White pine Niwaki from stock

[Peterhatchjin1]

Hi folks, new to this forum, just wanted all your advice on a white pine I picked up from a friend, was damaged and got it really cheap and originally thought of trunk cutting for a bonsai but now thinking of keeping it large in a Niwaki style with pads, just not sure where to start to be honest, a free branches have been damaged but I’m sure there is something I can do with it.
Any help would be most appreciated.

Cheers folks

 

[R3x]

For niwaki (or for bonsai for that matter) the tree lacks any movement (and for bonsai any taper). However it still seems it could be bendable with heavy wire and some guy wires.
Are you sure it is a white pine? The needles look quite long and in pairs not in groups of five...

 

[Peterhatchjin1]

For niwaki (or for bonsai for that matter) the tree lacks any movement (and for bonsai any taper). However it still seems it could be bendable with heavy wire and some guy wires.
Are you sure it is a white pine? The needles look quite long and in pairs not in groups of five...

Hi, thanks for the reply, well I thought that regarding needles but for the price I just toke it to play around and learn from, I’ll get some heavy wire and try and create some movement, I’ve read that winter is best time to do this, the tree looks healthy so do you think thinning and wiring now would still
Be ok? Also what sort of thinning and shaping would you do in your opinion?

 

[R3x]

Hi, thanks for the reply, well I thought that regarding needles but for the price I just toke it to play around and learn from, I’ll get some heavy wire and try and create some movement, I’ve read that winter is best time to do this, the tree looks healthy so do you think thinning and wiring now would still
Be ok? Also what sort of thinning and shaping would you do in your opinion?

Well both for niwaki and bonsai you should have branches that are more or less horizontal. These should be coming out (for aesthetic reasons) from outer side of trunk curve. In my opinion the needles are too long for bonsai - I'd stick with niwaki. So you should try to create a sort of spiral that is getting smaller in diameter as it gets to the top (if you're not aiming for straight sticky-like kind of tree). Try to get the bends change direction where the branches grow from the trunk and select the one growing on the outside side. Remove the others. To get more movement you can plant the tree at an angle initially. Something like this:
Other option is also to plant the tree at angle, remove the original top and just leave 2 branches - from one you make vertical branch and you select another to point in opposite direction from the trunk to create new top. But this way you loos lots of growth and have to wait longer. Here's a picture:

And in both ways - I would not worry about thinning... Just try to make some movement and let it grow.