japanese black pines

drewhart

i have five jbps that i didnt cut back in time. they are about two years old but all the needles feel off the first foot or so. i recently just cut back to the lowest branch at the one foot mark, but it seems too high for a first branch. is there anyway to make bonsai with these?

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TimZ8

Yes, at two years you should still be able to wire the trunks into cascades or put enough bends in the trunk that the branching is not too high to make a good tree. Bend the hell out of the trunks to lower the area that will pop new buds and feed feed feed! Cork screw if you have to. You can always cut back again later.

Mcspeed

Although they are known for not budding back on old wood, at 2 years old, you may still get some back budding. This spring should tell you if you get some new buds, which are very tender by the way ( so no touchy or they fall off), misting and watch how much direct sun they get , once these harden off and start growing, your design options can improve.

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PeterW

As a matter of interest, why cant you get JBP to back bud? I have a friend who gets all of hers to back bud on old wood. I will be at her place next week and i will take some pics for you. The way she gets them to do so is by simply, thinning out the needles! I often see comments regarding JBP and the lack of back budding, and my friend has been able to achieve this on all of hers. (She does have a lot of them and has been growing them for about 30 years)

WHITEPINE

Hi,

I think that your JBP could also be grown in the Literati style. I've always thought that this style looks very attractive.

I don't have any JBP at the moment, but I'm thinking of buying one. Is it true that these are very fast growing tree? And if so, just how fast? For instance can you see a significant amount of growth in just one season, or are you comparing them with JWP, which are very slow?

Best wishes
Stephen

Bonsai Barry

Of course it depends on the age of the tree and your growing season. I find that seelings grow pretty fast. I have bought several in one gallon containers and planted them in the ground. At the end of their first growing season, they have doubled in height and the trunk has about 50% more girth. Secondary branching is slower.

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