Scots pine 3.5 years progression

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Mame
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This progression is of a pinus sylvestris I acquired in June of 2010 while living in Tulsa Oklahoma. The tree was in too small a pot, and had not been maintained, simply due to size and the owners health issues. It was collected from a tree farm somewhere near spavinaw, Ok...about 30 years ago I believe....as the story goes. The tree is not without its flaws, but we are making progress!


My first order of business was to shoot prune, and begin a solid feeding regimen and get the tree some much needed sunlight.


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In August 2011 my wife surprised me with a visit from Ryan Neil to do an initial styling on the tree. The tree had responded well to being repotted into a better mix of pumice and akadama and the room of the wood box. Below is the tree after the first styling.

scots1.jpg
 
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Dan W.

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Looks great! I'm looking forward to the rest... :)
 

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Mame
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In December 2012 I removed the wire, and then allowed the tree to rest, and simply applied normal seasonal development techniques for this species.
I began to rewire the tree a couple of weeks ago, here it is now after being rewired and foliage repositioned, new foliage put into proper places.

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While in Japan this summer touring nurseries with a small group of friends led by Peter Warren, I found this pot at Shunkaen while visiting Mr. Kobayashi and carried it home on the plane. Now, I'm looking forward to repotting the tree, and continuing its refinement.

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Hope you enjoyed the progression, feedback is welcome.
Neil
 
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JudyB

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Wow, nice tree. Love the surface roots, and it looks like a great styling job. Can I ask why the tree went into a box? Looks to me like the trunk and main branching is pretty well along, so just wondering. The original pot does look a bit smallish, but wouldn't a larger pot be the way to go?
 

JudyB

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gotta type faster...

Guess my question is moot, I was replying to the first post when you put up the next one... Lovely pot.
 

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Mame
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I put the tree into a box which is only slight light larger internally than the old pot, for a couple of reasons, one was to allow the trees root system to recover from poor soil and from being so constrained for far too long. Secondly, I had no suitable pot.

I removed the original first branch because it made the trunk seems small, and did not seem to "fit" the image I was after. I did soak on that decision for a year and a half, then one day I came home from work and just took it off. I think it made an instant difference in the feel of the tree.

I am blessed with a great wife for sure. It was her and my friend Matt Ouwinga that arranged the deal with Ryan while he was in Chicago judging the Midwest exhibition.

Thanks for looking!
 

Nomiyama

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Great progress you should be proud. It's amazing what a tree can do in a few years in the right hands with proper care and styling. This tree has a bright future for sure, I see shows in it's near future. After seeing this I really do need to find myself a scots pine. Thanks for sharing.
 

Paradox

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Very nice tree. Awesome to have some time with Ryan Neil to help develop it.
 

Vance Wood

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Very nice tree. Awesome to have some time with Ryan Neil to help develop it.

Very fine tree, healthy and robust. Good to see this kind of progression around here.
 

GrimLore

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Thanks for sharing that :) Here it has snowed most of the night and continued all day. Nice to see you are able to spend some quality time with your specimens :)

Grimmy
 

Vance Wood

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We have had tempetures in the 20's to the near -20's off and on for at least three weeks.
 

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Mame
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Vance,
We have also had the same weather patterns. It's tough! I am thankful for the garage....I get stressed when it warms up though!

Paradox,
Yes, it was a good day with Ryan and the first styling set the tree into the right direction without question. Styling a tree that has been properly set up for the future is huge! Now don't get me wrong, props to Ryan for sure. It's important to note though, that I've actually learned quite alot with this tree during the 2 years after Ryan's visit, during which proper seasonal technique and observation of the results were important.
 
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