Pine 02
Japanese Red Pine [Pinus densiflora]

FEBRUARY 5, 2024. A couple of weeks ago I took care of the spring pruning I had meant to do because the buds were already extending and looking happy. Time to go to work. I wired a couple of the larger branches in the back out and down to get more light to the branches I knew I would keep, and I whacked off the tall growth from the really strong upward growth along the top. I also wired the two branches I will probably keep along the top out to the sides and the little front-facing branch let that will become the next trunk section. I thought I had done a pretty good job, and I was really happy to see a whole lot of new adventitious buds popping up along the branches that I’ll keep. I wasn’t sure how much more of the unwanted stuff I should remove, though, so I left a good many of those branches alone.

Then I took the tree to the Jim Doyle workshop over the weekend. In about 20 minutes, Jim approved the overall plan, tweaked my placement of the new trunk section, told me to adjust the front a little to the left. cut back all the branches I wasn’t sure about, and talked to me about how to handle the first branch on the left. I’ll guy-wire that one down this week. The best part was having him complement what I’d done so far. There’s a photo of it down below. I’ll post another when the foliage is looking good.

 I don’t think I’ve ever been happier with one of my trees and its possibilities. Keeping my fingers crossed for another good growing season this year. 

October 10, 2023: After

JANUARY 15, 2024. This one grew like a weed after the repot in the spring. I wish I had measured the trunk width, because it looks like it’s twice as big now as it was before. I’m really happy I didn’t kill it with the wetter soil mix. Last fall John Walker spent a couple of hours with me wiring the  larger pine tree (Pine 03) and pulling needles. We also talked about this one a little, and he agreed with Jennifer Price about the front. I’m slowly being convinced. I did some needle plucking and very light pruning to get light into the lower branches — especially the ones I’ll keep.

In the spring I’ll prune more, including removing the extra larger branches, and wire the new leader into place. The tall branch sticking up above the main part of the tree up to the right won’t be the new leader. Instead I’ll use a shorter branch growing from the front of the tree, so that the chop will be at the back, not the front. I won’t have a bend as extreme as Trey’s, but it will really look nice if I continue the idea. With care I’ll have a nice new bend in the extension of the trunk. Eventually.

March 1, 2023

MARCH 3, 2023. I got this one repotted this week. It seems a little early, but the candles were already extending needles, so it was time! I was surprised to find it was planted in nothing but pumice; Trey might have told me that, but if he did, I didn’t remember. Now I’m a little worried that I might have used too soggy a soil mix. I’ll just have to watch how I water. Very closely. And upon reflection (love that phrase) I decided Jennifer was absolute right about the best front. The root alignment doesn’t look good from the other side, and I can live with the first bend going toward the viewer. Or I can monkey with the viewing angle a bit later on and keep the root spread visible. UPDATE MARCH 31. Two weeks after I repotted this tree we had a small freeze, and that’s the only thing I can think of that could have resulted in some crazy discoloration of the new foliage. Half of the new needles turned orange, and that has now faded a little. Still looks weird. See photo below.

FEBRUARY 15, 2023. This one went to the Jennifer Price workshop last weekend, but I didn’t do anything to it but wire one branch. Even this early, candles are elongating, and new buds are getting happier every day. She did say it was healthy, and the new buds popping up everywhere are a good sign. But it seems I need to treat a pine like a juniper: only one insult a year. Repotting is much more important than anything else this year. And I won’t do that until April. I won’t even do any candle pruning, no nothing at all. That’s hard for me! We did talk about a possible new leader. I’m not sure I like the front she picked, because I think I can turn it around and use a different branchlet as the new leader. I think that only because I worry about the direction of the larger bend in the trunk. We’ll see after another year of growth which one will work best, because it’ll have a year in the new pot then and I can whack away to my heart’s content. 🙂

MAY 2022. Because I had lost two pines to careless watering (one of which was really very nice), and I had given one to John Walker (that I later wanted back to replace the dead one, but he had sold it) I was looking to get a new pine. John didn’t have any big enough (I don’t need a stick at my age), and the ones I liked at Brussel’s were $1,000 each. Definitely not in the budget. At the spring show (the first in three years!) I asked Trey if he had any like the little ones he was selling at the last show. He didn’t, but he offered me this red pine. The trunk is about an inch in diameter, and he did one of his excellent bending jobs on it. At $60.00 it was a good deal!

The only problem is that red pines generally like a cooler climate. I’ll keep it going for a few years and decide then if I want to keep it. Who knows. Today’s climate might not let it live that long!

At this point the tree looks leggy and directionless, but that’s because of the long overgrowth Trey left to thicken the trunk. I’ll get a better angle and mark the “usable” trunk on it. Later.