Happy Li'l Limber

[Dan W.]

How do you know if a pine you collected last year likes it's new home?... . I think this one is speaking clearly enough! Past needles range from 1/4" to 1" at the most, while this years needles are an easy 2"!! I collected this in May of 2012.

Nothing spectacular here but this one has nice movement in the trunk and good bark for such a small tree. -- I plan to do some minor shaping to set the main branches and remove some unwanted ones this fall/winter.

 

[Dan W.]

In case anyone is wondering... the lava (On Top) is not the main ingredient for the soil this tree is in. The soil is made primarily of turface, floor dry and smaller lava; with larger particles of lava on the surface. We have a lot of wind here in WY and this tree has already seen it's share of abuse. The lava helps to keep the main soil from being disturbed.

 

[KennedyMarx]

Did you collect it yourself? It's got some great bark for such a little thing. Are you planning on keeping it planted at that angle? I ask because I think the third picture, which I assume is the front, would look better with the trunk tilted a few degrees towards the left. Just a thought after seeing the bit of nebari poking out of the lava.

 

[JudyB]

Cute -n- happy. keep us updated!

 

[Adair M]

Cute little tree! It does appear to be growing for you.

On a collected tree like that, there are no "unwanted branches" to remove. Use everything. Maybe 5 years from now once you have a lot more back budding and density, you could consider removing some branches, but not yet.

If you value this little guy, I would basically leave it be for at least another year to gain strength before styling.

 

[Beng]

Cute little tree! It does appear to be growing for you.

On a collected tree like that, there are no "unwanted branches" to remove. Use everything. Maybe 5 years from now once you have a lot more back budding and density, you could consider removing some branches, but not yet.

If you value this little guy, I would basically leave it be for at least another year to gain strength before styling.

I used pure lava as a top dressing on a few trees this year, it looks nice and stays in place unlike akadama or pumice.

 

[dick benbow]

I'm working on two limber pines that were collected in Wyoming. I also am working on 12 greybarks, both species are AMERICAN white pines.The more you work with them the longer the needles and the bluer the foliage. at some stage you'll have to check pushing foliage length but initially it's important. have fun and keep us informed.

 

[Dan W.]

Cute little tree! It does appear to be growing for you.

On a collected tree like that, there are no "unwanted branches" to remove. Use everything. Maybe 5 years from now once you have a lot more back budding and density, you could consider removing some branches, but not yet.

If you value this little guy, I would basically leave it be for at least another year to gain strength before styling.

Thanks for your input Adair, but I think I'll respectfully agree to disagree on a couple of points... I don't generally rely on a certain amount of years to dictate how I work on a tree, instead, how it is growing and responding are my guides. This tree is growing, IMHO, plenty strong enough to allow for the setting of main branches. -- Also, from my experience (granted I don't have as much as many here) wiring main branches into shape has not hindered back budding.

This tree is valuable to a degree to me, though I have several far more valuable Limber pines, and this one is a good "guinea pig", so to speak. I have trees that were collected years before this one that I haven't worked on yet because I don't feel they are growing strongly enough to allow for the work, so I may be impatient... but I don't feel that is the case here.

As for "unwanted branches"... There is one branch in particular that is too thick - too high and too sparse to be of any use to me. If I want a branch there I would be better off grafting one smaller and with foliage closer to the trunk. -- I may use this branch as a jin; But as a branch it is "unwanted" in any future design I see for this tree. This is not out of disrespect for an older collected tree but simply a decision reached by looking at the tree from my own artistic point of view. I'm fully aware that others may see a different design than I do, but that's part of art... individuality.

I do appreciate your input and would be happy to hear any reasons you may disagree with my above stance. Were all learning here.

 

[Dan W.]

KM, I did collect this one. The front will likely be somewhere in between the first and second pics. The third looks nice in a flat image but if you study the other pictures you'll see that it is leaning very far away from you in that picture. It is much better to have the tree coming toward you. There isn't much nebari there, but what is there will be taken in to account when I choose a front and planting angle.

Judy, I'll be sure to update you all after I do some work this winter.

Dick, I'd love to find a nice collected white-bark someday. And I'd love to see your collected limbers! Feel free to post them here.

 

[dkraft81]

Hows this little guy doing?

 

[Dan W.]

LOL! This one is doing great besides the fact that it's not a Limber...

I must have had one serious blonde moment... or a few. When I collected it the needles had a blue tint to them and the were very very short, and apparently I didn't pay enough attention to the number of needles per bundle. When I wired the tree I quickly realized that the tree was most certainly not a limber, but a ponderosa. It was wired last fall and repotted into an Iker crescent pot this spring, and is now happily growing without any confusion as to it's type.

Such a simple and obvious mistake it's frustrating...lol. Even looking at the pictures in this thread now it's quite obvious that there are only two to three needles. grrrr.... .

 

[Dan W.]

I'll post current pictures when I get the chance.

 

[wireme]

LOL! This one is doing great besides the fact that it's not a Limber...

I must have had one serious blonde moment... or a few. When I collected it the needles had a blue tint to them and the were very very short, and apparently I didn't pay enough attention to the number of needles per bundle. When I wired the tree I quickly realized that the tree was most certainly not a limber, but a ponderosa. It was wired last fall and repotted into an Iker crescent pot this spring, and is now happily growing without any confusion as to it's type.

Such a simple and obvious mistake it's frustrating...lol. Even looking at the pictures in this thread now it's quite obvious that there are only two to three needles. grrrr.... .

That's funny Dan!

You were probably hoping the thread never resurfaced eh?. Funny no one noticed too, it does seem obvious looking at the pics now.

 

[Dan W.]

Well I figured I'd need to clear it up at some point. I think I told Dusty the story when we went collecting, so he must decided to help me out...lol

 

[dkraft81]

Oops, you did tell me that didnt you. Sorry. Too many hours at work with too much to remember that is until I get it on paper. Thats what I get when I start going through old threads.

 

[Dan W.]

LOL! No worries Dusty. We all need a little dose of humility pushed along every so often.

Here are a couple of pictures from this spring shortly after potting. It has a long way to go, and hopefully some significant needle shortening... It sure would have been easier with a Limber...

 

[Jaberwky17]

That's Funny

I looked at the initial photos and thought "man that looks SOOOO much like my ponderosas, what in the heck is the difference between limber and ponderosa?". After looking it up and going back to these photos I'm squinting at the closeups and thinking there is no way those are 5 needle clusters. Even the bark is identical. BTW nice styling in the current images. thanks for the post.

Hah!

 

[Kelly]

Which branch?

Hi ... nice tree and appears very happy! You made a comment that one branch was too thick and would not be necessary or part of the bonsai design ... Which one do you mean (please).
Thanks
Kelly

 

[wireme]

Looks like your repotting seasonals with Michael are paying off, that's a nicely potted little plant!

 

[Dan W.]

Hi Kelly, the branch I was referring to was the one with the tag hanging from it. You can see the stub in the current pictures. (I think the second one is easier to see.) I left the stub for a possible jin, but mostly so I could use it to anchor wire for another branch. This is really just a play tree to see what I can do with needle length.

Thanks Monte, I wouldn't mind seeing the tree a bit further to the left, but it works for now. The trunk has better movement rotated a bit clockwise, but there is an ugly section in the branch structure that will need resolved or filling in.