Pinus aristata

[Cruiser]

Hello everyone,

I recently acquired two Colorado bristlecone pines and would like to start working them into bonsais. They are approx 4.5’ tall with 5” circumferences.

Id like to chop them down to more reasonable sizes. There’s some back budding about a foot up the trunk so my first thought was to cut just above that or maybe a little further up.
Can someone please advise?

 

[sorce]

I'd work it down slow.

Welcome to Crazy!

I have an idea that says these types of mountain trees can repair avalanche damage from winter and drought damage from summer.

Mimicking this seems the safest way to go.

Only you are not an avalanche, what you leave should be part of a beautiful plan. A well thought out beautiful plan.

Repot in summer. You are not drought and root damage, what you leave should be part of a beautiful plan. A well thought out beautiful plan.

Sorce

 

[Potawatomi13]

5” circumferences.

Or Diameter? BIG difference. Bristlecones not nearly same as JBP or even JWP. Tread softly. Do you subscribe to Mirai Live? Ryan does excellent stream on working one Yamadori tree on Dec 2017.

 

[Cruiser]

Circumference. It’s roughly 1.5” diameter at its base.

I’m not familiar with Mirai live but it sounds like a good resource to check out, thanks.

 

[Cruiser]

Sorce, your advice to mimick natural processes make sense to me. I’ll probably end up cutting the tree soon but holding off on root work until summer ‘22 so as not to stress the trees too much.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Being a beginner possibly unaware upper unneeded trunk is used to make lower trunk bigger. Once removed most hope of trunk growth is lost. Strongly suggest keeping upper trunks several years. Waiting on root abuse is also great idea.

 

[Cruiser]

Winter update:

Both pines are alive and seemingly well.

I trunk chopped one of the them last April. The other was left alone as a control. The chopped tree was reduced by about 2/3s. It had a lot of buds and needles near its base at that time (and still does).

During the spring and summer the chopped tree was positioned next to a wood fence so that it was shaded for part of the day. A gap in the fence gave it direct sunlight at its base in late afternoon.
The control tree received full sun.
Both pines were watered sparingly, even during the hotter parts of summer. 4-4-4 organic fertilizer was given early July. 4-5-3 was given late august.

During the hottest parts of July-August I started misting the canopies of both trees every couple of days. They did not seem to like that. The control started to develop a greenish film on its bark and browning needles.

Both pines have been left outside uncovered. I did not mulch the pots for winter.

I’m thinking of styling the chopped tree. No major pruning, just wiring. The branches are remarkably flexible. They’re all still growing sideways out of the trunk. There does not appear to be a clear leader, though a couple of the lowest branches grew a lot and appear to have strong buds.

Pines aristata is known for dandruff (sap flakes) on its needles. You can see that on my tree. However, someone recently mentioned that there could be some scale mixed in there. Is there a reliable way to diagnose that?

Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Growth is s l o w. Whacking trunk was not great idea. Full sun best idea. Avoid H2O on foliage unless dusty or in event of rain/snow. Whoever suggested scales is ignorant of Bristlecones. Pretty unlikely to have these. Photos of personal 30 year old tree in another thread. Other than removal of 2 trunks about 10 years old has had no major pruning largely to grow bigger trunk. Maybe should have kept these for better trunk growth.

 

[Cruiser]

Growth is s l o w. Whacking trunk was not great idea. Full sun best idea. Avoid H2O on foliage unless dusty or in event of rain/snow. Whoever suggested scales is ignorant of Bristlecones. Pretty unlikely to have these. Photos of personal 30 year old tree in another thread. Other than removal of 2 trunks about 10 years old has had no major pruning largely to grow bigger trunk. Maybe should have kept these for better trunk growth.

I found the photos. Nice material.

For those interested..

My Bristlecone Pine project

But the man with a very tall Blue Spruce has not come to the conclusion that the stock it too tall to style, as is? What do you base that conclusion on? I don't think redusing down the tree was even mentioned was it? As to my Blue Spruce---huh?

www.bonsainut.com

Given the talk of how fickle/sensitive these trees can be, it is interesting how well mine handled its chop. Perhaps it was akin to a spring avalanche in its native habitat.

Potawatomi13, what are your thoughts on adding lime to the soil? It’s my understanding that the long lived specimens grow in dolomite. Does it help them to grow or are they simply resilient enough to live in it?

