My New Bristlecone Pine Pre-Bonsai

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Күн бұрын

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@n8tyler 4 ай бұрын

The "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" lives...Never heard of this type pine...Thanks for all the interesting facts...I like the idea of snapping or breaking off the point at which you selected to give it a weathered or event generated break...I'll bet it will look great once is starts to regrow/back bud down below...Cool project for a "saved" tree...Look forward to your future videos...Thanks for sharing...

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching, as always! If you haven't visited a high-elevation five-needle pine forest, I highly recommend it. The bristlecone pine forest in Great Basin National Park is one of my favorites.

@brunoandsofie 4 ай бұрын

Cool tree. I’ll be excited to see what you do with it.

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

Thanks! I'm pretty sure I'm going to snap the top soon. I'll likely do a short video when I do - maybe I'll even make it my first short-form video, since it's not going to take long!

@smokyhillbonsai-gerrettmor6373 4 ай бұрын

2:25 " I love to be among old trees" I couldn't agree more. I need to make the 8-hour trip west and get into the mountains.

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

I highly recommend visiting an old bristlecone pine forest if you're able. I'm also a big fan of Bryce Canyon National Park; the rocks are of course neat, but the trees are just as impressive. And the redwoods of Northern CA are spectacular. Just to name a few places here in the west with neat trees, there are many more.

@Snowfallbonsai 4 ай бұрын

Great vid!

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@bradbuss9753 4 ай бұрын

I collected two Bristlecones in the fall of 2022 near Fairplay, CO. They both survived the first winter, but I lost one last winter. The sole survivor got new growth last spring and is as bushy and happy as the day it was collected. It is thriving in part shade during the day in 100% pumice with zero fertilizer. Putting mine out in full sun would probably not be good for it. I plan to winter it a third year where it is now, then repot it in the spring. It won’t be until at least another year after repotting that I’ll begin styling. Bristlecones are extremely slow-growing, making them well suited for bonsai once they have been styled. One drawback though is making a mistake that’ll require ramification on the slow-grower. Mine is 46” tall, 36” at its widest point and has a 3” dia. nebari. The tree is at least 50 years old. I’d cut yours just above where you mentioned and try making jin out of the trunk and small branch that is growing horizontally from it. See how that looks… you can always cut it back further later.

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

Very cool! I'd love see your surviving bristlecone - it's got to be an old tree indeed if it's got a 3 inch diameter base. Just curious - why are you keeping it in part shade as opposed to full sun?

@bradbuss9753 4 ай бұрын

I tried to simulate the tree’s environment where it was collected. It got dappled sunlight in the morning hours through a several hundred year old Bristlecone that it was beneath. It only got a couple of hours of direct sunlight during afternoon before the setting sun over Mount Bross, a fourteen thousand foot mountain. Also, the elevation was at 11,700 ft. where the temperature doesn’t get nearly as high as it is down here at home. My concern with setting it out in full sun is scorching the foliage. It has worked well for that tree. Also, Bristlecones don’t like too much water. Full sun exposure in the summer would require more watering than it is used to. Had I acquired a tree from a nearby nursery like you did, I wouldn’t be as worried about giving it full sun and adjusting water requirements. Bringing a tree down so far in elevation apparently is hit-and-miss and I’m very lucky to have this one thrive so far. Now, getting it to survive a repotting and then styling has got me nervous. I’d rather not go through the heartbreak of losing the sole survivor. Looking forward to seeing progress videos of your Bristlecone’s development as a bonsai. They are truly majestic trees to behold in their native mountain environment, particularly when they are centuries old!

@alexbrendan7181 3 ай бұрын

I absolutely love bristlecones--the top of my bucket list is to visit them at Inyo park. In pots, however, they are extremely picky and delicate, and die if you do anything wrong, especially repotting. My guess is that topping it will be fine (if you are very careful about exact timing and aftercare), but honestly I'd wait at least twelve months between major work... especially repotting. Don't believe the full-sun thing; treat it like a Japanese Maple until it gets used to your yard, and be very careful with watering. If you're able, ask Ryan Neil.

@BonsaiNorthwest 3 ай бұрын

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I need to get to Inyo Park too. Another viewer made a similar comment about full sun (they keep their collected bristlecone in partial shade), and made me realize that if someone digs a bristlecone at say, 9000 ft elevation, and then moves it to their backyard at 2000 ft elevation - that's going to be a huge shock to the tree, and it makes sense to put it in partial shade. Fortunately, this tree has been living only 15 minutes away from my home, in the same light/temp. situation, for the last 2+ years, so I've got that going for me. But I'll reconsider repotting this spring, although I'd really like to get it in a more porous substrate as soon as possible. I guess I could also just be careful not to overwater it. I'd love to ask Ryan Neil but don't have a subscription to Bonsai Mirai.

