Monroe pine, first project

Lsburton19

Seedling
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Location
Saint George, Utah
USDA Zone
8b
Hey all,
for a little background info I am living in southern Utah, hardiness zone 8b. I’ve been really interested in bonsai for a few months and I believe I’ve identified a worthy project to start considering as my first. There’s a Monroe pine in my backyard that was planted about 5 years ago and pretty much forgotten. No watering or attention of any kind. I’d like to take advantage of the developed trunk and make a trunk chop/potting probably early spring of next year. I’m looking for any advice/tips/warnings I might need to keep in mind? Thanks so much!76F363AE-175D-40AC-A8E5-7697B4C9DF48.jpeg2009CE21-3874-4960-96CF-E9CD346E7D9E.jpeg162636D6-C3C0-4C93-8890-5700E749B319.jpeg
 
IMHO, there are two possible first steps.

One is leave it in the ground and work on driving back the foliage. I see that you have interior branches, so one step might be to cut back to them if they have foliage. The hard part is to get a sense of what you will need. to 'get there'. The bonsai rule of thumb is that the height should be about 6x the trunk diameter. With pines, the fashion is even a lower multiple. So, measure the trunk caliper and multiply by 6 to get an idea of how low down your bonsai maybe should be.

The trunk is rather straight = boring and uninteresting. The way we deal with this is to cut the present trunk down to a where there is a branch (that point is a node) and then wire that branch up so that over the next few years it will form the next trunk section. Rinse and repeat and you have a zig-zagging trunk line, although trite, more interesting than a peg. Then you would dig it out and put it in a big pot. Over the course of several years you end up cramming it into the smallest pot you can (fit all the roots) or plant it on a slab. Then you enjoy it for years, refining it, keeping the foliage from running away from the trunk, developing replacement branches, cutting off old branches that have become too long = keeping pine bonsai. Of course, you are not required to make a zig-zag trunk. You could jin the upper part of the tree to resemble a tree damaged by lightning or draught. If you've seen things like this in a forest, use them as your inspiration.

The alternative, is to dig it out first. You will want to keep all the foliage you possibly can, as photosynthesis is fundamentally what drives root growth and recovery from root damage. In my experience this move from ground to pot is the riskiest. Too often the functioning roots are 'way over there' where it long ago found the water and air the roots needed. One may accidentally cut these off and kill the tree, yadda, yadda, yadda.

If you are really prepared to maybe lose the tree, dig it and put it in a pot this Aug/Sep. It will have new, highly productive foliage to drive its recovery. Give it all of next year to 'get its engine running' and then in 2022 (if it is growing vigorously) start making your bonsai. Then you will not have spent years creating something to then lose it trying to put it into a pot.
 
I would do the dig first. That soil to me looks like deep tap root soil, so the hardest part will be getting the tree into a pot.
 
Interesting bark. Handle carefuly as looks fragile. Voting for leaving in the ground but cut back to low branch with interesting movement for future trunk. Branch with any branching close in and can be bent up for more interest would be best;).
 
Welcome to Crazy!

Never knew there was a "Monroe" pine.
This is the Monroe El Station!
monroe-state01t.jpg

Mahn, or Mun?

Mun.

Sorce
 
Can't find it on wikpedia. Do you know the botanical name of the tree? You live in Southern Utah in zone 8b, I am not so sure you have the zone correct, zone 8b is nearly tropical?
 
IMHO, there are two possible first steps.

One is leave it in the ground and work on driving back the foliage. I see that you have interior branches, so one step might be to cut back to them if they have foliage. The hard part is to get a sense of what you will need. to 'get there'. The bonsai rule of thumb is that the height should be about 6x the trunk diameter. With pines, the fashion is even a lower multiple. So, measure the trunk caliper and multiply by 6 to get an idea of how low down your bonsai maybe should be.

The trunk is rather straight = boring and uninteresting. The way we deal with this is to cut the present trunk down to a where there is a branch (that point is a node) and then wire that branch up so that over the next few years it will form the next trunk section. Rinse and repeat and you have a zig-zagging trunk line, although trite, more interesting than a peg. Then you would dig it out and put it in a big pot. Over the course of several years you end up cramming it into the smallest pot you can (fit all the roots) or plant it on a slab. Then you enjoy it for years, refining it, keeping the foliage from running away from the trunk, developing replacement branches, cutting off old branches that have become too long = keeping pine bonsai. Of course, you are not required to make a zig-zag trunk. You could jin the upper part of the tree to resemble a tree damaged by lightning or draught. If you've seen things like this in a forest, use them as your inspiration.

The alternative, is to dig it out first. You will want to keep all the foliage you possibly can, as photosynthesis is fundamentally what drives root growth and recovery from root damage. In my experience this move from ground to pot is the riskiest. Too often the functioning roots are 'way over there' where it long ago found the water and air the roots needed. One may accidentally cut these off and kill the tree, yadda, yadda, yadda.

If you are really prepared to maybe lose the tree, dig it and put it in a pot this Aug/Sep. It will have new, highly productive foliage to drive its recovery. Give it all of next year to 'get its engine running' and then in 2022 (if it is growing vigorously) start making your bonsai. Then you will not have spent years creating something to then lose it trying to put it into a pot.
Thanks so much for this reply! I’m not highly attached to the tree, so I just might dig it up this fall. I’d assume it would just go into a very large nursery pot for the moment? Approximately how much root mass would I want to trim back to?
 
Can't find it on wikpedia. Do you know the botanical name of the tree? You live in Southern Utah in zone 8b, I am not so sure you have the zone correct, zone 8b is nearly tropical?
Did a little digging/looking at my tree, I believe what I actually have here is pinus ponderosa. Monroe pine turns out to be a name used rather broadly by the locals here, not sure why but you learn something new every day!

As far as the hardiness zone, here winters get down to about 15-20 degrees f and summers are up to 120 degrees. A few hardiness maps show me in 8b but if I’ve got bad info I’m more than happy to learn!
 
Interesting bark. Handle carefuly as looks fragile. Voting for leaving in the ground but cut back to low branch with interesting movement for future trunk. Branch with any branching close in and can be bent up for more interest would be best;).
If I were to take this approach, when would be the best chop time? I’m assuming early spring next year just before dormancy ends?
 
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