THIS is what happens to a refined pine when...

[Adair M]

You don’t decandle:



Oh! The humanity! Six years of tedious refinement - wasted! It used to have 3/4 inch needles! Everywhere! It was balanced! (Well, it still is balanced. )

What am I going to do? I’ll have to, gasp!, start over! OMG!!!

Another 6 years of needle pulling, wiring, decandling... I don’t know if I will be able to bear it!

And the name calling I’ll suffer... I can hear it now, “green helmet”, “cookie cutter”... it’s, it’s almost too much!

Maybe I should just to to Lowe’s and get something from there, and leave all these refined trees to their devices. You see, they don’t care about me! They don’t care that I’ve spent the past 6 years slaving over them! Plucking old needles, thinning new shoots to pairs, wiring and unwiring, assuring every twig gets sun exposure! Do they care? Hrumph! I let them go for 5 months, not even a half a year... you would think that the trees would have learned by now, but, Nooooo... they go off and grow long needles! As a show of defiance!

Some gratitude they show me! I’ve taken them to the best of shows. Let them meet the most influentual people in bonsai.

Ha! They showed me, huh?

Well, I’ll have the last laugh! Next spring, I’m taking away your fancy show pot! I’m putting you back into the Chinese training pot! What about that?!? We’ll see how fuzzy you look after a good needle pulling and wiring this fall! I’ll show you, Buster!

 

[Jcmmaple]

Haha, that’s too funny. Still a good looking tree, but oh the vicious cycle of bonsai.

 

[plant_dr]

Don't try and fool us! That tree is obviously still in training. It is so rough that it never could have been refined before ...

 

[coh]

I'm pretty sure that was the tree Adair had in the last National exhibition.

Listen, I think that pine needs a good lesson. Bring it up to Rochester next month and I'll be happy to subject it to a few Rochester winters. That'll teach it!

 

[Adair M]

I'm pretty sure that was the tree Adair had in the last National exhibition.

Listen, I think that pine needs a good lesson. Bring it up to Rochester next month and I'll be happy to subject it to a few Rochester winters. That'll teach it!

Lol!!!

Oh, lord, I don’t want to KILL it! Lol!!!

No, after 6 years of intense refinement, I cut it back pretty hard last spring. Shortened a lot of branches. I probably removed at least 1/2 of the foliage. And all the wire.

So, letting it go this summer and make long needles will strengthen it up for another round of refinement. Since it had been so highly refined, the candles didn’t really grow long. Only 1/2 to 3/4 inch. The needles did, but they don’t matter. Actually, long needles will just provide more sugar, and make the tree stronger over the winter.


The plan for the fall is thin new shoots if necessary, pull old needles, and wire.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

You don’t decandle:

View attachment 207253

Oh! The humanity! Six years of tedious refinement - wasted! It used to have 3/4 inch needles! Everywhere! It was balanced! (Well, it still is balanced. )

What am I going to do? I’ll have to, gasp!, start over! OMG!!!

Another 6 years of needle pulling, wiring, decandling... I don’t know if I will be able to bear it!

And the name calling I’ll suffer... I can hear it now, “green helmet”, “cookie cutter”... it’s, it’s almost too much!

Maybe I should just to to Lowe’s and get something from there, and leave all these refined trees to their devices. You see, they don’t care about me! They don’t care that I’ve spent the past 6 years slaving over them! Plucking old needles, thinning new shoots to pairs, wiring and unwiring, assuring every twig gets sun exposure! Do they care? Hrumph! I let them go for 5 months, not even a half a year... you would think that the trees would have learned by now, but, Nooooo... they go off and grow long needles! As a show of defiance!

Some gratitude they show me! I’ve taken them to the best of shows. Let them meet the most influentual people in bonsai.

Ha! They showed me, huh?

Well, I’ll have the last laugh! Next spring, I’m taking away your fancy show pot! I’m putting you back into the Chinese training pot! What about that?!? We’ll see how fuzzy you look after a good needle pulling and wiring this fall! I’ll show you, Buster!

If you’re going to go this far, at least show the unedited photo!

 

[atlarsenal]

I think you should set it out by road and forget about it.

 

[Adair M]

If you’re going to go this far, at least show the unedited photo!

What unedited photo?

 

[Cadillactaste]

And those who feel a show specimen tree is no work! ?

 

[jeanluc83]

I think you should set it out by road and forget about it.

It's a lost cause. Just send it to my house and I'll give it a proper burial.

 

[Kendo]

送風機 You can use leaf blower to fix up.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Just use Walter Pall's shears on it!

 

[barrosinc]

What unedited photo?

I guess it's the iPhone blurry background photo effect that looks mehh...

 

[Johnathan]

whats the plant in the little pot next to it?

Do you have an accent for each pine you have?

 

[AZbonsai]

Beautiful. Looks really healthy!.

 

[Adair M]

whats the plant in the little pot next to it?

Do you have an accent for each pine you have?

Sedum.

I don’t have an accent for every tree, but I’m trying to have more placed randomly about the trees. Adds a little color and interest.

 

[Adair M]

I guess it's the iPhone blurry background photo effect that looks mehh...

Well, you are a good photographer. I’m not. I thought using the iPhone portrait mode would “mute” the background enough so you could just focus on the tree. It was just a quick snapshot. No attempt was made to produce a studio quality picture!

The story I wanted to tell is it’s a good idea to give your highly refined trees a year off every once in a while to build strength for the next round.

This is how you can continue to improve the tree over the long term.

 

[Shima]

So...You really think you're in charge?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I guess it's the iPhone blurry background photo effect that looks mehh...

It makes the edges look photoshopped.

 

[Vance Wood]

And those who feel a show specimen tree is no work! ?

You cannot keep a tree like a JBP in show ready condition eternally and keep it alive. This is the down side of bonsai with this variety of Pine. I have seen this tree in person and the needle length was amazing as was the ramification. If you have not grown one of these guys you have no clue how difficult getting a tree to this stage is. Most people don't have the knowledge to do it or the commitment to work the process through to the end including letting the tree run wild to regain strength. I think Adair has done a spectacular job on this tree and is sharing the other side of the coin.