2021 Five Year Native Tree Challenge Aaron S. Loblolly Pine

Aaron S.

Mame
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Species: Loblolly Pine: Pinus Taeda
Height: 98-115 feet (30-35 meters)
Habitat: The native range of loblolly pine extends through 14 States from southern New Jersey south to central Florida and west to eastern Texas. It includes the Atlantic Plain, the Piedmont Plateau, and
the southern extremities of the Cumberland Plateau, the Highland Rim, and the Valley and Ridge Provinces of the Appalachian Highlands. Loblolly pine does not grow naturally in the Mississippi River flood plain and is scarce in the deep, coarse sands of the lower Atlantic Plain and sandhills of North and South Carolina; it is important only in localized areas in southeastern Georgia and northern Florida.
Specimen: With needles being more than 4" long, this is not the most ideal pine species for the art of bonsai. on the other hand, if we only stuck with the desirable species for bonsai then there would not be much diversity. This particular tree was dug up in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma USA in June 2018 and was put in this tub with other trees to grow. This tree grows in large dense areas in southeastern Oklahoma. This tree was from a large 7,000-acre ranch where I spent a good portion of my childhood. My family was in the logging industry so when I didn't have school I was in the mountains with my family. These trees made a constant backdrop to the area and so this tree is a connection to my childhood.
Starting Plan: This spring I want to plant it in a smaller training pot. I would like to train it as an informal upright but it will depend on what the tree gives me to work with. Because is its large needles, it will be large for a bonsai tree but there aren't any rules that say a bonsai has to be small.
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Gabler

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Loblolly pines are my favorite. I know the needles are by some standards too long for bonsai, but the wild trees are so impressive, I can't help wanting a miniature version for the garden.
 

Aaron S.

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Kind of forgot about this, so here is an update on this Loblolly. I was unable to find a suitable training pot for it, so it is still growing in the big pot. I did a trunk chop on it and then just forgot about it, other than water etc.
07 July 2021 A.jpg
Here is one side of the tree overall. It is pretty bare with branches in the bottom half and up at the top, it is overgrown and needs to be thinned out.
07 July 2021 B.jpg
Here it is at 180 degrees to the first pic. You can see where I did the chop on it this spring. As you can see there isn't much branching in the lower parts of the tree.
07 July 2021 C.jpg
Here is a close-up of the top of the tree. This gives you an idea about the clutter at the top of the tree. I will be thinning that out soon.
07 July 2021 D.jpg
Here we have the trunk. Not the best of pics but you can see that the trunk is starting to develop plates of bark.
I want to start working on the branches, Ultimately I like to develop the foliage in pads. However, I have never done foliage pads before so I am in need of some instruction on how to start the foliage pads. Another point is I'm unsure if it would be possible to develop foliage pads on a pine tree with needles this long.

In early March of 2021, I went to visit family in Pushmataha County about 20 miles from where this tree was collected at. I grabbed about 20 first-year loblollies. They are a bit late to enter in this contest so I will try to create threads in the pine section of these forums.

If anyone knows how to get started in creating foliage pads please let me know as I would like to do that with this tree but also a Dawn Redwood, a Chinese/Siberian Elm and a few others.
 

Aaron S.

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I forgot all about this 😆
5 Year Loblolly 12 March 2022 B.jpg
Here is an updated pic from 12 March 2022. I will take more pics when it warms up more and the sap starts flowing. I did some minor trimming to it and cut the total height down by 18 inches. It is no longer in the large tub that it was in. I transplanted it to a rectangle-shaped cement mixing tub. I'm using these tubs because they are pretty heavy-duty, large enough to be used as training pots and cost about ten dollars.
 

Srt8madness

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Since loblollys are native I have a few. There is a gentleman in Houston who does loblollys, he can get the needles reduced to maybe 1.5"(?)
By pruning, not needle cutting. Short enough to look like a specimen bonsai.
I've read to treat them like JBP.
 

Aaron S.

Mame
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Since loblollys are native I have a few. There is a gentleman in Houston who does loblollys, he can get the needles reduced to maybe 1.5"(?)
By pruning, not needle cutting. Short enough to look like a specimen bonsai.
I've read to treat them like JBP.
Wow, that would be amazing to see and to learn
 

Aaron S.

