Revisiting a Raised-Root Cascade White Pine-

This tree has developed quite a bit in the last few years. The exposed roots have grown in size, and the development of the branches made our re-tweaking a bit more complete.

Konnor is a client who tosses a few trees in a car and drives across several state lines to spend a few days in my studio. I always look forward to his visits.

Enjoy our re-tweaking…!

June 2006

This was the original front in 2006…

April 2006

…and here’s the other side, also in 2006, when Konnor was beginning to toy with it as a new front.

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This is in January 2015, before we did anything.

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After branch-shortening pruning and needle thinning.

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Konnor sporting a ‘Telperion Farms’ sweatshirt…

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This pine was grown in a tub of pumice surrounding the akadama/pumice rootball for a couple of years, to give the tree a bit of ‘umph’.

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With the branches nearly set…only a few at the apex left to go.

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This was our original ‘Ok, we’re done!’ and then, on second look, I saw the apex was too open and gangly…

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…so I reset the branches up there in the apex. It’s subtle, but look back and forth between these last two photos and you should see a difference. I would have gotten a ‘65%!’ from Suzuki on that first one. Apexes should be dense and with a clean profile. If they lack that, the tree lacks solidity, just as if a key branch had not been attended to. I forgot to measure this tree, but you can see from the photos with the two of us, who are normal sized human beings, that the tree is somewhat smaller than a normal sized tree. Which isn’t much more than vague. In any event, we’ve been waiting to put this fella in a new pot for a long time, so that was productive, too.

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11 Comments

  1. bonsai eejit says:

    Reblogged this on Bonsai Eejit.

  2. Jim Young says:

    I stil love this tree!

  3. treetroll1 says:

    great info on compacting the apex. There really is a significant visual impact difference between the last two photos

  4. Tony Tickle says:

    Reblogged this on Bonsai & Yamadori from Tony Tickle and commented:
    lovely tree.

  5. The whole tree seems to have been tightened up in the final photo. Really beautiful. Will I see it in the Artisan’s Cup? I hope so.

  6. backcountrydan says:

    Great tree!

  7. backcountrydan says:

    I need the twin to this pot… about 13″ – 14″
    Anyone have one?
    Actually, If this one is the right size, I’m happy to buy the pot… and you could just leave the tree in there too! 😉

  8. Jesse Strong says:

    Was this tree imported? Or did someone in the states grow that? I’ve seen only a few Japanese white pine of that caliber in North America and they were all imported. I ask because if someone here is growing White Pines like that I will do whatever it takes to get my hands on one! Haha

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