Where to start on new Japanese Black Pine sapling.

[conifer_bradley]

Hi there,

I just bought my first Japanese Black Pine. I'm estimating it to be about 3-5 years old. Definitely pre-bonsai.

I'm planning to focus on trunk development over the next several years, and prepare it for an informal upright style.

My question is this:
It is fairly bushy right now. Seems like someone started de-candling it fairly early, so rather than a single trunk, it has several points where 3+ shoots split off. I have an idea of which shoots I want to use for the main trunk line.

Should I leave it bushy for now and let it grow that way, or do I need to go ahead and thin it down to establish a primary trunk and then let it start developing a sacrifice branch from there?

my concern is it might put too much energy into a lower branch instead of the trunk I want to thicken up. It's already doing this on its lowest branch.

Added some picture to help.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Pines in general thicken their trunk in sync with the branches, so if the branches get fatter, so does the trunk.
This is where the principle called 'escape branch' or sacrifice branch stems from. A branch left to grow wild to thicken the trunk faster than it would without. If your trunk isn't the desired size, keep it.

If you find a point with more than 2 branches, reduce that to two: one side branch, and another continuation of the trunk. Or a two-way split in a branch, the first bifurcation.
Doing that reduction might already give you the open space you're looking for.

Eric Schrader makes good videos on pine development with his bonsaify channel. I recommend looking it up. https://www.youtube.com/@Bonsaify/videos

 

[Wulfskaar]

Here is some inspiration for you:
https://www.bonsainut.com/forums/the-2018-six-year-japanese-black-pine-contest.73/

I agree on watching Eric Schrader's videos on JBP. He explains things very clearly and simply.

I think your next step is fall work. You can repot in fall, although it's best in spring. Otherwise in fall, you just reduce whorls to 2 branches and apply wire as needed.

 

[conifer_bradley]

Thank you @Wires_Guy_wires and @Wulfskaar. This helps a lot.

I'm going to reduce the whorls down to two. Torn on reporting. It leans heavy in one direction, so I might go ahead and repot to rebalanced it and put it in a more upright position.

Funny enough, this JBP is from Bonsaify. Very healthy and excited to see it grow.

 

[Shibui]

Consider the plan to repot more upright. Lower trunk angled usually produces a much more interesting look - which is why a professional grower with experience has planted it like that.