Virginia Pine....in a South Carolina Loblolly style

[johng]

For many years I played disc golf...finally gave it up after the third shoulder surgery My favorite course is in a downtown park with many very old pines...the pines are unique in the sense that the trunks are very straight and very tall but the branches are twisted and contorted. I have always wanted to try something similar....

This is a Virginia pine that I collected as a seedling about 10 years ago... It spent some time in the ground and then in a training pot. Last fall it got moved from potting soil to inorganic soil. I was going to wait until Fall to do this work but this tree was so vigorous this Spring I decided to go ahead and do some work...

Still aways to go...but let's look at some pics..probably a little over 24" tall

Here is a pic as an homage to Adair - appreciate the fine wiring skills

Even had several small cones developing...

After a severe pruning...probably more than most folks would be willing to do to a Pine but I have found that VP is very capable of coming back from this kind of abuse...

I didn't originally plan on wiring this tree...you can see above that I had only applied a single wire to start with...changed my mind though and pulled out the copper...

and the whole tree...

 

[markyscott]

Love to see people working with native pines. Nice work John! That's a really nice facsimile of a loblolly.

 

[johng]

Love to see people working with native pines. Nice work John! That's a really nice facsimile of a loblolly.

Thanks Scott! Started with 50 and I am down to 9. It has been a learning experience to figure out the best way to move them from the ground to a container! Not sure I still have a complete handle on it, but I have had the best results when digging in the late summer and early fall. Once they are established in a container it seems repotting can be done about any time.

 

[Dav4]

Thanks Scott! Started with 50 and I am down to 9. It has been a learning experience to figure out the best way to move them from the ground to a container! Not sure I still have a complete handle on it, but I have had the best results when digging in the late summer and early fall. Once they are established in a container it seems repotting can be done about any time.

I'm going to give this a shot with some volunteers in my yard this fall.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I love it. I've wanted a pine styled like this or the taller Ponderosa pines.

 

[mcpesq817]

Nice John! I was down in Disney World on a family vacation earlier this year, and saw lots of solo pines on the grounds that looked like this. I loved how they looked - very cool to see people trying out native pines in a style other than old beat up mountain trees.

 

[Cypress187]

Something in the apex is throwing me off, it's too big or too small. But very good progress overall man!

 

[Giga]

I love native pine - I have pitch and a loblolly. Your Virginia pine does look like a lobloly, very well done. I'm still on the look out for a Virginia pine but there're just very few in my immediate area and most are massive old things.

You've collected these guys in summer and fall? Our climates are pretty close, care to elaborate on after care and how you pot them up?

 

[johng]

I love native pine - I have pitch and a loblolly. Your Virginia pine does look like a lobloly, very well done. I'm still on the look out for a Virginia pine but there're just very few in my immediate area and most are massive old things.

You've collected these guys in summer and fall? Our climates are pretty close, care to elaborate on after care and how you pot them up?

I collected these as seedlings and put them directly into a grow bed...42 of 50 survived. A couple years later I started to experiment digging and potting small groups of them...I think 10% survived the first go round in early spring. The next year I tried late spring and maybe got 2 of 10 to live....early summer same results... Finally tried moving them in Sept and got better results but still only about 50%. Ultimately I ended up with about 15 or so and sold a few...now I am down to 6 individuals and a group of 3. All that survived the move to containers have been repotted at least once with 100% success. Last fall, I repotted 6 in Oct and they never missed a beat!

 

[Giga]

We you repot them in October do you just slip pot them or do a full on repot? to bad your 6 hours from me I would grab one of those guys if you had any for sale

 

[johng]

full repot...this past Fall I moved them from potting soil to inorganic...even hosed out the old soil.

 

[pitchpine]

I love this tree, but I see what you mean---I think it's that the transition from the wired, widely spaced branching to the apex is a bit abrupt. Maybe wiring the lowest branches of the apex downward would help?

Something in the apex is throwing me off, it's too big or too small. But very good progress overall man!

 

[johng]

it is hard to evaluate this tree at this point...in a few short weeks it will have about 10X as much foliage...I'll post a pic and then let's see what it looks like??

 

[LanceMac10]

High end horticulture.

 

[BethF]

Your tree is off to a good start, John. Do you happen to have any pictures of the trees that inspired your composition?

 

[Eric Group]

full repot...this past Fall I moved them from potting soil to inorganic...even hosed out the old soil.

The Hell you say? No half-caff-double-decaf repot? Certain death for a Pine!

For many years I played disc golf...finally gave it up after the third shoulder surgery My favorite course is in a downtown park with many very old pines...the pines are unique in the sense that the trunks are very straight and very tall but the branches are twisted and contorted. I have always wanted to try something similar....

This is a Virginia pine that I collected as a seedling about 10 years ago... It spent some time in the ground and then in a training pot. Last fall it got moved from potting soil to inorganic soil. I was going to wait until Fall to do this work but this tree was so vigorous this Spring I decided to go ahead and do some work...

Still aways to go...but let's look at some pics..probably a little over 24" tall

Here is a pic as an homage to Adair - appreciate the fine wiring skills

Even had several small cones developing...

After a severe pruning...probably more than most folks would be willing to do to a Pine but I have found that VP is very capable of coming back from this kind of abuse...

I didn't originally plan on wiring this tree...you can see above that I had only applied a single wire to start with...changed my mind though and pulled out the copper...

and the whole tree...

Tall, thin and graceful! Just like you like 'em! Cool to see a Virginia getting some work... How do you work these when it comes to pruning? Will they throw a second flush of growth if decandled? Do you just reduce the candles after they extend? They do not grow the same kind of candles as Black Pine in my experience... Any tips for pruning is appreciated. I now have two- one I collected at my brother's house in Va., the other my Mom got from the Arbor Day Foundation- she got three, killed one kept one and gave one to me. It seems to grow much more vigorously than my collected one, but it in a deeper lot too...

Speaking of tall thin and graceful- John, did you see @MACH5 's Hinoki for sale in Bonsai Auctions on FB this week? Kind of reminded me of some of yours!

 

[Eric Group]

For many years I played disc golf...finally gave it up after the third shoulder surgery My favorite course is in a downtown park with many very old pines...

Earlwood Park?

 

[markyscott]

Your tree is off to a good start, John. Do you happen to have any pictures of the trees that inspired your composition?

Hate to speak for John, but I happen to have an example that looks similar.

 

[johng]

Your tree is off to a good start, John. Do you happen to have any pictures of the trees that inspired your composition?

Hey Beth! Sorry no pics...I have tried often in the past and none seemed to ever really capture what I could see... The good news is that you can simply ride through Earlewood Park (off N.Main) and see the inspiration!

Hate to speak for John, but I happen to have an example that looks similar.

Thank you Sir!!
Your pic is similar but the ones in the park are much older, larger, and the branches are even more contorted! But you certainly have the right idea.

 

[johng]

How do you work these when it comes to pruning? Will they throw a second flush of growth if decandled?

I am still learning but basically JBP technique works fine... I have learned that VP might be described as a multi-flush pine...I have pruned 3 times in a season as an experiment...the tree never missed a beat! I pruned most of them twice last year...both times resulting in a new flush of buds and growth. I also find that I can even cut back into last years needles and still get buds to push!