I purchased this pine as nursery stock in 2005. The tree was about 4’ in a 5 gallon nursery pot and was labeled as Siberian Pine but when I researched it I found the SP is a five needle pine and this is a two needle pine. The 2 needle fascicles and the way the gray, deeply fissured bark has aged leads me to believe that it’s actually an Austrian pine. I knew very little about styling and caring for pines back when I acquired this tree so there are all the errors, handle bar branches, foliage too far from the trunk, soil not the best… but it has trudged along for the last 17 years and is the tree I’ve had the longest. I think it may have ventured more into the realm of niwaki at this point but it’s still in a pot 
I repotted the tree from a half whiskey barrel into the fiberglass pot it’s in now back in 2011. I placed it at an angle and removed most of the branches from one side of each whorl in an attempt to do a windswept style as it had a very topiary look to it.
Last year I got it in my head to remove the crown and started to try to pull one branch up from below the crown to become the new apex. Today I pulled the adjacent branch down and wired the pad as the process of pulling the branch down and back had twisted it in such a way as to make the entire pad slanted by about 45°. I plan to repot in the coming spring as I’ve finally found a vessel of an appropriate size that I like however I’m not sure if I’m still going to chop the top off… that will at least be held off for another two seasons.
Any idea if I’m correct in my Pinus Nigra assumption. It would be good to know for sure what it is. Also, I never actually chose a front or at least my mind has changed a dozen times over the years so I’m open to opinions on that.
I repotted the tree from a half whiskey barrel into the fiberglass pot it’s in now back in 2011. I placed it at an angle and removed most of the branches from one side of each whorl in an attempt to do a windswept style as it had a very topiary look to it.
Last year I got it in my head to remove the crown and started to try to pull one branch up from below the crown to become the new apex. Today I pulled the adjacent branch down and wired the pad as the process of pulling the branch down and back had twisted it in such a way as to make the entire pad slanted by about 45°. I plan to repot in the coming spring as I’ve finally found a vessel of an appropriate size that I like however I’m not sure if I’m still going to chop the top off… that will at least be held off for another two seasons.
Any idea if I’m correct in my Pinus Nigra assumption. It would be good to know for sure what it is. Also, I never actually chose a front or at least my mind has changed a dozen times over the years so I’m open to opinions on that.
