Living log

Bended Scots Pine

Pinus sylvestrisWikipedia ↗NaturaDB ↗

Type
bonsai
Acquired
2024-09-22
Origin
nursery
Status
alive
Last pot
Ø 17.5 cm · 9 cm deep (2025-09-07)
Last soil
organic 10% · akadama 90% (2025-09-07)
Observation
A Scots pine bonsai with a strongly curved, wired branch arching over a moss mound in a brown pot, a small red flower spike rising from the moss, on a weathered wooden bench.
Top view of the Scots pine's branches wired into two tight loops to reshape them, tufts of pine needles in the foreground over moss and bench slats.The Scots pine's thick curved trunk resting over a mound of green and brown moss in a glossy brown pot, a black plastic drainage cap on the soil, wooden bench beneath.

The tree grows well but the wire marks are still brutal. The little ground covering plant that I placed in the pot for an experiment actually flowers. Wow. Didn’t knew that. I was told on mastodon is a Saxifraga arendsii. According to naturaDB, which sadly only support Germany language, states that this plant is used in flower beds, borders, rock gardens, and in stone joints. So maybe this could be a cool feature in a rock ensemble.

Interventionrepot · wire
Pot
Ø 17.5 cm · 9 cm deep
Soil
organic 10% · akadama 90%
A Scots pine bonsai with a twisting coiled trunk and a topknot of green needles in a dark pot with a mossy surface, on a balcony at dusk with fields beyond the glass railing.

Wiring in the middle of summer might not been the best idea. The wire bit heavily into the wood. But maybe I can use this to get some effect on the tree. When the tree becomes older this might even look good - who knows. Anyway I wanted to get this tree into a new pot before winter. Only slip potting almost a 1:1 transfer with added soil. Only removed the top soil, there was no root regardless.

Additionally I collected some moss to dress up the tree a little more - and I like it so far. I hope with a minimalistic potting in autumn I get away.

Interventionwire
A Scots pine bonsai with a heavily wired, curving trunk in a terracotta pot, a small tuft of foliage on top and a lower branch bent down and wrapped, on a wooden table.

I think what I tried is called guy wire. It’s used try to pull the two end further together. Btw I still don’t have wire larger then 2.5mm - shame. The band is there to protect the tree, because this type of wiring pulls with heavy force and can cut fast into the tree.

Interventionunwire
Close-up of a Scots pine's shoot tips — pale elongating candles ringed by long green needles — a terracotta pot blurred behind.

It end of spring and I forgot to do something with the tree and I feel that the wire already bit very strongly. I decided to dewire it and let it do it’s thing and enjoy the candle growth. I want them to grow out so the tree has more leaves and produces more sugar to become more strong. My extreme intervention to remove so many leaves I think weakened it severly. So this way it can grow strong again.

Observation
height
21 cm
width
30 cm

So far it looks good. Maybe in spring I can bend it more. At the moment I’m shying back from further tightening the bends. The initial operation was hard enough for the tree and when I overdue it everything might be lost.

Interventionwire · prune
Pot
Ø 17 cm · 12 cm deep
Soil
organic 70% · gritty 10% · pumice 20%
A tall, spindly young Scots pine with sparse needles and a thin straight trunk in a small terracotta pot before styling, on a wooden bench against a white wall.The Scots pine after wiring — its trunk spiralled with wire into an S-shape in a terracotta pot, foliage brought lower, on a wooden bench.Top-down view of the wired Scots pine in its pot inside a clear plastic box, surrounded by coils of black and green wire, cut needles, pliers and scissors.
The same Scots pine with its trunk wrapped in tan raffia to prepare for bending, a spray bottle, jar of water and scissors on the bench.The styled Scots pine in its pot with the wired trunk in tight curves and a black drainage cap on the soil, a spray bottle beside it against a white wall.

This is an experiment. I bought this scots pine very recently from a nursery where it was sold as material for forestry operations. Very cheap, bought it for 4.5€. The plants are sold at very young age so this one should be quite bendable. Somewhere a while ago I also seen bonsai people using raffia (plant fibers used in flower arrangments) to protect the tree when they do heavy bending. The problem is that when the tree bends it can easily hurt the stems surface. When this surface is damaged to deeply the tree looses moisture at this wound. For that reason raffia is put water for multiple hours. When the raffia is soaked with water it opens the fibers up and you can wrap it around the trunk before bending it.

The needs are removed before you wrap the plant fiber around it, first its more easy and second wrapped up it can’t get sunlight anyways. Looks ridiculous before you start bending it. For the extreme bends that I wanted to achive here I needed three wires because I forgot to get thicker wire before. In the end I didn’t manage to get the bends as tight as I wanted them to be - but for now I’m happy. It’ll try to progress the bends further as long as the tree is doing fine.