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5 Year Loblolly 12 March 2022 B.jpg
R.I.P. Little tree. 😢 I thank you for the time that we had together and the experience that you gave me.
 

Aaron S.

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Not sure. I repotted it and it looked really good, put out new candles and then it just kind of faded away. I am still taking care of it in case it is just sick of something but there is no new growth and the needles have faded to a green-gray color.
 

Aaron S.

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I am starting to doubt if I lost the tree. I think that I really stunned or shocked it, I'm not sure of the term. I repotted it and changed its location where it gets less sun. As I said earlier the needles are more of a grayish-green rather than the vibrant green that they had before the relocation. Something told me to keep caring for it.
Now the candles that it had when I repotted it are slowly opening up to new needles. I'm going to relocate it to where there is more sun and see how it responds. I will take pics as soon as I can.
 

Aaron S.

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Yeah after a few weeks in the new location it is starting to thrive. I will post some new updated pics here. Its new location is a work in progress but it is going to be a different type of place than what you normally see here. I lost my mom this past December. She had always been into gardening. She left me her garden stuff. One of the things that she left me was her collection of Rose Rocks

Rose Rocks.jpg
Here in Oklahoma I this is one of the few places where you can find them. So anyway I once had a nice little goldfish pond in my backyard. When I hurt my back the pond was no longer cared for and it eventually filled up with leaves. We decided as a family to get rid of the pond since it was an eyesore. The pond liner was full of holes so it could not be used for another pond. After the investment that I made to buy the pond liner I did not wish to throw it away. So I thought of another use. I decided to use it as a weed barrier for a really special and one-of-a-kind garden. It ended up covering an area that is 15X30. Here is my idea:
I will take the garden size (15'X30") and divide it in half. The western half will be set up as an open-air observatory. My main passion is and always has been astronomy.
Aaron and the Other Woman Avatar.jpg
Here is a pic of me and my telescope. Since I would really love to build a real observatory but the fund are not there. On the western end of the garden, I will put some level pavers to set my telescope on. Then I can keep the scope locked up in the shed and when I want to use it, just set it up on those pavers and I will be good to go. The eastern half will be my bonsai display/ rock garden. In my pond, I had a bunch of red sandstone that was sourced locally. I will use those rocks as a border around the 15X30 garden. On the eastern side, I will display my bonsai trees and my mom's garden statuary. I will cover the entire garden with a couple of inches of pea gravel. I will also set up a place to display the rose rocks. Combining my mom's rose rocks and my bonsai trees and astronomy my wife and kids came up with the name "The Rose Rock Observatory Garden" I pretty much have everything to build it except for the pea gravel. Since I have rocks and garden stuff scattered haphazardly through my front and back yard, this will declutter my yard a lot and will be a place for the family and neighbors. It will take a while to build because of my health but it has also become a family project and those are the best. My loblolly pine is the first tree to take up residence in The Rose Rock Observatory Garden and it seems to like it there quite a bit.
 

Aaron S.

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Well it is sad but it happens, my loblolly pine for this thread has gone to Bonsai heaven. It did well all winter and then just before everything turned green and started growing it all turned brown and died like really quick. Two weeks ago I did get myself a few more loblolly pines. I went and visited my aunt in SE Oklahoma and I never seem to be able to visit her without coming away with some pines. They pop up like weed in her horse pasture so by me taking them she does not have to cut them down and I get more free trees to play with.
 

Srt8madness

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Any clue as to why? I've had a couple get scale which will probably kill them but others are going strong.
 

Aaron S.

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Not sure, it almost like it was poisoned because it happened pretty quick
 

Gabler

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I had the same thing happen to mine this year. It was a blight. The needles started turning brown at the tips, and it travelled to the base of the needle, very quickly. It also started to spread to nearby pines of other species on my benches. I treated it with two different fungicides, and the trees are now growing, albeit slowly due to loss of needle mass. It also happened to some neighboring yard trees. They were not treated and therefore died.
 
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