My lodgepole pine

[Dav4]

This is a collected lodgepole pine I acquired 18 months ago (1st pic). I originally styled it in 10/08, and re-potted it this past April (2nd pic). It lost a few small branches this past summer, which is understandable, but seems to have tolerated it's move to GA in June. I dewired/rewired the tree this past week (3rd pic). Hopefully, if the tree regains some strength over the next few years, I will get it into a very nice Dale Colchoy "Dry River Bed" oval pot I picked up this fall. Comments welcome, as always.

Dave

 

[mcpesq817]

Really nice tree - just out of curiosity, do they backbud? What's the height?

 

[Si Nguyen]

Hi Dave, nice tree ! To me, it has so much more potential as a bunjin/slant style tree. Have you considered leaning it to the right a lot more? I think it would make for a fantastic bonsai in short order. Would you mind if I submit a sketch for it later? Good luck with your bonsai!
Cheers,
Si

 

[Dav4]

Really nice tree - just out of curiosity, do they backbud? What's the height?

The height is 32", with a 4" diamater at the soil line (there is more nebari there but I'm keeping it buried for now). As far as back budding, I believe they do, but not to the degree of a JBP.

 

[Dav4]

Hi Dave, nice tree ! To me, it has so much more potential as a bunjin/slant style tree. Have you considered leaning it to the right a lot more? I think it would make for a fantastic bonsai in short order. Would you mind if I submit a sketch for it later? Good luck with your bonsai!
Cheers,
Si

Hey Si...you know I love your sketches, so let's see it!! I did consider a more severe slant to the right, but felt the tree offered more from the current planting angle. For the record, I still havn't figured out how to take optimal pics with my camera...the most recent pic doesn't do the tree justice. I really think that if the lower branches thcken up and the foliage fills out a bit, the tree will look pretty good...kinda reminds me of some of Walter Palls' trees (wishful thinking, perhaps).

Dave

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Great Find! Nice styling...will be nice to see it just a little fuller next summer. Hopefully you can chase some of the growth back toward the trunk some.

 

[Si Nguyen]

Hi Dave. Your tree does remind me of one of Walter Pall's trees, the one on the rock slab. Your tree is very nicely styled, don't get me wrong. You don't need to change a thing really. Just wait for it to fill out a little more and that's it. It's just fun to kibitz a little. Here's the sketch for 2 other options for it. It would be faster to achieve a top pad of foliage if you lean it over more, because what you would be doing is to compress the image down.
Good luck with it!
Cheers,

 

[Smoke]

I really think this is a nice piece of material. So far it looks good with what you have done. I would throw a little wiggle in a few of those branch tips but thats about it.

Good work, Al

 

[Dav4]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Si, I love the sketches and do see potential in tilting the tree to the right. We'll see how the foliage fills out before making any changes. Al, thanks for the advice...I'll try to add a bit more "wiggle" in some of the lower branch ends.

Dave

 

[ghues]

Back Budding

Hi Dave, I like the tree a lot.
Just wanted to share some info................... I haven't worked with P. Contorta per se but have P. contorta contorta (shore pine) which is a close relative............ so I think you should expect some good back budding.
After a collecting trip in the fall of 2008, my mentor advised me to "fert the heck out it" (see tree posted below, the ends of the blue lines show a new bud)...... even though we had just collected it, so I did.
As you can see from the photo, it did back bud nicely this year and really didn't skip a beat, even though I had to cut off some of the larger tap roots to get it out of the rocks.
Cheers

 

[Dav4]

Hey ghues, thanks for the info. It would be nice to see some adventitious buds pop closer to the trunk...it gets liquid fert every 7-10 days during the growing season since I got it so hopefully we'll see some action. Good luck with your tree.

Dave

 

[Dav4]

Update

Just thought I'd post an update of this tree. It seems to have acclimated to it's new southern home and grew well this spring. I havn't done anything to it other then slightly change the position of several branches. I may or may not needle prune...we'll see. Next spring the wire comes off, I'll carve the top a bit, and re-pot if it does well over the winter.

Dave

 

[Dan W.]

Any updates on this one Dave?

 

[Dav4]

Any updates on this one Dave?

RIP...sigh. It died during the summer of 2011...root rot.

 

[Dan W.]

Thanks Dave, I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

Do you know if this was a coastal lodgepole, or Rocky Mountain...or other?

 

[Dav4]

Thanks Dave, I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

Do you know if this was a coastal lodgepole, or Rocky Mountain...or other?

Honestly, I'm not sure...wish I still had it, though.

 

[Neli]

Honestly, I'm not sure...wish I still had it, though.

What do You think caused the rot? Can it be overfertilising or poor drainage?

 

[0soyoung]

What do You think caused the rot? Can it be overfertilising or poor drainage?

I realize I am sticking my nose in your conversation with somebody else, but ...

Root rot is caused by poor drainage or drowning the roots.

Fertilizer burn dessicates the whole tree. Fertilizers are salts - mumification is accomplished by using salt for tissue dehydration (or drying fish, etc.) The first manifestation of over-fertilizing is foliage browning on the margins, especially where exposed to direct sunlight (burning). Wind scorch looks similar but appears where the foliage is directly exposed to wind - sometimes this is the same as where there is direct sun.

Happy holidays!

 

[Neli]

I realize I am sticking my nose in your conversation with somebody else, but ...

Root rot is caused by poor drainage or drowning the roots.

Fertilizer burn dessicates the whole tree. Fertilizers are salts - mumification is accomplished by using salt for tissue dehydration (or drying fish, etc.) The first manifestation of over-fertilizing is foliage browning on the margins, especially where exposed to direct sunlight (burning). Wind scorch looks similar but appears where the foliage is directly exposed to wind - sometimes this is the same as where there is direct sun.

Happy holidays!

Thank You for the good info!

 

[Dav4]

What do You think caused the rot? Can it be overfertilising or poor drainage?

It was a combination of several thing, I think. First and foremost, I had moved from MA to GA in the summer fo '09'. Though the summers are hotter here in N. GA, they are more humid and my new back yard had less sun then in MA. The increased consistenly high summer temps seem to force some temperate trees into a dormancy state. Combine this with higher humidity and less the full sun, and these trees, being watered only once a day, were not drying out adequately. I also feel my soil mix of turface, lava, and grit, may not have had the best particle size, which contributed to the soil staying too wet.