Japanese Black Pine: Should You Grow Them From Seeds, Or Buy Them Already Trained?

By Thomas J.

That is the question many bonsai enthusiasts ask themselves. Many beginners are so enthralled with their new found interest, that they take bonsai from every angle, including growing their trees from seeds.

Now for a few species of trees, growing them from seeds could give them a half way decent tree in a few years time. Japanese Black Pine is not one of those trees though.

They are more like the finest of wines, they need to really age before you get a good savoring specimen.

As the years go by, will your interest in your little seedlings still be there? For those who continue on into the years, they will find an attachment and a closeness to their JBP probably more so than their any of their other trees. The reason being because only time and dedication to the proper training and care for this species will bring out the best not only in the tree, but in you also.

There are those who believe that only if you start a tree from seed, then you can call it your own. I'm not one of those believers though. I find it fascinating to see a new life come up out of the ground just as much as anyone else for that matter, but I see bonsai as art and every styled tree as as someone's work of art, and if I can find a truly good work of art for sale at a price that seems to good to be true, it'll be in my collection without a second thought.

The Japanese and for the most part most of the bonsai world hold the Japanese Black Pine as the highest standard of bonsai. After you've done a bit of reading or took a class on training these trees you will understand why they are esteemed so highly. Their care and training has gotten to a science practically, where not many other bonsai trees would need.

Japanese Black Pines as are most pine trees, slow growers, and for this reason it takes many years to develop a really good looking specimen. But just imagine the reward though after say twenty or thirty years of work on a tree started from seed, and not just any tree, but a Japanese Black Pine. Of course this will only work if you start it with the proper training from the beginning, because too many mistakes at the early stages of training will only give you a ho hum JBP later on in life. That is why it is essential for anyone deciding to do JBP from seed, should do a lot of reading for early type training, which is different than final stage training, or to say it better, training on a more ramified and closed to finished JBP. The best way to learn of course would be to take a workshop if possible by an instructor very knowledgeable in the training of this species.

Well lets move on now from the seedlings to the already trained JBP. One of the things that you should look for in an already trained JBP is the bark, and how aged does it look? Of course if it's a somewhat young specimen, it's bark won't look very aged at all because of course the tree itself isn't aged. But don't let that stop you because sooner or later age will catch up to it just like it does to all living things and it will begin to show its age also.

It's my understanding that the cultivar Mikawa Japanese Black Pine, shows its age rather sooner than the standard JBP. Notice these two pictures and how well the bark looks in relationship to age.

Another really nice thing to have on your JBP which really gives a nice aged look, is lichen. This makes the tree look like it has been situated in its pot or growing environment for years. Moss on the surface of the soil and around the bark is always nice for any bonsai tree, but don't let it start climbing up the bark or get so compact that the tree is always wet. The picture below shows both lichen on the trunk, and moss on the surface. Notice how the moss is already beginning to crawl up the trunk? This needs to be removed very delicately so as not to harm the bark during removal.

Another thing that you have to pay close attention to is the wire. Most JBPs spend much of their lives wired up on their branches, even close to finished JBPs also. The two pictures below shows branches with wire very snug, or already starting to eat into the branch itself.

Probably the most serious aspect to developing a JBP is the decandeling process. I won't go into detail here because there is just too much info to take in, in regards to early on training, advanced training, which month depending on where you live, etc. but one of the happy moments concerning this, is when you start to see the new buds start to come in about ten days or so after decandeling.

You should without doubt get at least two buds from every candle, and sometimes even more, as these two pics shows two and three buds respectively.

Oh and don't forget to remove the entire shoot when plucking your needles.

This last pic shows a really nice ramified Mikawa JBP looking from the top down. It is show ready and has probably been worked on for many many years. It is work like this that makes Japanese Black Pine such an outstanding specimen for bonsai.

Well what do you think, will you be starting your JBP from seed and be in it for the long haul? Or will you start searching for that already styled tree, maybe not already finished, but well on its way? Will you do shohin, or full size? What ever you choose, your sure to be hooked with JBP as is just about everyone who gives these trees an addition to their collection.

If you decide to try the JBP as the seed method, don't forget Dallas Bonsai carries this item. And also if you need tweezers for needle plucking, or scissors for decandeling, be sure to check the selection.