@stuartbaines2843 4 ай бұрын

I have an Atlantic bristle cone pine which I pondered over for years in a similar form. At the moment it is growing in the garden. I am Slowly reducing the branches in length with more buds. I think you need to work with the Form rather than try to make it into something it’s not. I would reduce the height by 1/3 keep a leader, this should force back budding. When I moved it to garden from pot it slowed a lot at first. Yours looks healthy maybe keep it in pot after prune? Or just repot and no prune not both in one year. 👍

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for the advice. Besides going back and forth between snapping the top and not snapping (although I think I'm going to snap, with the realization that it will slow the tree down), I've been debating whether to plant in the ground for a few years, or repot into a free draining soil mix. In the end, I'm not too worried either way. It was quite inexpensive. If I had paid more, or if it was a very old collected tree, i'd be much more cautious with it.

@dreamingofbonsai 4 ай бұрын

I agree with you, I would definitely snap the tree. I think that’s a great idea and it will be a great start to get this tree going for the future. it will be very interesting to look back on this video after you do the work on it in the future.

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for your input! That's the hope, and one of my goals for the channel, that I can look back on videos years later and see progress.

@bimmer635csi 4 ай бұрын

I know pines aren't the best for air layering, but you could try that on the top section and if it fails, then you can still cut the top off?

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

Interesting idea. I'll do some research on air layering pines. My feeling, like you indicate, is that it'd likely fail, but it could be worth a try.

@lisawagner6076 4 ай бұрын

You bought a "Charlie Brown" tree!!! 🤣🤣🤣 Whether you snap it now or later is up to you, you have more knowledge than I do. Can you air layer it? Will it root if you plant it? Can you grow a pine from a cutting?? But I think it's a fine tree!! LOL

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

Ha ha, that's exactly what this tree is - a Charlie Brown tree! To my understanding, it's unlikely to air layer successfully. But another viewer suggested trying that so I'm going to do some research about whether I should attempt it or not. I'm thinking I'll just snap it. If I want another bristlecone like this one, I can just go buy one of the other ten Charlie Brown bristlecone pines at that same nursery - they don't seem to be selling fast.

@lisawagner6076 4 ай бұрын

@@BonsaiNorthwest snap it and make a dead feature out of the top? I've seen trees like that and they are very striking!

@percyacutt3110 4 ай бұрын

Agree with your reasoning

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for the input!

@cornbreadburglar 4 ай бұрын

Snap it!

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for the input! So far it have 3 votes for snapping, 1 for attempting an air layer.

@alexd9283 3 ай бұрын

newbie here… Do you have to do anything special at the break to keep the tree from getting sick?

@BonsaiNorthwest 3 ай бұрын

@@alexd9283 Good question. If I break it, it will open up the tree at that location and make it more susceptible to a disease, kind of like an open wound on a person. For that reason, folks sometimes use cut paste to seal wounds on trees. However, trees are also able to heal without the help of cut paste, and conifers especially are tougher when it comes to dealing with wounds (to my understanding). So I'm not going to bother with cut paste, when I do snap it.

@brianvandermey4223 4 ай бұрын

That’s not what happened wjth Japanese Black Pine. Why would the bristlecone be different? I know nothing about bristlecone so that’s a sincere question. I would think you could just take more of the apex off and leave a single tuft.

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

I don't know Japanese Black Pine well either. In fact, I don't know much about keeping any pine as bonsai (this will be my third pine). But to my understanding, Bristlecone Pine are slow growing, whereas Japanese Black Pine are relatively fast-growing (for a pine). I think that's a big reason black pines are so popular for bonsai. I'm pretty sure I'm going to snap the top off and leave all those bottom growing tips. Eventually I'll prune many of those, as they are kind of dense. But I think leaving plenty of growing tips will help the tree recover faster from the snap.

@Book20244 4 ай бұрын

No disrespect but you gonna die waiting to see that tree old 😅

@BonsaiNorthwest 4 ай бұрын

🤣 Very true! Don't worry, I'm not going to be impatiently waiting for this to become an amazing bonsai that looks like a 4000 year old tree, and die discontented! For me, it's more about just having a bristlecone pine in my collection, even if it isn't the most impressive bonsai. I do think it could become a nice bonsai...in like 20 years!