Hi friends, I have this nursery stock 2 needle pine. don’t know the variety but I’ve been told it is a dwarf.
I know this tree has multiple flaws, and I know it will never be show worthy material, but that’s not my goal. I want to use it to further my education and practice in bonsai design.
That said, I would like to know how to proceed from here. It was repotted 5/5/23. Is it too early to begin any type of styling, pruning, pinching or wiring? What kind of style does the material suggest? Which branches should or should not be removed? Should I reduce the height?
I know all of this cannot be done in one sitting. What should be done first and next?
The last picture is as I found it July 2020. The rest are as of May after repotting.
Thank you for your help and support.
Laura
Well hi.
I’m no expert but I think pines are best potted in late winter early spring so if you want to do everything to try and insure survival I might not do anything till next spring. But if you wanted to do something I’d remove the branches I xed because you’re getting inverse taper and I’d also remove one of circled branches in yellow. You need to know the best front and the line base to tip to style
Thanks for your feedback. I was having the same thoughts. It might be too soon after repotting to do drastic work. And it was those branches I couldn’t make up my mind on removing.
I’ll take a chill pill and wait to next Spring to do this work.
Thanks again,
Laura
What about a trunk chop? In Eastbayvet’s last picture, there’s a nice near vertical branch on the right side, kinda bracketed by his markings. That could be the new leader.
This is very aggressive, but could help make a more compact, traditional tree.
I have thought about that too, but I’m not sure if there will be enough foliage left to support the rest of the tree. I suppose it could be done in stages but that will be a multiple year project just to reduce. I have considered reducing the height but maybe further up. I will take another look for that option. Thank you for the idea. Laura
Too soon since the report, let the foilage rebuild the roots… strength in pines comes from its roots( they were just worked in the repot). Some people like the basic heuristic of " one major surgery a year". I can tell you from first hand experience, when you don’t let the energy of the tree rebuild it’s engine then you end up always being behind ( which takes longer overall) or slowly decline the tree into a weak/dead tree.
Also even though you don’t think you love this tree because of the flaws you mentioned …that will change and you will be thankful you didn’t try to squeeze in work on a tree that’s not recovered or wished you waited. If you want practice style something grab a cheap nursery stock and style first then repot it the following year