Schwerin pine as a bonsai tree

[sergey]

Hi!
I recently started to learn bonsai and bought a pine seedling for training purposes (Schwerin pine). The pine looks rare (I've not found any experience making a bonsai tree using this plant) and I didn't find any information on how to care, prune and wire it. However, I found some information about wallichiana pine and it looks like the recommendations for this pine can be suitable to mine.
I repotted the pine, tried to wire it and cut some branches. After this it started to look better but It does not look like a bonsai tree yet. The pine has started to grow actively after repotting and pruning and now there are new needles and buds (candles).

Could you give some recommendations about how to care for this pine, please? What would you change in its shape? There are definitely quite a lot of needles on the tree crown, but I'm afraid to kill the plant by doing inappropriate pruning. Maybe it's not the best plant to start learning bonsai.

Please, could you also share links on courses (books, blogs) that might suit to similar kinds of pines? My idea is to bend the trunk and try to make a cascade shape cause the needles of this pine are directed downwards

Thanks!

 

[hardtimes]

bigger pot for bigger growth

 

[VietHoang3110]

What is your location then? I believe that caring shouldn't be so different than other pine species. And there are plenty of guides and tips for you to look your tree in the forum, just use the search tool or simply google plus bonsainut.

 

[Srt8madness]

That is many years from looking like a bonsai. Pine bonsai are some of the slowest to look "like bonsai" in my opinion. You start by building the trunk, which will take several years depending what style you are going for. Concurrently you try to keep low branches alive. THEN you worry about styling.

For your pine, you need to find out if it is single flush or multi-flush, then look up the techniques used on the type applicable to yours.

If you want a tree to style to look like a bonsai quickly, juniper, Chinese elm, and ficus are all good subjects.

 

[Srt8madness]

Bonsaify has a pine course.

 

[Paradox]

Anyone know if this species is 2 needle, 3 needle, 5?
Or if it's single flush vs 2 flush?

Answers to those questions will help determine development techniques later on.
Until then, I agree with others above that it needs more time to grow

 

[PerryB]

From Iselin Nursery:

"Wiethorst Hybrid Pine

Loads of long, super-fine, two-color needles produce an airy, delicate quality, while a profusion of handsome, resinous cones adds to the presence of the large, graceful Pinus x schwerinii ‘Wiethorst’. Discovered in Germany as a witch’s broom on Pinus x schwerinii, a pine hybrid combining strobus and wallichiana, it gets hardiness from the Eastern White Pine and grace and extremely long needles from the Himalayan White Pine. The outstanding, hardy tree will form a dramatic background or add an outstanding accent to the large landscape."

With such long needles, it seems like a poor choice for bonsai.

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

I think it looks like a Pinus Strobus.

Discovered in Germany as a witch’s broom on Pinus x schwerinii, a pine hybrid combining strobus and wallichiana,

Try to bent and compress the trunk as much as possible when they are young to get more movement in it.

 

[sergey]

From Iselin Nursery:

"Wiethorst Hybrid Pine

Loads of long, super-fine, two-color needles produce an airy, delicate quality, while a profusion of handsome, resinous cones adds to the presence of the large, graceful Pinus x schwerinii ‘Wiethorst’. Discovered in Germany as a witch’s broom on Pinus x schwerinii, a pine hybrid combining strobus and wallichiana, it gets hardiness from the Eastern White Pine and grace and extremely long needles from the Himalayan White Pine. The outstanding, hardy tree will form a dramatic background or add an outstanding accent to the large landscape."

With such long needles, it seems like a poor choice for bonsai.

Yes, that might explain the fact why I've not found any information about bonsais made from this kind of pine The needles are definitely quite long, buy I thought there might be a possibility to make them shorter somehow

 

[sergey]

Anyone know if this species is 2 needle, 3 needle, 5?
Or if it's single flush vs 2 flush?

Answers to those questions will help determine development techniques later on.
Until then, I agree with others above that it needs more time to grow

It's a five needles pine, I don't know yet if it's a single flush or 2 flush

 

[sergey]

Anyway, should I try to grow a bonsai tree or it's quite unlikely to grow anything looking like bonsai from this seedling? How might it look like in 3-5-10 years? Have you seen any photos of similar bonsai pines somewhere on the internet? Might it worth of spent resources, time and efforts?

P.S. I can always give it to a friend for gardening

 

[rockm]

Yes, that might explain the fact why I've not found any information about bonsais made from this kind of pine The needles are definitely quite long, buy I thought there might be a possibility to make them shorter somehow

It is a hybrid of Bhutan Pine (pinus wallachiana) and Eastern (US) White Pine (pinus strobus). Both aren't really great candidates for bonsai because of long needles and in the case of Eastern White Pine, minimal trunk character until it's very old. You will likely be battling long needles forever with this hybrid. There's not much info out there for bonsai, because no one is using it as there are a list of species that are better for bonsai.

You have one that is also grafted--the trunk at the bottom is "necked up" from the graft, where the base is slower growing than the top. That is likely to get worse as the tree grows.

That said, you have one. At this point, I'd leave it alone for the time being to see how it fares in a pot. You can bend it, etc. if you want. It's not going to appreciate it so soon after a repot.