My Eastern White Pine ( MY FIRST TREE)

Nwaite

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This is the very first tree I started out with for bonsai.
Went out on my driveway and grabbed on to it and pulled she right out of the ground.
It was the middle of summer , took all the soil off with a hose, cut all the roots off and put it in this very pot with a mix of sand and some crap from my compost pile....
It's been 3 years it it's still alive !
Today I decided out of boredom to take the top ( mostly dead wood) off carve some of the side and then but it with the torch to stop the bleeding.
Hopefully it's still alive come spring.

There is some good trunk flare under the soil that I'll reveale in the spring when I repot.

I think I have some old pics on here of the first year I had it and will post on this thread of I can find it for a before and after.
 

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ohiogrown

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Eastern white pine rarely make good bonsai.
 

Nwaite

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1. Iv had it for 3 years so iv been told that meany times... don't give a shit, it's my first tree that's it not looking for a show stopper from it.

2. If that's the ONLY thing you have to say about it please go somewhere else to post.

I don't need praise for my tree but if your not even attempting to give constructive criticism please don't waste your valuable time on me.
 

AZbonsai

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I have 3 trees I am currently messing with that people say the same thing about. I generally give the same response. They still give valuable practice in repotting, caring for, and wiring trees in a pot. That counts in my book! Everyone starts somewhere. You will see tons of trees and techniques on this site. There are many people who are experts in the art of bonsai. I am new here myself. If you stick around you will start to recognize the pros from the cons. Good luck with your tree. Learn as much as you can from it and move on to the next. You have been around for awhile so you know the deal.
 

Victorim

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1. Iv had it for 3 years so iv been told that meany times... don't give a shit, it's my first tree that's it not looking for a show stopper from it.

2. If that's the ONLY thing you have to say about it please go somewhere else to post.

I don't need praise for my tree but if your not even attempting to give constructive criticism please don't waste your valuable time on me.

Dial it in mate. There's no need to be like that. It is valid, and there is plenty of experts around here that would say exactly that, and when the time comes that you want specific answers or advise about it, you won't get it.

If you haven't see his thread @Giga has been doing well with one.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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I am offering this in support, not criticism.

Been raising bonsai for over 40 years, first 30 years I was entirely ''self taught'', realized I had missed some key details, as my trees looked like crap, so I joined a club back around 2004. Still learning, but my trees are improving nicely. During this 40+ year journey, I have always had at least one P. strobus, eastern white pine, EWP in my collection. Right now I have 4 or so seedlings. None of them are ''good'' bonsai or even pre-bonsai. If you were to ask, I would tell most to avoid the species. On the other hand, one ''newbie'' here did show a tree with a great trunk and bark. That person I recommended to keep with it and offered what little help I could. IF you find a collectable EWP with a good trunk and good bark, there is the possibility of making a ''good'' bonsai. With EWP it is less than common, but once in a while a combination of luck and skill come together.

One technical tip, the torch is usually used to change the color and texture of deadwood. It is not used to seal live wood that is bleeding sap. The cambium of the living portion of bark will die if it is heated past a certain point, around 110 F, give or take some. Usually to treat deadwood the living part is wrapped in a wet towel, then that is wrapped in aluminum foil to reflect heat away. If you see steam escaping the aluminum, it is getting too hot. To avoid bleeding, we usually trim pines only in very late autumn through late winter.

This photo is from the NC Arboretum, from 2014 the tree is an Eastern White Pine, note the age of the bark and the fairly large size of the tree overall. I believe it is about 4 feet tall. I would plan to finish your tree somewhere in the 3 feet to 5 feet tall range. Reason is that the size is needed to keep the needles in proportion, as needles do not reduce well nor do they form the ''pads'' of foliage needed to re-create their beautiful iconic appearance in the wild, in a bonsai size tree. At 3 to 5 feet tall, you can get the foliage to tame down, somewhat, maybe even enough. Study the branches, and how the foliage was moved to form ''pads'' or clouds of foliage. This is roughly about as refined as an eastern white pine will ever get.

