Been Wiring Some Bunjin Pines

There was a time when I didn't spend all fall wiring black pines....but that was before I had so many. I've been wiring all these tall skinny ones that came from my friend Randall's collection.

A large one before:



and after:



A medium size one before:



Half way:



And after:



A small one, it's about 14" tall I think, before:



and after.



That last one is a bit further along than the others. Funny though, I've been working on these off and on for years but never consistently. They seem to make very little progress in terms of good ramification without at least three consecutive years of good attention.

these are great, thanks for sharing. On the first one where the branch goes down behind the trunk is it then coming back around and then toward the front?

These are cool. I bought some JBP seed in anticipation of growing a bunch and trying to style some of them in a bunjin form. Do you have any other pics of the process used to get this far?

How old would estimate these trees to be? I to am in the process of growing from seed. I'm always interested to see how long of a road I have before I get something presentable.

Looking good. I was just thinking of getting a bunjin started, and then I saw that you had just posted and shared these. Must be a sign...

They're all nice trees. The second one is my current favorite, but I hope you can do something with that tangle of roots at the next repot.

The last one MIGHT become my favorite if you would remove some more foliage. It's too topheavy now.

One the first one, I think it would be better if the branch passed in front of the trunk and the top turned toward the viewer. It looks a bit shy now. Maybe the back is a better front (may require a replant in the pot?)?

Awesome! Maybe in five more years I can have some similar work to do with my pitch pine.

On these trees I'm actually not sure about the age. I didn't start any of them from seed. Based on the bark I'd say they could be as young as 15 years old, but they may be older than that. The last one is quite a bit older, maybe 35-40 at this point.

Thanks for all the comments.

For the first - the trunk is odd, and it has a high point where it doubles back on itself. There is movement in the whole thing, but it's relatively gentle. I have a before photo from the right side that shows the movement and the weird top junction.



The descending branch is a bit odd. If I made the back the front it might be less so, but then the top doesn't quite work right. I spun this one around on the table for more than a couple minutes before I made a tentative decision on the front. It may be worth revisiting in the future.

As for the third tree - I agree that it is too top heavy. But, the tree was not decandled this year so the needles are too long. After repotting later this winter and then some good growing I should be able to get them to half this length. And then I can judge whether or not there are too many branches. I'm inclined to think that there are too many branches, particularly in the back. But, if I go reducing foliage now I may regret it later. I could pull more needles though.

Eric Schrader said:

On these trees I'm actually not sure about the age. I didn't start any of them from seed. Based on the bark I'd say they could be as young as 15 years old, but they may be older than that. The last one is quite a bit older, maybe 35-40 at this point.

Thanks for all the comments.

For the first - the trunk is odd, and it has a high point where it doubles back on itself. There is movement in the whole thing, but it's relatively gentle. I have a before photo from the right side that shows the movement and the weird top junction.

The descending branch is a bit odd. If I made the back the front it might be less so, but then the top doesn't quite work right. I spun this one around on the table for more than a couple minutes before I made a tentative decision on the front. It may be worth revisiting in the future..

Click to expand...

I love how you trained all these pines! I actually like the first tree the most precisely because of that "odd" high point where it doubles back on itself. Have you considered keeping only the descending branch and remove the top?

Eric Schrader said:

The descending branch is a bit odd. If I made the back the front it might be less so, but then the top doesn't quite work right. I spun this one around on the table for more than a couple minutes before I made a tentative decision on the front. It may be worth revisiting in the future.

Click to expand...

I like the descending branch and the current front. What do you think if the rest of the top were top were to be made into a jin after maturing some more and retaining the descending branch as part of the trunkline? Of course this is with the assumption that the descending branch continues to descend slightly to the the tree's left.

Si, we have similar thoughts.

Si Nguyen said:

I love how you trained all these pines! I actually like the first tree the most precisely because of that "odd" high point where it doubles back on itself. Have you considered keeping only the descending branch and remove the top?

Click to expand...

Thanks! Yeah, actually, I almost removed it when I was wiring it. But, it's easy to remove whenever. I felt that it could be a more complete looking tree with more than just the descending branch. But bunjin is a tricky thing. I tend to like them with a bit more foliage than some other people. The interplay of branching is the interesting part to me, but these are too rough right now to be able to see the interplay of foliage.

thumblessprimate1 said:

Si, we have similar thoughts.

Click to expand...

Yeah, great minds think alike

Eric Schrader said:

Thanks! Yeah, actually, I almost removed it when I was wiring it. But, it's easy to remove whenever. I felt that it could be a more complete looking tree with more than just the descending branch. But bunjin is a tricky thing. I tend to like them with a bit more foliage than some other people. The interplay of branching is the interesting part to me, but these are too rough right now to be able to see the interplay of foliage.

Click to expand...

Cool! Thanks for sharing your work.

The tree should dictate and I think it dictates that branch in front.

I had a similar issue with a collected water elm, and made the odd natural bends central to the tree:

thumblessprimate1 said:

I like the descending branch and the current front. What do you think if the rest of the top were top were to be made into a jin after maturing some more and retaining the descending branch as part of the trunkline? Of course this is with the assumption that the descending branch continues to descend slightly to the the tree's left.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'm following you. You mean move the branch over to the left and remove the top? I could get the branch over to the left without too much trouble. I like how it makes an "X" shape though. That's something that is frowned on generally in my experience. But with the top removed I don't think the X shape would work quite as well.

These from Mr. Lee? I love the feel of bunjin pines. These are really nice and capture the flavor.

Eric Schrader said:

I'm not sure I'm following you. You mean move the branch over to the left and remove the top? I could get the branch over to the left without too much trouble. I like how it makes an "X" shape though. That's something that is frowned on generally in my experience. But with the top removed I don't think the X shape would work quite as well.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I think my way of referring to sides from the perspective of the tree confuses people. I like the X you have featured as well. My idea is like Si's. I suggested letting the foliage grow descending a little further and continue the movement slightly in the direction as it is going already.

Edit: I got a hold of ms paint and redid my rough work.

Love theses pines and what wonderful and thoughtful work. I am inspired to re-try for my goal of collecting special tall skinny jack Pines to be able to someday do this too--it is a dream.

thumblessprimate1 said:

Sorry, I think my way of referring to sides from the perspective of the tree confuses people. I like the X you have featured as well. My idea is like Si's. I suggested letting the foliage grow descending a little further and continue the movement slightly in the direction as it is going already.

Edit: I got a hold of ms paint and redid my rough work.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the virt. It will take a few years of growing to get the branch that low; but I actually prefer your virt to the current version of the tree. There's something interesting in the placement of the foliage that low.

Smoke - the trees came from my friend Randall, but it's not Randall Lee. I know Mr. Lee is a big pine grower in the east bay, but I've never been to his place...something I should probably put on my bucket list. The trees came from various sources. My friend Randall was a huge bunjin fan, so he would buy suitable material from sales all over the bay area. I have three more trees that are similar that I still have to wire and thin.