not suffer the affects of dehydration as easily as many broad leaf species.
Pines, including P. nigra love sun so full sun is almost always best for them. Keep it in sun and try to match watering to the plants needs and condition.

At some stage you will have to address those whorls of thick branches.........

 

[MSU JBoots]

I agree. Only occasional needles are brown and many of those are bent so very likely physical damage to those particular needles not an overall tree thing. a systemic thing like under or over watering, sun or stress usually shows up on most of the needles not just a few scattered individuals.
Pines can get very root bound and watering becomes very difficult so dehydration can occur easily. Keep watering as often as required and water more carefully than usual as the soil will resist water because of the amount of roots. In extreme cases I have had to resort to soaking the pot every week or 2 to properly hydrate the root mass. Fortunately pines do not suffer the affects of dehydration as easily as many broad leaf species.
Pines, including P. nigra love sun so full sun is almost always best for them. Keep it in sun and try to match watering to the plants needs and condition.

At some stage you will have to address those whorls of thick branches.........

Yeah I think maybe the needle damage came from me and my first ever attempt at wiring. What do you suggest for those thick branches? The tree was so dense at the nursery I couldn’t really see the structure other than the thick trunk. I was very disappointed to see the large swell at the first level of branches. It looks even worse on the back side of the tree which is why I chose this as the front even though now the part above that leans towards the viewer. This is my first ever attempt at bonsai so it’s definitely a major learning experience. Basically if I can keep it alive and make it resemble a bonsai at all I’ll consider it a success.

 

[Shibui]

You have certainly chosen a challenge for your first try at bonsai. Pines are not easy to manage at the best of times. Starting out with one with serious flaws will make it even harder. There are always possible options but as a newbie it might be worth considering treating this more as a trial tree to learn some techniques like pruning and wiring and how to care for a potted plant rather than counting on a prize winning bonsai any time soon.

I am sorry but making informed decisions about style and a way forward from just a single 2 D photo is not easy as we can't see much detail of the branching or where things start and finish. I have no way to tilt the tree or check the roots to see if change of angle would help. First hand help and advice will be far better than internet advice. Look for a club or nursery in your area that you could seek personal advice from.

Sometimes I've resorted to chopping all except one branch and regrowing the tree from basics.
Occasionally dead wood and carving can be used to disguise or reduce swollen areas.
I would certainly be considering reducing all junctions to 1 or at most 2 branches at any point and the same for any junctions along branches. I am aware that Michigan gets cold so there may be some limitations about what times of year to do such work. Again, local advice will almost always beat internet suggestions.
This may also be an opportunity to reduce the length of branches with long internodes so that whatever you do end up with will be able to develop some better ramification.

 

[MSU JBoots]

Thanks yes that’s about the extent of what I was looking for. I know this tree is not going to be impressive or even adequate the plan is definitely to be a learning experience so I hopefully don’t ruin the ficus Benjamina I have that is only 6 inches tall at this point. I wanted to join the local bonsai club but it doesn’t fit with my work schedule. I plan to join Mirai live since I’ve learned a lot in the few free videos I watched compared to a month of reading internet resources that are extremely basic. Maybe I’ll reduce the tree more in the future but that was a major chop job. Next I want to work on repotting (mostly again for practice) probably after I give it a year to recover. Thanks again for the tips!