Tanyosho pine

fredtruck

This thread is a belated response to a thread started last October on Tanyosho pines as bonsai. Attached is a picture of mine.

I got this tree in 2005, April. Shortly after that, I had the opportunity to have it styled by Ben Oki. Since that time, it has done extremely well with fairly typical bonsai treatment.

I repotted this tree yesterday. I have a large, passively solar heated workshop where I winter my trees. It is birmed in on 3 sides. The extremely stable temperature and conditions there allow me to keep my quince blooming year round, and to repot trees as they begin growing. Yesterday, it was 6 below zero outsize, but in my space, it was 40 degrees--early spring. It has never gone below 39 degrees F. in my space.

Since Ben Oki worked on my tree, I have restyled it, mainly by wiring branches down to open up the canopy and let light in. I also uncovered a buried portion of the trunk.

The photograph is somewhat deceptive. The tanyosho appears light and airy, but actually, it is massive and extremely heavy. The trunk, at the soil line, is 8 inches across. The tree is 28 inches tall. The pot is 22 inches wide by 17 inches, and is 6 inches deep.

The branching of a tanyosho pine is what makes it a challenge to bonsai. The branching of this cultivar of Japanese Red Pine does not follow classic pine branching. It backbuds okay, but not on old wood, which means that you can't cut very far back in restyling or regenerating your tree. At least, this has been my experience so far.

Still, I really like pinus densiflora umbraclifera compacta--the dwarf form of tanyosho pines--and think others might enjoy it, too.

Attached Images

tanyosho 2-17-07ul2.jpg (63.9 KB, 107 views)

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fredtruck

These two photos show the tree right after I purchased it, and then, after Ben Oki styled it.

Attached Images

	beforebenokiul.jpg (67.4 KB, 76 views)
	okistyleul.jpg (68.7 KB, 59 views)

Graydon

I like it! I'm a pine nut and I can appreciate all pines. I have thought about the P. densiflora 'umbraclifera' as bonsai but have no sources for suitable materials. Perhaps I need to keep searching. Is this one a graft or is it on it's own rootstock?

Once I read and re-read your first post it sank in how big this tree is! Quite impressive. Do you have shot from above? I would love to see what the canopy looks like from that view.

What does the future hold for this tree? What are your goals over the next 5 years in further refinement and development? It's really off to a great direction with the current styling. It looks very much like what a larger one becomes in the landscape with full rounded crowns and open airy branches just below the crown.

Thanks for sharing your tree.

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fredtruck

Thanks.

Currently, I have no pictures of the top of the canopy, but in a week or so I should be able to get one taken.

This tree is a graft. The whole trunk is a standard, and all the branches, though done in one piece, are grafted on to it. Usually the scion is Japanese Black Pine, but I really don't know what the scion is here.

My goals for the next five years? Well, I need to keep working on the backbudding, so that I can keep the tree to a manageable size. It is also a challenge to keep the canopy open to sunlight. That means a lot of wiring, but because this tree grows very fast, I've discovered that the wire needs to come off every 4 months, so I have to pay attention.

The nebari need work. There are some surface roots that have promise, and still others that may need to be moved up or down, depending. Most are still covered for development.

So, my goals are refinement, refinement, refinement.

Thanks so much for asking!

Graydon

Thank you for the answers. I had thought it would be a graft on JBP stock.

Do you mind if I was where you acquired such nice material? My hope would be to try to find something as full as yours. I searched the net over the past few years and was unable to find anything that was more than a 2-3 year graft with no workable branches. I would love to have one and fear I will need to break down and get some immature stock and grow it out forever.

I have attached a photo of a mature example in a landscape setting. I really like the full canopy and mass of branches below. That's something you could never really do with a typical JBP.

Keep this thread alive and post when you make changes or do more work. I'm interested to see how it goes for you.

Attached Images

PDtanyosho.jpg (67.0 KB, 56 views)

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fredtruck

Hi, Graydon. I got my Tanyosho at a nursery not far from where I live. It actually has 2 names:

Des Moines Seed and Nursery

Hearndon's

This place is in Des Moines, Iowa.

They seem to have a number of these every year.

I think they got it from Monrovia nursery, but I am not completely sure.

Graydon

Thanks again! Funny but the photo above came from the Monrovia web site.

I may try to contact the source you listed and see if they have any around. Do you go by there on occasion? If you do and they have another by chance please post here or PM me and I will contact them post haste.

And again - thanks.

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jfecme

Hello Graydon!

I'm glad to see someone else working withthis material. I bought a very nce with a 2.5 - 3 inch standaars at Lowe's in Louisville, Ky. It was the last one they had, so I assume they had sold a bunch of them for landscaping.

I put mine in a very large basket last fall with almost nothing but granite chips, fertilized it once and cut back some candles. It is still alive and doing well, and I am anxiously awaiting spring to see what it does.

I've seen some criticism about this variety with some folks sayong it is not suitable for bonsai because of the graft. But this thing had such a whale of a trunk already that I couldn't ignore the possibilities.

And I agree it would be nice to keep up contact as we go along. I'm going to take some pictures eventually and I'll post one at a later date.

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Over 25 years experience - good and bad, and still learning!

fredtruck

Hi, Graydon--I wonder if you wouldn't have better luck contacting Monrovia, or someone else, and asking if there is an outlet in your area where this tree can be obtained. Or, maybe asking a nursery in your area if they can get one for you. The reason I suggest this is shipping expense and the fact that my local nursery probably is not really set up to ship.

I'm looking forward to your pictures, jfecme.