Living log

A leggy black pine

Pinus Thunbergii

Type
tree
Acquired
2024-08-29
Origin
nursery
Status
alive
Style
Trying an uprooting
Last pot
Ø 12 cm · 19 cm deep (2026-08-05)
Last soil
organic 50% · gritty 20% · pumice 30% (2026-08-05)
Interventionprune
height
33 cm
width
23 cm
Pot
Ø 12 cm · 19 cm deep
Soil
organic 50% · gritty 20% · pumice 30%
A young Japanese black pine with a wired curved trunk in a black plastic pot, a spray of green needles on top, on a balcony with a hazy landscape and folded parasol behind.Close-up of a black pine branch tip showing a growing bud with a bead of yellow resin among the needles, balcony and pots blurred behind.
Close view of the black pine's needle tufts and branch tips with small buds forming, balcony railing and landscape blurred behind.A black pine branch tip held in a hand, a whorl of green needles around the growing tip, a balcony table and mug blurred behind.

Since the tree was growing so well for the last two years I decided to cut the ends off. Maybe I’ll get some bud back further down this longish stem. Hope I can track the development well, since it might be important for the budding behaviour of pines collection.

Observation
height
26 cm
width
22 cm
A young Japanese black pine seedling with a wired, curved trunk in a black plastic training pot, its long dark-green needles fanning out, on a balcony railing.
Close-up of the black pine's base where the wired trunk meets gritty soil, a frayed jute string and black training wire anchoring the trunk.

So far the tree is growing well and I leave all the needles to grow the tree strong. At least that is what I took away from the great Peter Chan/Herons Bonsai YouTube Channel. I forgot to record multiple wiring steps for this tree. On the pictures you see the latest attempt to get the initial bottom bend a bit more tight. I think I like guy wire, since it’s easier to use then wiring thick stems with heavy wires. Mostly for me it ends up with not having the correct grade of wire and double or even tripple wiring, which looks horrible and still doesn’t get me where I’d like to.

Background

Originally this was a single long stem so compression through bending it in a contorted way may help. It’s a very young tree intended for the use in forestry. So there’s a long way ahead before this will be some bonsai-esk looking tree.

Further I red an article in Bonsai Art where a japanese grower recieved an uprooting project of a customer and styled it for this person. The trees used there were japanese black pines, so this may be a good option so in spring of 2025 I repotted this tree into a longish plastic pot, so the roots can reach deeper, while avoiding the tree growing too fast. I’m not sure anymore if I wired the roots before repotting, but maybe that’s also not a thing. I’ll see when the next repot is scheduled in 2027 I think.

What this plant taught