Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
For the last year and a half, I have been taking care of an older cork bark black pine that the club owns. Our display pavilion has very little sunlight. This one was languishing, and should be dead by now. Older members tell me that the wings used to stick out 2" on each side. I repotted it in the spring of '11, and the new needles (no candles to speak of) grew very long. I took that as a good sign...not enough strength to make a good run at density, but what did grow, grew well. This year, it is absolutely full of new buds, candles in 2s and 3s throughout the tree. So last weekend, I thinned old needles, and pruned it back a bit. It still has a long way to go to get growth back closer to the trunk, but it is doing well. Here are a few shots of the tree:
Brought it home in fall '10:
Repotting '11:
Mid July '11 (note needle development on the other lines for comparison):
After thinning and pinching it back last weekend.
Brought it home in fall '10:
Repotting '11:
Mid July '11 (note needle development on the other lines for comparison):
After thinning and pinching it back last weekend.
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