Eastern White Pine

I have a question about the suitability of Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) for bonsai. I've seen images online of bonsai using this tree, but have encountered some articles advising against its use...on the grounds that its needles don't shorten well, it responds poor to pruning, etc. I have the opportunity to purchase a couple of Eastern White Pine that are about 4' tall at a good price from a local tree farm, and before I go ahead with it, I'd like to find out what others feel about using this species.

I'm located in southern Ontario, and this tree is native to our area, so climate shouldn't be an issue. I'm just concerned about how well the tree responds to bonsai cultivation.

Thanks!

The folks at the NC Arboretum in Asheville have used them. We have another pine thread going on now that includes a picture showing that pines with longer needles can produce interesting (if not classic) bonsai. Give it a go.

Generally regarded as not the best for bonsai, but as Jim says not impossible. The problems usually cited are the long needles and the huge amount of time it takes for the bark to roughen up. Even as large old full sized trees they still do not have a very aged appearance.

I struggled for years with this species, because I want to do a bonsai of the Great Tree of Peace of the Iroquois. Yes, it can be done. Nick Lenz has a chapter in his book on collected ones. I suspect it may depend on the individual tree. In my experience, the collected trees were too sensitive & the internodes were too long. Commercial trees had unusable root bases. Branches & leaders died back for no reason. You can't use normal candling procedures. They hardly bud back. The dwarf cultivars are unsuitable for bonsai. I finally gave up & ordered a 'Zuisho' Japanese white pine, as the experts told me to do years ago. One person's experience.
Iris

You might find this piece about white pine interesting http://torontobonsai.org/Archives/techniques/white.pine/whitepine.htm



Will