Is this Red Pine worth $90.00

[Cruiser]

Found this fella on sale at a local nursery for 90.00.
I was immeadiately drawn to the thick trunk. It’s about 5-6” diameter with a strong taper.
Total height is around 2.5 feet.
There is some branch dieback on the lower limbs and needle die back in the top middle of the foliage. It looks like maybe they overwatered it.

My wife is getting alarmed at the number of trees I’m accruing so I need to be really selective in what I take home.

Is this one too good to pass up?

 

[Wulfskaar]

I am no expert, so take this with a grain of salt...

I love that tree! The trunk is FAT and it looks like it might have a lot of styling possibilities. This tree could be a fun one to work on over the next few years. I might actually go for it and I'm super cheap.

I also like the little babies growing around it!

 

[parhamr]

For a landscaping tree, yes, it’s worth that money.

For a bonsai, no, I wouldn’t bother. That girdling root is a mess that would take years to correct. It’s a tempting specimen, but maybe they have others like it that are slightly more suitable?

 

[Cruiser]

Unfortunately that’s was the only one with the fat trunk.

 

[sorce]

getting alarmed

Getting alarmed and reacting to the alarm are 2 different things.

Buy it!

Sorce

 

[Cruiser]

I am no expert, so take this with a grain of salt...

I love that tree! The trunk is FAT and it looks like it might have a lot of styling possibilities. This tree could be a fun one to work on over the next few years. I might actually go for it and I'm super cheap.

I also like the little babies growing around it!

Thanks. It’s tempting but I’ve never spent that kind of money on a tree so I wanted to hear what more experienced practitioners would have tonsay

Getting alarmed and reacting to the alarm are 2 different things.

Buy it!

Sorce

haha. Shes already there. She counted them the other day. I didn’t believe her until I counted them myself. It’s around 25 in our tiny backyard. They are taking iver

 

[BrianBay9]

Seems unlikely that you could work the buds back far enough to make it reasonable. Then again, I've not worked with JRP.

 

[MrWunderful]

If you treat it like a 10-20 year project, its worth 90$. But that gigantic root might cause reverse taper if removed.

 

[Wulfskaar]

Thanks. It’s tempting but I’ve never spent that kind of money on a tree so I wanted to hear what more experienced practitioners would have tonsay

haha. Shes already there. She counted them the other day. I didn’t believe her until I counted them myself. It’s around 25 in our tiny backyard. They are taking iver

I hear ya. I've also never spent $90 on a tree before. I'm not ever planning on showing or selling any bonsai trees I may develop in the future, so for me, it's all about what might be fun and/or give me pleasure of some kind. This tree looks like a creative playground to me.

If you are a serious bonsai guy who only wants high quality bonsai that you can show and/or sell down the line, then definitely don't listen to me.

My final advice is not to piss off your wife unless you absolutely MUST have the tree.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I would skip it, personally, because there are no interior buds. By the time you cleaned out most of the redundant and inappropriate growth, you'd end up with a topiary. In the time it would take to fix this tree, you could start with another red pine, half as large but with good roots and low, ramified branching, and get it to bulk up with sacrifice growth, and probably end up in a better place, faster.

If this was a Japanese maple, I'd say, heck yeah! But chasing back foliage on a red pine would be a major undertaking.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Nope

 

[leatherback]

Nope. Do not buy it. The foliage is too far. It is grafted and it has an akward root.
Besides, your marriage should only be gambled for fat deshojos

 

[bwaynef]

Any grafting experience?

 

[Cruiser]

Any grafting experience?

No. I’m still new to all this. Is there good grafting potential?

 

[Cruiser]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I decided not to purchase the tree and place my energies elsewhere.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Agreement is that graft is obvious/not so good to look at. Would pass on it.

Perhaps "wife" needs an analyst. She has attitude needing adjustment!