Is deadwood an acceptable feature on Scots pine?

[Mayank]

Continuing my saga of cold damaged pines this year is my Scots pine that has had multiple branches die. Overall, the tree is alive and parts look healthy but....
So the question is should I turn those branches into Jins? Will they last if lime sulfered? I was planning to thin out the crown and maybe pull some branches downwards to fill in the areas a little bit.

 

[Mayank]

This is what it looked like last year

 

[Mayank]

And after winter in the garage thanks to construction etc as I explained in my JBP thread. The greener one is April first week and the deader looking one is April end. Based on that I thought the tree was dying completely which I'm thankful it's not.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Deadwood is fine on any conifer. Just make sure that it looks natural, and in balance with the rest of your design.

Glad to hear the tree didn't die!!

 

[Mayank]

Thanks!

 

[Jzack605]

Wow so that’s all the same tree, including the really browned one? Would have thought it to be a goner.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

We have a piece of scots pine wood lying in front of the house in the shade, it's been there since I can remember. At least 10 years by now. Last year it started to rot for the first time.

Scots pine in the wild over here usually have one or two dead apexes and a live one. So deadwood fits the picture if you ask me.

 

[sorce]

I'd call it a blessing.
Almost everything down here is too large...
And you get to fix the reverse taper.

Sorce

 

[Mayank]

Wow so that’s all the same tree, including the really browned one? Would have thought it to be a goner.

Me too

 

[Mayank]

I'd call it a blessing.
Almost everything down here is too large...
And you get to fix the reverse taper.View attachment 248722

Sorce

So more of a literati maybe a round pot even? Very interesting idea!

 

[Mayank]

The front branch was hiding the inverse taper but it's toast now. You think Jin or just remove the whole branch @sorce ?

 

[Paulpash]

Where do you live - the Arctic? Scots Pines are very cold tolerant. I drive by Scots Pines a lot of the time here in the UK and most of the older ones have deadwood of some sort. Mine have survived below - 15C. Apologies if this is mild where you are - I'm on mobile and can't see locations.

 

[BackyardBonsai]

Deadwoods are acceptable for any trees if it adds visual interest. There is NO rules saying only some species can have deadwoods and some can't!

 

[Mayank]

Where do you live - the Arctic? Scots Pines are very cold tolerant. I drive by Scots Pines a lot of the time here in the UK and most of the older ones have deadwood of some sort. Mine have survived below - 15C. Apologies if this is mild where you are - I'm on mobile and can't see locations.

I think the issue was the garage situation which I've gone into detail in my other thread but suffice to say I will NOT be repeating that again
Also I'm probably just going to leave it alone this year to recover but if I'm not mistaken @sorce this is what you're thinking? Chinese elm posted by @Thomas J. in 2010 (wonder what it looks like now).

 

[sorce]

Jinning that branch will just cause the healing edge to bulge even farther out than the branch itself.

I would severely reduce it for more of a hollow.

Sorce

 

[Mayank]

Got it!

 

[BobbyLane]

if youre confident you could try something like this, thats if you really want to eradicate the reverse taper and take the tree forward. if it was mine i would for sure try this because i wouldnt be happy with the tree as is. if you try to reduce the inverse fully, it might not look natural but you could reduce it little by little until the area blends in.

 

[Mayank]

Thanks. I agree with doing some major reduction and then some wiring and then of course repotting from this cheap $20 pot to something better. But do you all agree that I should leave it alone until next year so it regains some vigor before attempting any of this?

 

[Thomas J.]

Chinese elm posted by @Thomas J. in 2010 (wonder what it looks like now).

LOL, glad you asked. I decided in the winter of 2018 to change the style of the tree as it was too compact with all the foliage and was not easy to see any scale infestation that might be be occurring. I therefore decided to really open it up because that was one winter where all the leaves on this ch. elm fell completely off giving me the boost I needed to not have to defoliate it myself. Here it is after the work and in leaf the following summer.

 

[Mayank]

Looks nice! Thanks for posting an update @Thomas J. !