Cork Bark JBP

[Bu-Jetjet]

Hello everyone, just sharing a few photos of my Cork Bark JBP. I haven’t decided how to style it. I’ve just been nursing it back to health since 2017. This year, I repotted it on akadama, lava, and some organic mix.
I don’t know which cultivar it is. My teacher said that it’s looking like a Nishiki, judging from the longer (older) needles. Hoping I can get more back-budding this coming growing season.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

That is a nice corked bark JBP.

You live in California, a near perfect climate for corkers. I live in the Chicago area, zone 5a, which is less than ideal for JBP and makes corkers really difficult to grow well. Our summers are too short to get good growth out of them. We could use another 50 days or so on our growing seasons for corkers. If this tree were mine, I would prune nothing off. The corkers need foliage to thrive.

I would wire the thin branches in the lower 2/3rds of the tree to the horizontal. The upper third you can have the branches rising up to for a loose apex canopy. Just wiring your branches out will help you visually sort what you have to work with, making planning a styling easier.

 

[Bu-Jetjet]

That is a nice corked bark JBP.

You live in California, a near perfect climate for corkers. I live in the Chicago area, zone 5a, which is less than ideal for JBP and makes corkers really difficult to grow well. Our summers are too short to get good growth out of them. We could use another 50 days or so on our growing seasons for corkers. If this tree were mine, I would prune nothing off. The corkers need foliage to thrive.

I would wire the thin branches in the lower 2/3rds of the tree to the horizontal. The upper third you can have the branches rising up to for a loose apex canopy. Just wiring your branches out will help you visually sort what you have to work with, making planning a styling easier.

Hi Leo! Thanks for the words of wisdom. Now I feel better on not cutting any branches off and just let the tree happily recover the past few years. It has recovered quite well since I purchased it back in 2017. It used to have "cut needles" so it was able to be advertised as already having short needles, poor substrate... The moment I took it home, I immediately repotted it in a better soil mix and just let it recover. Now that the younger needles are actually coming in short and has been back-budding, I'm pretty proud to have taken the decision to just let it breathe and get its strength back.

I will definitely consider wiring it this season before it's too late. I'll update with photos soon!

 

[Bu-Jetjet]

Anyone else take their buddies to work? Sometimes, it’s the only “free time” I can work on them .
Just minor work, pulling old needles and weeds.

 

[Bu-Jetjet]

Absolutely love the wings on this little guy!

 

[Carol 83]

Anyone else take their buddies to work?

Ask @Dav4 .

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Dav4 has a great thread about bonsai at work.

Bonsai at work…

So, work for me slows down just a bit this time of year, but my kid's extracurricular activities explode as well. Bringing a tree to work will sometimes allow me to work a tree that, unfortunately, won't get touched when I'm actually at home. So, I'm just wondering if anybody else capitalizes...

www.bonsainut.com

I'm retired now, and have now retired a second time, I don't have to take bonsai to work. LOL

 

[Bu-Jetjet]

Dav4 has a great thread about bonsai at work.

Bonsai at work…

So, work for me slows down just a bit this time of year, but my kid's extracurricular activities explode as well. Bringing a tree to work will sometimes allow me to work a tree that, unfortunately, won't get touched when I'm actually at home. So, I'm just wondering if anybody else capitalizes...

www.bonsainut.com

I'm retired now, and have now retired a second time, I don't have to take bonsai to work. LOL

Congratulations on retirement Leo! I hope it gives you more time to enjoy the things that gives you joy.

 

[Bu-Jetjet]

Update

 

[19Mateo83]

That is one righteous and kick ass little cork bark pine!

 

[Bu-Jetjet]

That is one righteous and kick ass little cork bark pine!

Thanks so much!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Nice corker, but it looks pretty weak. Soil maybe keeping roots too wet, or too much needle pulling? Corkers appreciate being left fuller.

 

[Bu-Jetjet]

Nice corker, but it looks pretty weak. Soil maybe keeping roots too wet, or too much needle pulling? Corkers appreciate being left fuller.

Not just needle pruning, but branch cutting in general. I decandled and cut off a lot of branches. I left the growth for the bottom 2/3 section to get it prepared for a semi-cascade.

 

[Bu-Jetjet]

Updates on this little guy. After decandling this past February,I see a pair of growth in each cut. I was hoping a stronger growth out of the cascading branches... but they seem weak to me.

 

[Mike Westervelt]

Wow, never heard of decandling in February.

Bark looks like Kyokko Yatsabusa

 

[Bu-Jetjet]

Wow, never heard of decandling in February.

Bark looks like Kyokko Yatsabusa

I mean... I can lie and say, "I decandled whenever the the textbook and experts advises..."
But for record-keeping - I have to say it how it is.
Photos are there to record the results

 

[Scorpius]

From what I've read cork bark black pines don't like decandling very much and judging whether a cork bark black pine is strong enough to handle it is a guessing game.

If this was my tree I wouldn't do any more major work on it for two years to gain vigor back.

 

[Clicio]

After decandling this past February,

Wow.
Decandling in February.
I thought decandling was done in the summer, for two needle pines like the JBP, and bud sorting was done in February.
Very interesting, I'll keep following this thread, please do keep us updated?
Thanks, very nice corky.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I mean... I can lie and say, "I decandled whenever the the textbook and experts advises..."
But for record-keeping - I have to say it how it is.
Photos are there to record the results

It is fortunate that new buds are forming. I believe early spring “decandling” was a technique taught and practiced among the Naka Acolytes back in the day, so it’s possible you heard to do it. This is not commonly practiced anymore, in favor of summer candle-cutting.

I would wait until fall to do any further work on the tree.

 

[Bu-Jetjet]

It is fortunate that new buds are forming. I believe early spring “decandling” was a technique taught and practiced among the Naka Acolytes back in the day, so it’s possible you heard to do it. This is not commonly practiced anymore, in favor of summer candle-cutting.

I would wait until fall to do any further work on the tree.

Absolutely hit the $$$. I'm a student of Roy Nagatoshi, and I believe he was one of the Naka Acolytes.