Japanese Umbrella Pine

[NovaSatus]

Greetings everyone! I hope this finds you all doing well! Yesterday I purchased this beauty, it seems to have a lot of potential! I am looking for some advice in styling it. I am new and want to start out right on this one!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I've got one, and all I can say is they grow very slowly.

 

[NovaSatus]

I am ok with that! This one is at a great place that once I have it styled, I will protect it for winter and then come spring will repot it. I just think that I could use some advice on styling it.

 

[penumbra]

I've got one, and all I can say is they grow very slowly.

Particularly in a pot, maybe 2-3 inches a year. One that went in the ground about 32-33 years ago as a 3 footer is now about 30 feet tall. Aside from growth rate, I find it difficult to style.

 

[NovaSatus]

Mine is probably about 3.5 - 4 feet tall and has really great flexibility. I believe if the pictures were considered, some advice could be given on the movement that I could add to the shape and style. Again, I am new, but want to progress and I feel that this specimen, though not common, could still look interesting.

 

[LuZiKui]

I don't think anyone is avoiding giving you advice on how to style the tree, it is a very nice Japanese Umbrella Pine you have. I think the issue is that they don't really do well as bonsai trees. They are one of the oldest living plant species and are native to Japan so if there was potential for traditional bonsai the Japanese would have some. My guess is that the "needles" don't reduce like most trees. So you'd always have incredibly long needles. Also, everything I've read you're lucky to get 3"-6" of growth per year when it's planted in the ground. Also (and this is pure speculation and I could be way off) I think you'd have trouble getting enough back budding to make it work.

Given the size of the trunk, to turn this into a "traditional" bonsai it would need to be about 1/3 of the current height. I just don't see a lot of branching that low on the tree so it would be a struggle. I know you don't want to hear this but I think you have a great landscape tree. If it were me I'd plant it in a great spot in your garden and enjoy it.

Here's a good article someone else shared at some point on these trees:

Japanese Umbrella Pine | The World's Best Gardening Blog

japanese umbrella pine or sciadopitys verticillata is a living fossil and splurge-worthy specimen tree with unique whorled foliage

amycampion.com