 

[BrightsideB]

I found the photos. Nice material.

For those interested..

My Bristlecone Pine project

But the man with a very tall Blue Spruce has not come to the conclusion that the stock it too tall to style, as is? What do you base that conclusion on? I don't think redusing down the tree was even mentioned was it? As to my Blue Spruce---huh?

www.bonsainut.com

Given the talk of how fickle/sensitive these trees can be, it is interesting how well mine handled its chop. Perhaps it was akin to a spring avalanche in its native habitat.

Potawatomi13, what are your thoughts on adding lime to the soil? It’s my understanding that the long lived specimens grow in dolomite. Does it help them to grow or are they simply resilient enough to live in it?

It will be interesting to see how it does come spring. It truly can be hit or miss with severely cutting down a pine from what I’ve experienced and seen. That’s why we have enough material to kill a few here and there. What time of year did you cut it?

 

[Cruiser]

It will be interesting to see how it does come spring. It truly can be hit or miss with severely cutting down a pine from what I’ve experienced and seen. That’s why we have enough material to kill a few here and there. What time of year did you cut it?

Late April.

 

[BrightsideB]

Late April.

Did you get any backbudding? I did the same to a black pine and got a lot of back buds then it died. But I cut a little more then you did.

 

[Cruiser]

Did you get any backbudding? I did the same to a black pine and got a lot of back buds then it died. But I cut a little more then you did.

Not that I know of. There were already a bunch of needles and buds emerging from the lower trunk when i chopped, so it’s hard to say. I’ll take a closer look and compare photos from before.

 

[Cruiser]

Did you get any backbudding? I did the same to a black pine and got a lot of back buds then it died. But I cut a little more then you did.

Upon closer inspection and comparison with previous photos….
It appears some of the buds back in April did not end up elongating into candles or only partially needled out. Instead, a new crop of fresh buds grew around them and in some cases, right out of the “half finished” candles.
Additionally, new buds did emerge further back along the branches. I could not find any new ones emerging from the trunk. However, the trunk was already covered in back buds that had grown previously.

 

[BrightsideB]

Upon closer inspection and comparison with previous photos….
It appears some of the buds back in April did not end up elongating into candles or only partially needled out. Instead, a new crop of fresh buds grew around them and in some cases, right out of the “half finished” candles.
Additionally, new buds did emerge further back along the branches. I could not find any new ones emerging from the trunk. However, the trunk was already covered in back buds that had grown previously.

Looks good!

 

[Potawatomi13]

Potawatomi13, what are your thoughts on adding lime to the soil? It’s my understanding that the long lived specimens grow in dolomite. Does it help them to grow or are they simply resilient enough to live in it?

Not needed. Coincidentally this is a place they survive/endure. According to Ron Lanners "The Bristlecone Book" living on edge of survivability zone where very dry and growing season very short, no damaging fires, pests find survival difficult, little moisture to cause rot the calcareous rock helps reflect heat away from roots so trees survive on edge of existence on high exposed ridges or slopes. Also density of pitch carrying tubes in wood helps prevent wood decay with added discouragement of fungal growth. Personally highly recommend getting the book. Very informative.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Added info: Not particularly difficult to keep. Just slow to grow/develop. Full sun, well draining not water retentive soil. Do not starve for water, just do not allow wet feet. Personally fertilize weekly but after harden off of needles do 2x a week until rains come.

 

[Cruiser]

Late spring update: trees are growing well. The candles are beautiful. Waxey and golden with lime green needles emerging.

A lot of buds have emerged on the trunk where I plucked old needles off.

There appears to be a bit of needle cast on both trees.

 

[MaciekA]

The growth response in your latest photos is similar to my bristlecone's response to this year's first-out-of-nursery-soil repotting -- decent amount of budding and vigorous growth.

I don't think this tree necessarily needs to be treated for needlecast, and it looks like you already made the horticultural change that would address a lot of issues that would lead to unsightly needles. This species is able to keep needles around for a long time (longer than some of us have been alive), and so very old and weathered/damaged needles are going to show some issues. You may have quite a few elder needles that sat through last year's heat dome, I noticed some high elevation conifer species didn't like the heat dome very much and responded with mid-needle browning within just days. Consider that before drenching with daconil or similar, because most of the tree looks great.

 

[Cruiser]

Comparison between the cut and uncut pines.
The uncut trunk is becoming noticeably larger than the other.