Dav4 and M. Frary both speak wisdom. And if I might add, location makes a big difference.
As an example:
Where I live, Ponderosa needles are very difficult to reduce simply because they are a single flush pine, and we have a very long growing season. I know that as ramification increases, it's energy will get split amongst more twigs, and needles should shorten.
But, when I bought it, it still had needles from its native Colorado. They were 2 to 2.5 inches long. Here, they grow 5 to 6 inches long! The Colorado mountain summer is much shorter than ours.
So...
I have a tree about 16 yo 18 inches tall with 5 inch needles. I don't even fertilize it!
This tree has a great trunk, wonderful dead wood, and if I could maintain 2.5 inch needles, it would be fantastic. But it won't.
I keep it to remind myself NOT to be tempted to bu another! Lol!!! In fact I did win another at a club auction that had great potential, but knowing how it would grow out of scale at my house, I sold it to someone in a better environment for it.
Conversely,
I have a Zuisho JWP at Boon's in California. It's a wonderful tree, but not growing well in his environment. So, I'm bringing it home to Georgia where I suspect it will do better. I have another Zuisho here, and it's thriving!
Trees evolve to thrive in their environment. Take the tree out of that environment, and the tree struggles. If a tree is taken out of its natural habitat and moved to a similiar habitat, it will most likely thrive there.
My climate here in North Georgia is very similiar to that of Japan's. That why many Japanese species do well here. On the other hand, many American species, such as California Juniper, don't like my climate. Over a couple years, a California Juniper would fade and die. Whereas Shimpaku thrives.
So, I prefer to grow Shimpaku rather than Californua Juniper. Is it because I think "Japanese" species are better than "American" species? Not at all. It's just that they grow in my climate better than the American counterparts.
...and I want to own trees with LOTS of potential. I've got 5 yr old JBP seedlings that are beginning to bark up...I'll be in a nursing home before I see a similarly aged EWP do the same. You're lucky that you have access to Pondies, and I am looking at trying my hand at a loblolly and P. virginiana, but if I want a good pine bonsai and I'm looking for a more or less sure thing, I'll stick with the JBP and JRP, at least in my back yard.
