Japanese Black Pine slant style.

update

This tree seems to have turned a corner health wise. It responded well to the decandling last summer, back budding like I hoped it would. I needle plucked and wired it last fall and winter. I deliberately left a few more needles then I normally would, and I fertilized it heavily through the summer, as I'm still being cautious with it and wasn't too concerned about needle length. It was re-potted in late March...lots of dead roots were found...but lots of health new roots, as well. I suspect the soil stayed too wet, so it went into a slightly smaller pot with a drainage layer. I included a close up of the new apex...it's from a branch I approach grafted 5 years ago. The tree still is prone to needle cast, but I'm hopng the renewed vigor the tree has will minimize it this year and in the future.

Beautiful tree. Nice grafting job. Was this the tree you brought to a workshop at NE Bonsai many years ago? I remember you brought a pine and we were all discussing were to go with the apex. It was agreed that it just had to grow because there was not enough to work with at the time. This would be about 6 years or so ago.

Rob

Definitely looking much healthier...might be time to think about some grafts next spring when Kathy comes back through...

october said:

Beautiful tree. Nice grafting job. Was this the tree you brought to a workshop at NE Bonsai many years ago? I remember you brought a pine and we were all discussing were to go with the apex. It was agreed that it just had to grow because there was not enough to work with at the time. This would be about 6 years or so ago.

Rob

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Thanks Rob. This one is probably the one you saw, as it's the only old JBP I have. The old apex on this one always drove me crazy. I should have jinned it and gone this current route years ago.

Brian Van Fleet said:

Definitely looking much healthier...might be time to think about some grafts next spring when Kathy comes back through...

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You think it needs more branches? You wouldn't be the first person to suggest this.

Dav4 said:

You think it needs more branches? You wouldn't be the first person to suggest this.

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Maybe another 1-3 in the upper part of the canopy (amongst the current three highest branches)? You've done a really great job so far.

This one had all of last years needles removed today, excluding those on an approach graft and the apex, which is being remade.

Dave,

Just curious, why did you remove the needles so early? To be fair, some old needles on my pines are turning yellow, so I pull those off, but I'm waiting on doing the fall work until the new needles have hardened off. Which is usually mid to late October.

Last year, I did mine in late September to mid October. What I found was the new needles had not hardened off, so by manipulating the twigs to pull the old needles, I bent some new needles. You don't see any effect for a couple of months when you see brown tips.

Boon says to wait to pull needles until the new needles are hardened off. Less chance of accidently breaking some.

(Last year, I went to the Intensive at the end of October. So, I wanted to practice some before I went, so that's why I did mine early. This year, I'll be going again at the end of October, but I'll wait until after I go to do my fall work.)

Excellent form on this tree. The foliage is really coming along. Since the initial structure is amazing, do you plan on creating a really full tree in the future years. Similar to the Japanese masterpieces or are you going for an image where most of the trunk is visible?

Rob

Adair M said:

Dave,

Just curious, why did you remove the needles so early? To be fair, some old needles on my pines are turning yellow, so I pull those off, but I'm waiting on doing the fall work until the new needles have hardened off. Which is usually mid to late October.

Last year, I did mine in late September to mid October. What I found was the new needles had not hardened off, so by manipulating the twigs to pull the old needles, I bent some new needles. You don't see any effect for a couple of months when you see brown tips.

Boon says to wait to pull needles until the new needles are hardened off. Less chance of accidently breaking some.

(Last year, I went to the Intensive at the end of October. So, I wanted to practice some before I went, so that's why I did mine early. This year, I'll be going again at the end of October, but I'll wait until after I go to do my fall work.)