Pinus strobus-CarolinaExpo2014-BWayne-img.jpg

I personally love the look of an old eastern white pine, especially if at some point it ended up being a lone tree, either in a field or rising above the surrounding forest. Driving through Wisconsin and Michigan I can help but stop and stare at some of the EWP that I spot in the landscape. For bonsai, the Japanese white pine is a fair substitute with which to re-create this image in a bonsai pot, but easier to grow would be a Juniper, you really can recreate the image using a juniper. Only difficulty is finding a juniper with a dead arrow straight trunk. But it can be done. With a juniper you can create the image of a white pine in the field, refine it and keep it under 24 inches tall.
 

Nwaite

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Thanks @Leo in N E Illinois
That's the stuff I like to hear. I'm not planning on it Being anything great but it Being my first tree I'll work on keeping it alive and trying different stuff on it and hopefully some day I'll make somewhat of an interesting peace of art out of it.

@Victorim
I didn't mean for it to sound rude, I just get frustrated when people write stuff like that with no explanation as to why they are saying that. If your going to take the time to post at the very least give a reason as to why your making that statement .
 

Adair M

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Leo’s example tree is likely over 50 years old. You can tell by the bark. EWP bark stays smooth until it gets to be about 25 (give or take 5 years). Then it starts to become flakey. By creating cracks in the smooth bark. It then takes 5 to 10 years to become “fully flakey”. Then, it starts to create the layered, fissured mature bark. Leo’s tree has that bark pretty much all the up to the crown, and on the branches.
So, it’s an old,old tree.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Pinus strobus is extremely useful as understock for grafting - if you graft low enough, into the root zone so the differences in bark character can be hidden. EWP roots are very cold tolerant, and they are very tolerant of wet winter conditions. JWP does not like wet feet, and wet winters can be a problem. If one were to graft JBP onto EWP roots, you might also gain a certain amount of cold tolerance. Wayne Jupp was using EWP as understock, but since he retired and moved I have not heard much about this project.
 

Paradox

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Pinus strobus is extremely useful as understock for grafting - if you graft low enough, into the root zone so the differences in bark character can be hidden. EWP roots are very cold tolerant, and they are very tolerant of wet winter conditions. JWP does not like wet feet, and wet winters can be a problem. If one were to graft JBP onto EWP roots, you might also gain a certain amount of cold tolerance. Wayne Jupp was using EWP as understock, but since he retired and moved I have not heard much about this project.


I have a couple of JWP that I believe are grafted onto EWP
 

ohiogrown

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1. Iv had it for 3 years so iv been told that meany times... don't give a shit, it's my first tree that's it not looking for a show stopper from it.

2. If that's the ONLY thing you have to say about it please go somewhere else to post.

I don't need praise for my tree but if your not even attempting to give constructive criticism please don't waste your valuable time on me.

Sorry man was not looking to upset you. Just figured id say what someone else would have said anyway. I actually have three EWP's myself. I also have native maples they say don't do well. I look at it as the Japanese have been doing this with their native trees for 100s of years. I think over time were going to see lots of great native species to the united states. Regardless I think any tree that gets old with me is going to mean something, rather it looks like the art or not.
 

Adair M

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The Japanese use a lot of trees fr bonsai that are not Japanese.

Trident Maples are from China. Korean Hornbeam are from, um, Korea.
 

Nwaite

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Sorry man was not looking to upset you. Just figured id say what someone else would have said anyway. I actually have three EWP's myself. I also have native maples they say don't do well. I look at it as the Japanese have been doing this with their native trees for 100s of years. I think over time were going to see lots of great native species to the united states. Regardless I think any tree that gets old with me is going to mean something, rather it looks like the art or not.
Thanks, I apologize for being snippy... must be do to my man-strual cycle ..... God that one kills me!
 

Nwaite

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Could any I you suggest the best way to prune EWP?
 
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