Shortleaf Pine (Pinus Echinata)

[Shogun610]

So here’s my big pinus , it was found in a shallow nursery concrete bonsai-ish container back in March. I asked if they would sell it. 25 bucks not that it matters but what I’m gonna do it , should be awesome
This is the tree after acquisition.
They wanted the concrete pot .

 

[Shogun610]

The day I brought it home, repotted it in a conifer blend from Superfly. Kept a lot of the soil but cut extra roots to fit in a round mica pot.

 

[Shogun610]

The wind 🌬 knocked it over , so I did an emergency repot. But up yours motha nature I found a better angle to sit the roots on with a better mound of substrate blend underneath. Buds were fat but swelling at the time.

 

[Shogun610]

Update today, the candle have pushed and opened up. Now the needles have emerged . This is a double flush pine , but I’m not doing any candle cutting till next year(maybe). In March I plan on using padding along the bark to not damage the awesome flakiness. Using a rebar, wedge cut method, and bending it dirasticly back to make a serious bend, wiring it and letting it rest for 2-3 years. Once I feel like it rebound I think it will respond well, I’ll start to reduce needles and develop pads. Look out for this one!

 

[Potawatomi13]

Wild guess these grow epicormic branches on old wood? If this is the case/if not wanting huge formal upright tree and tree survives summer heat suggest cutting back to second whorl of branches above long first branch, fertilize heavily into Fall, see if new sprouts develop on lower mostly bare trunk. Can develop shorter tree from these if developing for you

 

[Shogun610]

Wild guess these grow epicormic branches on old wood? If this is the case/if not wanting huge formal upright tree and tree survives summer heat suggest cutting back to second whorl of branches above long first branch, fertilize heavily into Fall, see if new sprouts develop on lower mostly bare trunk. Can develop shorter tree from these if developing for you

I see what you’re saying hmm . There is some taper and back buds developed on top. It will take some rigging and serious bends but this is the inspiration

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

I see what you’re saying hmm . There is some taper and back buds developed on top. It will take some rigging and serious bends but this is the inspiration

I think the issue is proportions. The two trees you reference are quite a bit shorter. You’re tree appears quite tall. The extreme bends you speak about would need to be made low in the trunk, and I’m not sure that’s possible.

This is a difficult piece of material, for sure.

Here is a pitch pine I saw Bjorns place.

It was Huge! Maybe something like this would work for your tree. What happened to the little trees in the first picture? Are they gone? As you can see from above, the small tree at the base gives Bjorns tree some balance. Might be useful for your composition as well.

Good luck, I struggled with short leaf when I lived in St Louis, so keep us posted, I’m looking forward to its progress.

 

[Shogun610]

Side note, I will removed damaged branches up top most likely although it’s back budding. Does anyone know of a bird or anything that would tear needles off , and suckle on the sap?

 

[Shogun610]

I think the issue is proportions. The two trees you reference are quite a bit shorter. You’re tree appears quite tall. The extreme bends you speak about would need to be made low in the trunk, and I’m not sure that’s possible.

This is a difficult piece of material, for sure.

Here is a pitch pine I saw Bjorns place.
View attachment 388098
It was Huge! Maybe something like this would work for your tree. What happened to the little trees in the first picture? Are they gone? As you can see from above, the small tree at the base gives Bjorns tree some balance. Might be useful for your composition as well.

Good luck, I struggled with short leaf when I lived in St Louis, so keep us posted, I’m looking forward to its progress.

Thanks for the tips, the smaller trees had some weird orange fungus. I didn’t wanna mess around so into burn pile. Did you have any pest problems with your shortleaf like bird or mammals? I mean the bending part I’m trying to go for a rebar and guy wire method. But as noted above , it may be all cut back up too , and lower branches used since it’s budding form old bark.

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

Thanks for the tips, the smaller trees had some weird orange fungus. I didn’t wanna mess around so into burn pile. Did you have any pest problems with your shortleaf like bird or mammals? I mean the bending part I’m trying to go for a rebar and guy wire method. But as noted above , it may be all cut back up too , and lower branches used since it’s budding form old bark.

No pests. For me, my shortleafs seemed to get all hot and bothered when I messed with the roots and/or put them into a container.

To be clear, I was (and still am) an idiot as it applies to many aspects of bonsai, so take my experience with plenty of grains of salt.

But in my experience, they acted more like a maple than a pine.

 

[Shogun610]

No pests. For me, my shortleafs seemed to get all hot and bothered when I messed with the roots and/or put them into a container.

To be clear, I was (and still am) an idiot as it applies to many aspects of bonsai, so take my experience with plenty of grains of salt.

But in my experience, they acted more like a maple than a pine.

Interesting, this was in a container for 12 years , as you can see when I first got it the roots where compact already

 

[Shogun610]

Follow up questions. Has anyone ever wedge cut a pine , wrap it in raffia, wire it, use a rebar and guy wire into shape? Did any of you cut into old bark? I do have the options of regrowing further down it’s a prolific back bidder and it has double flushed. I want to cut off be very top of the tree as seen marked up in the picture , but I’d want to make a new apex , bend where the arrow is back over the center of the pot.
maybe @Brian Van Fleet or @Adair M can share their insights on how possible this would be.

 

[Potawatomi13]

A Live Stream exists on Mirai Live called Advanced Bending (in 2 parts) doing exactly this same thing you ask. A VERY major wedge cut/bend is done here. Personally would say many/most prefer not to use this technique but it remains viable creative technique to reach a goal. Personally have used on Lodgepole Pine and Douglas Fir.

 

[Shogun610]

First picture is the front since there is a bend near base and subtle curves. It’s happening.. I strapped pipe insulation and rebar tied with wire to the trunk to protect bark. I’m bending the upper portion back and pulling / twisting the tree up alittle back up to the right then … I’ll be using C clamps is needed… and of course wrapped with raffia

 

[Shogun610]

Top snapped … I guess I needed bigger tire I had 6 guage. So now I’ll have to rely on the new growth shooting out of the trunk….. sofa king mad right now

 

[PiñonJ]

Top snapped … I guess I needed bigger [w]ire I had 6 guage.

Using the right gauge just holds the bend securely, it doesn't prevent a break. If the trunk/branch is not flexible enough to bend even with raffia, the best technique for bending pines is a wedge cut.

 

[Shogun610]

Yeah , I should have just went with a wedge cut… I was hoping to put a bigger bend than what I could have achieved with the wedge cut it seemed flexible enough … I was wrong…., I pushed the limit and should have stopped ….just going to take this L.
atleast there is growth further down and buds pushing at the base…. I’ll carve out the top one day once new branches push through… I’ll update in a year to how it looks. Maybe I’ll graft pitch pine to it … who knows.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Let it recover, I would plan on not doing much for 2 years. See what happens.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Very fortuitous break. Now no worry about way too tall trunk. Better tree should result.

 

[Shogun610]

This tree is already showing signs of redemption.