Japanese Black Pine - Cascade Style

bonsaial1

This pine was shown some months back. I have decided that the time was ripe for a first restyling. First for me anyway. I am sure that this tree has had some work done to it, since the root ball can be seen at an angle in the soil, (tell tale sign) for turned over the edge cascades. This is not the ideal way a cascade should be presented. I feel that for a great cascade there should be some element of natural forces that turned the tree over the edge of a cliff.

This tree does do it gently and looks rather believable to be a wind driven cascade. So I will give it some face lifting.
The tree before the work.

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bonsaial1

The leaves had not been needle plucked for a long time and had about 5 years growth on them. The tree needed hard pruning ti induce back budding for the new branches, and the needle plucking would allow air and light to reach the interior and stimulate bud growth.

The tree from the back, showing the multitude of branches to choose from. There is some wagon spoke areas that will need attention, and the branches need wire to put them where they need to be.

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I will try to point out some of the branches removed to get the tree where I wanted it. The first to go was a long branch right down the center of the tail. I wanted to shorten the tree and start to train the tree in to a more semi cascade style.

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From this branch would be styled the apex. There were many branches coming from this area of the trunk, and many of them would have to be pruned out to keep the are from swelling.

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This large branch coming right out from the center of the trunk was the hardest one to take off.

I loved this branch. The whole tree could have been shaped from this one branch, if I wanted a one branch tree!

The area was so tight with branches that first signs of swelling were already starting to show. Take it out with the concave cutter! The full potential of the tree can not be seen without taking out some of the wanted branches along with the unwanted. This is a hard habit to break, but with cutting out the larger branches now and exercising a little patience, I will have a finer branched tree, and will have more possibilities in the future. Hey, I don't have to enter this thing in the show next week, let's let it grow for a while.

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Ahww... a scar is born


You may have noticed the wire being a little loose in the last shot...pay no attention to that. The wire is left that way to wind up the apex leader at the final bending. I wind all my juniper and pine branches. If the branch has no branchlets on the side I want, I just wind it till they pop out the other side. You have to wind the branch in the direction of making the wire tighter or it will not hold.

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I used a rather large aluminum wire on the leader and decided that it was too large. Rather then take it off, I just left it. I went ahead and finished wiring the tree with copper. I can get far superior holding power with smaller gauge copper, and it doesn't stand out so much.

But...It is harder to wire a tree with copper.

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Most of the branches are wired now, and the final bending will take place. I try to bend the branches into place with one movement, rather then bending the branch back and forth a million times. This is a critical time for pines here in Fresno, since the bark is floating on a layer of sap just under the surface.

Only try the twisting motion if you know what you are doing, or you may kill the whole branch.

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Each tuft of needles are turned up to reciev the morning sunlight. The branches have been pruned and the needles from the previous years have been plucked. As long as the needles are pulled from the sheath, it will bud there. If you cut the branch back, it may not bud there. It's the empty sheaths that release the auxins that stimultae new buds.

Thisa is a close up of a black pine that I needle plucked last fall, and is just now sending out all kinds of buds from older wood. This is what makes the branches"fill out". You can't get this if you dont pluck!

A lot of people shy away from pines and say that they are hard to keep alive. They are easy to keep alive, they are hard to shape them the way you want them. With just a few hints and tips, pines are one of the easiest trees to keep full and shape. They bud very hard and will fill out in no time. Timing is critical, but hey, thats even critical on a first date!

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