Stone Pine

[RickMartin]

Another Christmas special I picked up to play with. These are fun to mess with. I did a lot of needle plucking on all the branches to open it up, mainly needles on the top and bottom of each branch,and also where ever a needle was growing in a crotch. I did some minor pruning with branches. I want to let it rest for awhile before I wire it. It will give me practice on wiring skills.
It started like this.

And ended like this


Rick

 

[miker]

I like it. I just bought one last night that looks almost identical to yours in the first photo. This species (as least as a small sapling seems like a decent candidate for bonsai, despite reputed issues with bumps or knobs forming on the trunk. Not sure if I can do any pruning this late in my location, but yours looks good so far.

 

[Paradox]

I dont know anything about these except I heard they dont make good bonsai but not sure.

 

[M. Frary]

I think @bonhe has one. Well see what he thinks.

 

[miker]

I had read that Pinus pinea does not make for good bonsai material too. I guess time will tell.

The needles sure are short, vs my Mikawa JBP that has 4-5" needles at the top, and is about a foot tall and never been chopped. I know this will change with time being trained as a bonsai, but still, my stone pine looks more like a young spruce than a pine at this point.

 

[bonhe]

I think @bonhe has one. Well see what he thinks.

Hi M. Frary, I gave it away about 2 years ago to make room for other trees! It responds well with trimming but too much work comparing with JBP (the old dead needles tend to be attached to the branches, I had to use a pickup to remove them)
Bonhe

 

[MichaelS]

Taiga Urushibata worked on an old Stone Pine here last Sept. I don't like what he did with it at all (he made it Japanese, but that's another story) Any way the point is that they have juvenile growth which keeps appearing and this can be a problem if you get a mix of mature and juvenile needles at the same time. I think there is better material to use. Scots pine being one of them.
http://www.bonsaisocietyvictoria.com.au/bsv-newsblog/2016-june-taiga-urushibata-workshops/#more-522

 

[just.wing.it]

Are these trees actually pines?
They look weird, more spruce like.

 

[aml1014]

Are these trees actually pines?
They look weird, more spruce like.

Yep they are a real pine lol, they produce very short needled blue juvenile foliage, but when older they produce actual pine needles that are usually about 5 inches long. They can be monsters!

Aaron

 

[Vance Wood]

Taiga Urushibata worked on an old Stone Pine here last Sept. I don't like what he did with it at all (he made it Japanese, but that's another story) Any way the point is that they have juvenile growth which keeps appearing and this can be a problem if you get a mix of mature and juvenile needles at the same time. I think there is better material to use. Scots pine being one of them.
http://www.bonsaisocietyvictoria.com.au/bsv-newsblog/2016-june-taiga-urushibata-workshops/#more-522

Interesting, what do you think he should have done with it?

 

[Starfox]

Another name that these go by is the Umbrella/Parasol Pine as naturally they can grow somewhat into that shape like the pic below.

I have two little self sown seedlings growing out and now that the parent tree is gone(thankfully) I decided I'll keep them, I may never use them but free trees and all that. For some reason I keep on thinking of trying to replicate the famous Lone Pine in Gallipoli.

Here you can see the different needles.

 

[M. Frary]

Interesting, what do you think he should have done with it?

Maybe make it Kanadian?

 

[MichaelS]

Interesting, what do you think he should have done with it?

The thing is, I didn't expect any different than what we got (not my tree by the way). What I would have liked? Well if you look at the first pick it firstly looks like a Pinus pinea. Never ever do they have weeping branches. There are many mature specimens in the parks here and they all more or less grow like the ones in the picture below. But the main problem I have is that I'm so tired of going to demos knowing what's going to happen before they start. I would like someone to have the guts to treat this kind of material with more sensitivity to how the tree wants to grow. It's a different way of looking at things which is disappointingly, not even ever mentioned. In the first picture the tree although unrefined has a kind of power to it. You can almost see the wind. In the last picture, well, let's not mince words, it's f**ked up Japanese style. This is totally understandable from a Japanese bonsai man BTW. Breaking with tradition is not so easy there. No such problems here.....

 

[Potawatomi13]

You are correct. It looked better before.

 

[MichaelS]

You are correct. It looked better before.

Thanks Potawatomi. So that 2 of us.......

 

[Tycoss]

I think your perception of what different conifers "look like" has a lot to do with how your local environment tends to shape your local specimens. It is cool to see all the different forms that people come up with as bonsai becomes a more international art form. I like that first image a lot. Here, our local conifers never seem to grow like that. Even stone pines end up with short, downward sweeping branches due to the snow weight. definitely prefer the first image.

 

[aml1014]

I think your perception of what different conifers "look like" has a lot to do with how your local environment tends to shape your local specimens. It is cool to see all the different forms that people come up with as bonsai becomes a more international art form. I like that first image a lot. Here, our local conifers never seem to grow like that. Even stone pines end up with short, downward sweeping branches due to the snow weight. definitely prefer the first image.

Stone pines shouldn't be able to live in Calgary, they are only hardy to 0°f, maybe -10°f if it's an established tree.

Aaron

 

[milehigh_7]

Ernie Kuo used to work with them. Not the best for a classical look but likely if you train them in their natural "umbrella" style you might have better luck.

 

[Tycoss]

Stone pines shouldn't be able to live in Calgary, they are only hardy to 0°f, maybe -10°f if it's an established tree.

Aaron

Thanks for the correction. Same common name (around here), different species.

 

[sorce]

Ernie Kuo used to work with them. Not the best for a classical look but likely if you train them in their natural "umbrella" style you might have better luck.

So dude cut down that tree....
And it took you half a year to find out if you take the laptop inside, you won't get glare and you can actually come hang out again?

Lol! I was just starting to wonder!

Sorce