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East Coast Pines
The species represented here are native to the mid atlantic and northern areas on the east coast of the USA. Although
not an exhaustive list they have the most favorable characteristics for bonsai training from this geographic location.
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| Pitch Pine (P. Rigida) |
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| Virginia Pine (P. Virginiana) |
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| Short Leaf Pine (P. Echinata) |
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USING NATIVE PINE FOR BONSAI
When I was relatively new to bonsai (as everyone is when starting out…who woulda guessed?) my desire was to work
with a magnificent maple, or perhaps one of those gnarly junipers. An older gentleman in the club I had joined suggested a
pine to start with. Was he mad? I thought…pines really don’t appeal to me!
Some years later, I happened to be taking a peaceful morning walk through a southern New Jersey woodland, which is lovely
in the spring. The warm breeze was playing through the pines and life was good. I heard a number of dirt bikes off in
the distance, chugging and churning over the many hills and valleys in the area. It was then I chanced across one of many
raw trails just carved by some dirt-bikers. And what was this growing just along side of this raw trail? A small gnarly tree,
barely surviving, but bold, beautiful and still quite alive, in spite of the obvious damage caused by bike tires churning
over bare bark. A Virginia Pine (Pinus Virginiana).
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| Virginia Pine (Pinus Virginiana). |
VIRGINIA PINE (PINUS VIRGINIANA)
Virginia Pine is native to many states along the Eastern Seaboard, and does well in even poor soils. It exhibits floppy
twisted needles, which have a yellowish tinge, in 2’s and 3’s per fascicle. Even comparatively young trees grow
out flaky cracked gray ancient-looking bark, so these trees can make excellent bonsai subjects.
One interesting characteristic of Virginiana is their uncanny ability to bud out anywhere on old wood. I have a small
“lump” Virginiana which in the spring is covered with new bright green budding areas.
Virginiana can put out several flushes of growth per season, which allows rapid growth of branches “in the right
spots” for bonsai. The branches are usually long, slender, with tiny tufts of needles on the ends, and can be
bent quite easily into desired shapes. However, because of the flexibility, a wired branch will need at least (2) years to
hold its’ shape after wire removal. These pines ramify quite easily. I collected a small tree which was on the
verge of being washed away from the edge of a sand pit, and experimented on ramification.
This tree has been extensively candle-pinched every year for the past (5) years, resulting in a highly ramified canopy
structure.
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| Ramification Development |
Several years ago, while wandering through the south Jersey forests, I noticed a very nice multi-trunk Virginiana, ready
to fall from the top edge of an eroded sandy mound.
The tree had wonderful movement in the trunks, there were many branches “in the right places”, and so the
tree accompanied me home.
The tree was potted up using some of the original sandy soil surrounding the roots, which preserves the root “micro-environment”
so necessary for good root health. Additional coarse soil mix was added, and the tree was allowed to rest.
The next year the tree was given an initial styling by its new owner. Non-essential branches were removed to open up
the canopy, and the tree was again allowed to rest.
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| 1st styling completed by Tom Brown |
The following spring the tree was moved from its nursery pot into a more suitable container.
Virginiana grow so quickly in a season that it is sometimes difficult to keep them under control. A nicely styled image
in the spring will become a mass of floppy needles and wild new growth by late summer, so the owner of the tree is obliged
to “keep on his toes”.
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| Photo by Tom Brown |
Sometimes Virginiana collected from “the wild” may contain borers, so these trees should be treated with
systemic as soon as they have been stabilized in a container.
It is also a good idea to spray for needle cast with Daconil, since Virginiana easily picks up this fungus. I suggest
spraying in early June, and again in early to mid August.
These trees survive in very poor soil, so when potted up in better soil, fertilized and watered, they literally grow
“like weeds”, and as such make excellent material for use in bonsai, both for the beginner as well as the accomplished
artist.
PINUS ECHINATA AS BONSAI
A long the Jersey shore, one pine species which is used extensively for minor landscaping is Pinus Echinata, the short-leafed
pine. These pines develop a grey-red plated bark, which makes even relatively young trees seem quite old. The pines propagate
by dropping seeds, which easily take root in the sandy soil. The branches tend to ramify naturally, and can get quite gnarly
with age, so additional work done by a bonsai artist only adds to the effect.
