11th floor Scots pines

[petegreg]

Hi all. It's still time... so I'd like to start sharing my scots pines. They were all collected in summer. Not saying I prefer it but found this possibility accidentally while hiking. And it's much more comfortable... wearing shorts and T-shirt.
Here is my collection site right on the top of the hill.



It's an artificial hill, the remnants of
copper mining. This is the soil the pines grow in:


...the minerals that are still present and are searched by mineral hunters...

...I hoped the trees would not crave for copper after potting to bonsai soil, they do not...

 

[petegreg]

Scots shohin

...future shohin. Collected in 2012, 18 cm tall. That time I had no equipment for collecting with me, except a pocket knife. I found out the smaller pines could be pulled out the ground like carrots... literally and with very compact root ball. I messed very much with this little pine, started bending the trunk and made it weak... Now it's picking up the strength and will be ready for first shoot pruning next season. All I need is getting the foliage closer to the trunk.
All I have are these three pictures, its first and second year with me and now.






As you can see I have changed the front, was told not to show the butt of old lady... I liked it better before and rely on your experienced eyes.

 

[petegreg]

Scots literati

...heh. my first literati attempt. Collected 2012, some 30 cm tall.

This one is the strongest from all my scots. I need some branches get longer, some shorter, so did some selective shoot pruning this season.
Some images from its development:




...Decided to go for a softer image, so changed the front last year and here is she now.


...please do not look at the pots, they are just for growing. The planting posn
will be adjusted on next repotting within some 2-3 years. I could not do it last time due to some long thick root. As you can see, humble begginings after three years of playing with them.

More trees will come later, after they are presentable. Thanks for looking and your critique or help with design is appreciated.

 

[sorce]

Scots literati

...heh. my first literati attempt. Collected 2012, some 30 cm tall.

This one is the strongest from all my scots. I need some branches get longer, some shorter, so did some selective shoot pruning this season.
Some images from its development:
View attachment 111427

View attachment 111428

...Decided to go for a softer image, so changed the front last year and here is she now.
View attachment 111429

...please do not look at the pots, they are just for growing. The planting posn
will be adjusted on next repotting within some 2-3 years. I could not do it last time due to some long thick root. As you can see, humble begginings after three years of playing with them.

More trees will come later, after they are presentable. Thanks for looking and your critique or help with design is appreciated.

Nice...and note...

There are copper mines in Michigan too I reckon....

However....
I gotta go add "Tyvec Suit" to the "tools to bring collecting list",
Be safe out there....
Never nothing good left over from mining.

Sorce

 

[petegreg]

Thanks Sorce.

https://www.google.sk/search?site=w......1c..64.mobile-gws-hp..1.1.696.0.eq1mwkH7Ba ...hm, I'm aware of it and bears and vipers as well. I've promised myself very last visit of that site next summer.

 

[petegreg]

Well, I'm playing more with the little one.

This is how it looks from the rear:



This is from birds eye view:



And this is after pushing down the trunk limits with one simple guy wire:



What would you say, which way to go? Is this view really showing the back of the tree? I think the trunk movement back, to the left and to the rear adds the depth...

 

[Vance Wood]

I love to see people working with projects. It is one thing to deal with a quality pre-bonsai it is quite another to deal with a nothing tree. These little guys are headed in the right direction. They should grow and develop as you grow and develop. At some point someone is going to try and convince you to find and buy better material and pitch these out. I guarantee you later in life you will appreciate these little trees more than you will appreciate those which you purchased half done.

 

[VAFisher]

How about this?

 

[petegreg]

How about this?

Whoops, you cleaned the trunk line very interesting way. Very simplicistic, less is more sometimes.

 

[petegreg]

I love to see people working with projects. It is one thing to deal with a quality pre-bonsai it is quite another to deal with a nothing tree. These little guys are headed in the right direction. They should grow and develop as you grow and develop. At some point someone is going to try and convince you to find and buy better material and pitch these out. I guarantee you later in life you will appreciate these little trees more than you will appreciate those which you purchased half done.

Thanks Vance for encouraging. My wife is enjoying vacancies, so I am playing.
...and found one more interesting choice. Let say C front...This would need wiring and bending the top upwards.

 

[Vance Wood]

It appears to me that these little guys are getting way too much shade. The more sun the more compact the growth.

 

[petegreg]

Yes, I can provide them only with morning sun (E-facing balcony). And what I planned for this season was to fertilize well from the beginning of spring to get them on the peak of their strength to start shoot pruning and chasing foliage back next season.

 

[petegreg]

Well, today is the last day of being alone at home. So taking this opportunity I untied my next two established scots pines from the rail to check them. Hm, and did right thing, the wires on the upper trunk have started biting in...
Didn't want to show these two, but for the record, collected in the summer of 2013, just above 40 cm tall and they will be left to grow a bit taller.



I lost some 2 branches after the collecting. Yes, I wired immediately to have them placed in their restricted space...wrong, avoid doing this.
They have been extremely sparse since collected. Foliage only on the branch tips... But last year they started backbudding and all the buds grew into small branches this year. It's interesting they backbudded on their own without any insult, I think they needed it. This summer I did very selective shoot pruning, leaving 3-4 pairs of new needles... The trees will be left as they are
till the fall 2017. Here are the the pics of new branches...

 

[petegreg]

Today I moved all remaining trees from 2 balconies to one for winter. So took an opportunity to take some pictures.
These are my biggest scots pines collected this summer. Hopefully they will spend winter well and will be challenging me in 2-3 years. A plastic beer bottle for measure is 1,5 litre.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

nice material

 

[petegreg]

nice material

Thanks Dirk, carrying them some 3 miles I thought it was my last day on the Earth.

 

[Vance Wood]

Thanks Dirk, carrying them some 3 miles I thought it was my last day on the Earth.

That means they must be really heavy? Beautiful bones. In my book this means that they need to be cut back hard to keep the a tive growth developing in towards the center of the tree.

 

[petegreg]

That means they must be really heavy? Beautiful bones. In my book this means that they need to be cut back hard to keep the a tive growth developing in towards the center of the tree.

Thanks Vance, yes heavy for my back and I always took one smaller not to have my hands empty, in this case a clump that was heavy too...
The straighter trunk... I intend to use only one or two branches to create the tree with "falling" top. But I'll see. I might take them to our club meeting, some creative fellows are there.

They were pre-prepared some two years ago, chopped, pruned and the circle around the root system was cut. Now I'll wait till they are ready for some work.

 

[petegreg]

Pinus sylvestris arboretum

This one comes from arboretum, a carpenter pencil thick trunk, straight upright trunk... but I liked the foliage, very short needles, so I took it as a last one this year.
...here's after picture, just for something small.

 

[petegreg]

Pinus sylvestris "Watereri"

I received this pine from my bonsai friend last year. He grew some 15 young grafted pines for 10 years and then he picked the best and the rest was offered... The tree has many flaws, grafted on P. nigra understock, so it will spend all life wearing a black sock, straight lower trunk and a big trunk internodes. The right side was empty... Here's she after first wiring done last year.



Few weeks ago I re-wired her, shortened some branches...found two ways how to fill empty right part of tree.
1) straightened lowest right branch will be grown to make some sub-trunk.
2) I will let the right top branch grow free to make a dropped top to fill that space.
I 'll see in few years...