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This has always been my pine "learning tree", a sort of guinea pig. So, I've found that pulling needles, when the newer needles have hardened off, tends to be harder and more tedious...all the needles are bunched together and.it can be difficult to separate out new from old. I decided to remove the old needles now while the new needles were still growing up since it was rather easy to isolate them and pull them. You're absolutely right about the new needles being fragile, but I'm not too concerned about appearances here right now.

october said:

Excellent form on this tree. The foliage is really coming along. Since the initial structure is amazing, do you plan on creating a really full tree in the future years. Similar to the Japanese masterpieces or are you going for an image where most of the trunk is visible?

Rob

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Thanks Rob. Even though this isn't a literati, it does have a tall curvy trunk that has some literati quality to it, and I wouldn't want to cover much of it up. I'm grafting a few branches onto the upper third of the tree, but I'm planning on keeping the canopy fairly sparse...I think less will be more with this tree.

Coming right along...

I believe that in one of the Ryan Neil videos that are out there, he says to leave the older needles because they provide hormonal balance (or something to that effect). i think I saw something from Michael Hagedorn to the same effect.

Nice looking tree Dav4 - it's coming along very nicely!

Thanks guys. Still learning and trying things a bit differently from time to time. The hormone issue is something I thought about very peripherally...I suspect pulling old needles while new needles are extending may result in longer needles? I'll update the pictures in mid October to see where we ended as far as needle length. Thanks for your thoughts, everyone.

Dave

I'll make a note to ask Boon about the "hormones" of the old needles.

In the fall, we pull most of the old needles. This opens up the structure which lets sunlight into the interior of the tree, which assists with backbudding closer to the trunk. It also makes it easier to wire. Wiring also opens up the structure, which again, assists with backbudding.

The exceptions: If there are really small interior buds, don't pull those needles. They need all the strength they can get. Also, if you are planning to show during the winter, don't pull old needles until after the show. The tree will look better for the show if it is "full".

Those weak interior buds may have really long needles that ruin the silhouette. In that case, you can cut the needles in half. Just be aware they will have brown tips. Misting with water can minimize the brown tips. And if you are going to show the tree, cut just before the show so the tips will still be green.

Also in fall, that is the best time to reduce the twigs (the new summer shoots that grew after decandling) down to two terminal shoots. Some (including Brian Van Fleet) advocate reducing the shoots down to two earlier, but Boon's technique is to wait until late fall. That is when the best time to wire, and you can pick the best two to use as you wire the tree out. And, the tree will have had to spend it's energy growing many shoots, so each shoot should have shorter internodes, and shorter needles.

One more comment: The technique I just described is Boon's Fall technique, and he learned it from the grandson of the man who discovered "Decandling". There may be other methods that will work. My advice is to find a technique that works and follow it. "Mixing and Matching" techniques will yield inconsistent results. Boon's technique is a Year-Round technique. There are things we do in the Fall, the Spring, and the Summer. Miss any one or "misapply" any one and you won't get the results you are looking for.

This one was placed more upright a few weeks ago (not a complete repot) and is pushing lots of very even sized candles, excluding the developing apex and graft, which were not candled last year. The tree is still in development and needs more work but it's cool to see how all the JBP techniques like candling and needle plucking start to bear fruit after a few years.

I took a quick shot of this one this morning while outside in the backyard in the drizzle. I'm almost done wiring this one out after thinning the needles and buds, and doing a little work on the deadwood. The approach graft from two seasons ago failed, so I started another one this past season. You can see the long needles coming off the back of the upper trunk. A bit more fine wiring to go…

That looks so much better. Did you ever attempt any root grafts? The only criticism I could give of the tree now is the nebari and swollen base. The planting angle better and the structure is set for refining.

Yep, agreed on all points. I got this tree for it's trunk and bark. Back then, the nebari and swollen base were less of a concern. Pines can get away with a less then stellar nebari, but I'm going to try and improve on it as time goes by. It will get a repot this year or next and I am going to try some root grafts at some point. As far as the bulge goes, I'm thinking of pounding the trunk just above it with a hammer or ice pick...that should fix it up real good....

Is this still your only JBP? I know you've got that other cool JRP.