OMC's First White Pine

Carl_Bergstrom

Hello everyone,

I've just started trying to learn to work with pines. Here is a Japanese white pine that I recently purchased. I spent this weekend working with my teacher, wiring this pine from scratch. The first pictures shows the pine before I stripped all the old wire and got down to work. The second picture shows the tree after six hours (for me) of wiring. Notice that we've switch fronts to hide that ugly root and take advantage of the lower branch positions.

It's got a long way to go, but I think this one has potential. In particular, it's got a really nice base. It is on its own rootstock instead of grafted onto black pine as is the case with most white pine imports.

Comments welcome.

All the best,
Carl


Before:

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Carl_Bergstrom

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after_wiring_03_small.jpg (56.1 KB, 438 views)

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Carl_Bergstrom

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Jay

Carl.... nice tree! I like your thought on the new front!!!

Question, is it just the 2-D picture or is it a bit flat front to back? I'm glad to see someone else on the board dipping their hand into Pines(for the first time). I am also, but not with as nice a tree as yours! It is a niiccee tree!

Jay

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Carl_Bergstrom

Hi Jay,

Thanks - and thanks for asking about the depth issue. It's mostly an artifact of the 2D photograph. Here's a top view. The front of the tree is at the bottom of the frame.

Cheers,
Carl

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top_small.jpg (44.1 KB, 285 views)

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David Chauvin

Carl,

Welcome to the wonderful world of pines. I love white pines, but they are a very iffy species for the deep south. I've heard more stories of failure than success in my neck of the woods. Is the lowest branch part of the long term design or a sacrifice? What's the height?

Good Luck,

David

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Carl_Bergstrom

David,

Thank you! Pines have always seemed so complex and difficult and slow-proceeding, that I've been scared to dive in. But I finally decided to take the plunge.

As for the lowest branch, I envision removing this branch in a few years. It's really low, and isn't really essential for the design, in my vision. However, I'm still very much in (the very early stages of) the shu phase of the learning process - and so if my teacher says it stays, it stays. When he says it should go, it goes.

The height of the tree is just under two feet from the rim of the pot.

Cheers,
Carl

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diamondlyme84

This is a very nice tree, OMC, but I too have an interest in the first branch. Is it a permanent part of the design?

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DavidN

OMC, great work and nice result. I have worked with pines before but have never tried white pine yet.

Look foward to seeing updates of the tree in the future.