I have one such pine growing next to my property, and have routinely collected the saplings which start from dropped
seed. A neighbor had a pine which was “in the way” of a new shed, so I was asked if the pine might be moved.
It was transplanted to my back yard, where it has been maturing for about (5) years. The trunk has grown out to about
5 inches, with lovely gray ancient-looking bark plates, and the branches have developed nicely. These pines get very
twiggy naturally, so with a bit of assistance, the internodes can be made extremely small.
Young Echinata pines, when planted in a soil they like, watered and fed, push out an amazing number of buds. The branches
are quite flexible when young, so can be formed into desirable bonsai shapes from the time they are saplings. These saplings
are but 1 year old, and are already budding back nicely. These trees will make wonderful shohin, and require a minimal amount
of care, so can be good bonsai subjects for the beginner.
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| Echinata Pine Seedlings |
These pines like an open soil which is sharp-edged and well-draining. Coarse sand mixed with a small amount of “grower
grit” and lots of red lava rock make growing a success. Adding a “secret ingredient” of a small amount of
long-leafed sphagnum moss is good for moisture retention and contains certain healing compounds for the roots, so should always
be used when making up soil for freshly collected trees, or when repotting.
Echinata also do well when mychorriza is present around the roots, so when potting or repotting, add back some of the
older soil, or add in some amount of mychorriza (if none is present around the roots) to enhance root health.
As with all bonsai, it is always a good idea for the artist to study the tree, both from the artistic standpoint and
from the horticultural standpoint. The tree has many wonderful points which can be used by an artist to bring out “the
best” in a tree, while the more practical aspects of watering, feeding, proper amount of sun, and pest prevention must
be learned for the tree to thrive while under care.
Echinata develop rapidly, and will backbud profusely when pruned.
PINUS RIGIDA AS BONSAI
Pitch Pine grow extensively in New Jersey. A particularly interesting variety grows in the “Pygmy Pine Forest”,
on a preserve just west of Manahawkin, New Jersey.
In this special place, the pines take on wild twisted shapes, and rarely grow over 2 meters in height. Most mature trees
in this area have extensive deadwood, and wonderful branch placement.
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| Pine Barrens |
Pitch pine are very difficult to collect if growing in loose sandy loam, as is characteristic of southern New Jersey.
The roots on these pines tend to wander far from the main tree, and it is at the ends of these wandering roots that the fine
feeder roots grow. Collecting roots which are 3 to 6 meters in length, and getting them in one piece, is not practical. Collecting
a pitch pine in this way will surely result in the death of the tree.
For the pitch pine growing in this type of soil, one needs to use the ground-layering technique, so that quality feeder
roots may be “grown on” close in to the trunk. This technique requires time, patience, and periodic monitoring,
but for a specimen tree is surely worth the effort.
A number of bonsai artists I have talked with (Jim Doyle, Chase Rosade, and Marty Schmalenberg) have acknowledged the
best way to collect these pines is if one can be found in a rock “pocket”, where it is relatively easy to gather
the complete root-ball.
One common problem on collected trees is borer infestation, so they should be sprayed with a systemic as soon as the
collected tree has been stabilized in a new container. I have found smaller pitch pine (with correspondingly smaller
root systems) are easier to collect, and will usually survive when enough root mass is collected.
These pines have very flexible branches, so can be very good bonsai material. The bark on the trunk ages rapidly, and
shows a wonderful old grayish almost powdery-looking color on the bark plates.
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| Pitch Pine (P. Rigida) |
They backbud readily on old wood, a characteristic which can be used to the bonsai artists’ advantage. The usual
candle techniques can apply as well, but even more so with pitch pine, where it is important to “balance” the
energy in the tree.
Here you can see the extensive back-budding on old wood, on a collected pitch pine. This sort of growth allows
the bonsai artist to rapidly develop a ramified tree, and provides the opportunity for selecting future branch placement at
the optimum position on the trunk.
It is important to note that these trees should be given some rest time after collection, so they have at least
one growing season to get used to life in a container. This also gives the bonsai artist time to study this wonderful
species, before any training begins.
Contact Flex Houvig about this article
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