Japanese Black Pine, Design/ growth suggestions

[Haidr]

Hello fellow bonsai lovers,

I acquired my first Japanese Black Pine (JBP) bonsai in December 2024—summer here in Melbourne, Australia. When I received it, the tree was suffering from heat stress and a nutrient deficiency. After five months of care, it has responded well, and the new growth looks healthy.
I don’t have any prior experience with JBP maintenance. The tree had already been decandled before I got it, and I’ve since reduced the buds to two at each decandled site.

I’d appreciate some advice on the following:


1. Design suggestions – Are there any branches or needles I should remove to help keep the tree compact?

2. Fertilizing – Should I continue fertilizing through late autumn and winter?

3. Some candles are a bit longer on some areas while some have smaller candles. Should the longer candles cut to the same size as the shorter ones?

I really love this tree and would like to maintain its current small size while keeping it healthy. Currently end of Autumn here in Melbourne.
(Two pics with yellow needles are from when I got the tree)
Thanks in advance.

 

[Shibui]

Your tree is wonderfully compact with dense branching. Unfortunately, that density makes it almost impossible to see where branches start and finish so I cannot offer any suggestion on whether or not to remove any particular branching. I would suggest you'll need some personal assistance where someone can pick the tree up and examine it more closely. Some great help can be found at some of the great Bonsai clubs in and around Melbourne. Some of the bonsai nurseries also have experienced people who may help for a fee. There are also a couple of well respected professionals working in Melbourne who may be willing to take you and the tree on for a fee.

We have found that fertilising at reduced rates through winter is beneficial as JBP do not go fully dormant in our (relatively) warm climate. I will certainly continue fert program right through winter.

It can take several years of dedicated decandling to really equalise growth on a pine so it's not surprising yours currently has differential candle growth.
Reducing shoots to pairs is teh second step in pine maintenance. Next comes needle plucking. Needle plucking involves reducing the number of needles on each and every shoot. Stronger candles usually have more needles feeding that shoot. The aim is to reduce the number of needles overall to reduce the tree's energy production, which will then limit Spring growth. We also aim to equalise needles on every shoot so all shoots receive equal food and energy. The usual advice is to leave 6-8 needle pairs on each shoot but I sometimes leave more on very weak shoots to try to help the equalisation process.
You will probably get better results by needle plucking than by candle cutting.

 

[Haidr]

Thanks for your response @Shibui. Always appreciate your help and advice. You are right, the branches are too compact hence making it difficult for me to understand what maintenance work the tree requires as I’m not experienced with JBP. Good advice to start looking for someone experienced who can look at the tree physically and advice. Meanwhile I’ll work on equalising the needles to balance the energy as some branches have more vigorous candles than others. As the tree was in bad shape before so I was a bit reluctant plucking the needles. I’ll continue with the fertilisation through winter. I use Seaweed Secrets soil conditioner once a fortnight and organic fertiliser in teabags when I water the tree.

 

[Shibui]

That should be a good combination of micro and macro nutrients.
When pines go into the decandling, ramification and maintenance phase it is recommended to fertilise well through Spring but cease fert a few weeks before decandling (Mid December down here) so that the resulting new shoots are restricted. Resume fertiliser when those new shoots have reached full size - usually Feb or March so the tree is strong for the next decandling.

 

[Haidr]

Got it. Thanks @Shibui