Hello everybody again i just thought i would share my JWP. I have had this tree for about a year now and i bought it off of ebay. As you know i probably paid to much for it but i at the time i had never been to a good bonsai nursery. Thanks for taking a look and your opinions are welcome as always
I don't know if you can get the trunk to bend for you, but that's what it needs, to bend in the straight part. Absent that option, I think you would be well served to wire the right hand bottom branch down as much as possible, and let it grow pretty long. I would also wire the left branching down as well, try to disguise as much of the straightness as possible. Perhaps someone could help you with bending large trunk ideas...
It certainly looks healthy, and the graft was well done. I have mistakes in my closet from before I knew better too....
Thanks Judy I appreciate the input you said exactly what I ment but I still will always love this tree just cause it's the first expensive tree I bought. The straight part in the trunk is going to be tough to bend I don't know how I would do that?
Looks like a nice healthy tree! Maybe you can re-route a branchlet close to the trunk on one of them side branches and grow it out towards the back and give depth in an un-ordinary way.Un-ordinary things can be very interesting sometimes.Also the Pines book from Stone Lantern publishing will help you as it is geared to your growing region to get you started if you need help with the energy balencing.Have fun!
Thank you cmeg1 I am glad to hear that it looks healthy, that's a big compliment to me because I am always trying to maky my trees healthy first and second make then look good.
I would try to find a way to get the first main branch to hide the graft as much as possible by growing it out more and bending it accordingly. IMO, most grafted JWP have a graft that is too obvious and only gets worse with time, BUT there are a few exceptions.
This is one of the few grafted JWP that demonstrates this well.
Thanks tanlu for those examples those trees are beautiful, and for the advice I will post updated pics once I finish wiring it prob tomorrow.
Thank you, Brian
No one has suggested a literati/bunjin style to utilize the long trunk which is the way I would go with this one.
The trunk is never going to thicken appreciably quickly to give a good informal upright and if you don't have experience bending trunks then you are stuck with what you have.
Hello, Grant I do not have much experience with the literati style and for now i don't think I am ready to style this tree that way without the hands-on help from some one that has more expierence than me, or if i see a virt that really looks like it would be good for this trees future. Today and yesterday I have been busy wiring this tree for the first time, I took into account what everyone has suggested to me, I think it is an improvement for this tree. The only thing I need is to have the guts to remove a few branches here and there but I didn't want to take any thing off that I would regret later(maybe you guys can help me with that) Please do not hesitate to criticize or suggest that i do some thing different i am still a beginner and i am trying to learn as much as i can.
Hello Brian...Pines are not my specialty, so to speak. However, I can offer this. First, here is a virt of your tree as a bunjin otherwise known as literati. A literati is when you have an old tree that has a slender, long and elegant trunk and it usually only has foliage on the top third of the tree. This is to show how the tree has survived the elements. Essentially, it is supposed to tell a story. With that being said, might I suggest keeping this tree the way it is now. Learn from it, study and practice on it. It is a nice looking starter white pine. Practicing on this tree for a few years will get you familar on how the species grows and responds. Then, when you upgrade to your future pines, you can be more confident. This tree can be a great learning tool and it is also nice to look at. So when the day comes that you have an 80-100 year old pine with a 4 inch trunk, you can be confident when working on it. Especially since making certain mistakes with pines can lead to the style being ruined or it taking 3 or more years to get it back on track.
p.s. I believe NE Bonsai has 2 workshops coming up this Spring. One for white pine and one for black pine. You might want to get in on those. John is giving both workshops. His specialty is Black pine.
