How do I get this Japanese Black Pine to back bud?

Anaman

I obtained this Japanese Black Pine from a tree nursery about 6 years ago. At the time the tree was almost dead with very little foliage.

Over the years I have gotten this tree to thrive, it is very healthy, however it has little growth along the branches. Most new growth occurs at the ends of the branches, however some small outgrowths have in the past arisen from the branches only to wither and die.

It seems that maybe the sap is being drawn to the strongly growing ends, hence depriving the new buds nutrition.

I know this tree will never be a bonsai, however it is very dear to me, and I would like to improve it even just as an ornamental tree.

Anyhow once again thanks for any help, suggestions or comments as long as they do not suggest I cut the tree at ground level or plant it in the ground!

PS The tree is about 3ft in height. Although new to bonsai I have been growing trees in tiny pots for years.

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Bonsai Barry

To fill in an area with new branching is called "ramification" which is done by encouraging the tree to backbud. It is difficult to get a pine to back bud as you would like it to.
Check out these links for more information:
http://evergreengardenworks.com/pines.htm
http://www.bonsaikc.com/decandle.htm
http://bonsainurseryman.typepad.com/
http://evergreengardenworks.com/pines2.htm
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthread.php?t=17738

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Anaman

Much appreciated Barry for your links.

Lee

Vonsgardens

Well,
start by pruning the candles when the begin to extend in the spring- probably about this time of the year. I wouldn't say that this tree has no chance of being a bonsai, looks to have some good potential. You have it right, if all energy is going to the tips, nothing will happen farther back. John

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Vance Wood

If you were to make a bonsai of this tree it obviously would be a lot shorter and of course more compact. This means between that scenario and what you have now is a bunch of unwanted branches. You could use what is called an approach graft. Bend down, over or across unwanted branches and graft them to the branches you do want closer into the trunk. You carefully peel off the bark on the branch you wish to use as the scion, down to the green cambium layer. You then pick the location you wish the branch to be and peel a spot on that area (the stock), you join up the two green surfaces, you wire them together so they don't move about, you seal with wax or cut past and let nature do the rest. In a year or two you can separate the scion branch from the rest of the tree and let it grow naturally in its new location. This is almost alway successful because you do not cut the grafted branch from the parent plant untill it is set.

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malhomme

I disagree with this statement. It would make an excellent bunjin/literati style bonsai. It already reminds me of the trees in the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting-- one of the sources of the bunjin style.

With only some wiring and pinching you could turn this in to a weeping pine bunjin. With some pinching and perhaps some well placed grafts you could turn this into any other sub-style of bunjin that you wanted.

I see a great deal of potential in this tree, and can see why it is so dear to you.

Cheers,
Jim

Anaman

John, Vance and Jim, many thanks for your replies.

Firstly John, this I can handle, candle pruning I mean. I did this last year, and a couple of new buds have appeared on the bare parts of branches, and seem to be enlarging, hopefully they won't wither off this time..

If I remember correctly I started at the bottom branches, then a week later moved up a layer, the next week moved up a layer still. So I will repeat again this year.

Vance thank you for your information on grafting by the approach method. Is there a specific time of year to do this? However I have never done any grafting before, and would need to build some courage before I try this. However I would like to try just to see if my efforts were to suceed. Nothing gained if I don't try. However I would hate to damage this tree.

Jim this tree was about to be burned when I got it. Like I said there was hardly any green on it at all, most of the foliage that there was turning real brown and the needles all falling off.. For a couple of years it produced a little greenery at the braqnch tips, and then later when I started to feed it, and repotted it into this shallow round pot, it exploded into life, and just keeps looking better each year.

As to turning it into a bonsai, well I will wait until I know more about the subject. Like I say I have been growing trees in small containers and pots for years, and am quite happy as to how to keep them alive etc, so at least thats a start for me. This is a necessity for me due to lack of space in my yard.

It's the styling that gets me. I cut a branch here, a branch there and before I know it |I have cut all the branches off the darned things!! It is easy to get totally discouraged, but I suppose other people have felt this way too when starting out.

Anyhow I am going to a Bonsai Nursery tomorrow, and will hopefully have a good chat with the guy that owns it about clubs etc. It's not the horticultural aspects that particularly worry me, it's knowing when to stop cutting branches off! LOL!

I might find some decent starter trees there too, I just cannot find anything of use in my garden centre here.

Thanks again guy's this must be the best source of information on the Internet, I really appreciate your advice and help.

Lee

bwaynef

Something I didn't see mentioned was that if you reduce the number of branches then there should be more back budding on the remaining branches (and POSSIBLY the trunk, though I wouldn't hold my breath.) Good luck with it.

Good work getting it into that pot (and healthy.)

WF

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Brent

Anaman

If you really want this tree to back bud, it have to get it growing like mad. Candling it and fooling around the branches is only going to slow it down. You want flat out mad growth. Get it out of that bonsai pot and into the ground or at least in a nice deep training pot. Give it full sun, lots of water, fertilize regularly and DON'T prune it at all for a year or two or three. By then it should have some pretty wicked candles, hopefully a foot or more long. THEN hammer it. Cut it way back to only one or a couple of terminal buds per branch, even remove unwanted branches. That is the only way to get any serious back budding. Unless you are going to go the bunjin route, you have nothing to lose. I can't really see a bunjin in there, but the photo is pretty poor.

Can you post a better pic showing the lowest branches and their trunk attachment clearly? From the current view, it looks like all the branches start at the top.

Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com
see our blog at http://BonsaiNurseryman.typepad.com (new post today)