Hi Folks! Welcome to Kuromatsu Bonsai. Kuromatsu is the Japanese name for the Japanese Black Pine, a prime example of which is shown in the photo to the right. This particular pine is mine, and was grown from an ordinary one gallon nursery plant that I purchased from a nursery back in 1994. That's right, anyone can do it, the one catch being that it takes about fifteen years.

You are actually seeing a side view of the tree -- unfortunately the display space at our club show was a little cramped. This particular tree is about 32 inches tall from the soil to the top of the tree, and the root bole is about seven inches across at the base.

This tree grows in my own soil mix, which is about 30% potting soil from the nursery department of the local big box store, 30% decomposed granite, 30% agricultural pumice, and 10% builder's sand. It is fertilized with Osmocote, roughly three to four tablespoonfuls sprinkled over the soil every four weeks or so. Japanese Black Pines should only be repotted in the early spring. However, where winters are mild, they can be repotted as early as the Christmas season.

You should only prune a tree that is healthy, and you should never cut into bare wood unless you are permanently removing a branch and do not want further growth in that area. On existing branches, do not cut back to the two year old needles; only cut back to last year's needles. Some experts will tell you to leave only three or four pairs of needles at the end of each branch and strip the old needles behind those pairs. This will only work in places where the air is very dry in the winter and spring. In places where you have fog or dank weather, the needles can be attacked by a fungus called needle cast, and the tree needs more needles to survive the winter and spring, so I always leave 7 or 8 pairs of needles at the end of each branch tip when I prune.

After this early spring pruning, the tree will sprout "candles" of new foliage. Remove the largest and strongest candles, and reduce the medium ones by half. Leave the smallest ones alone.

Follow this advice, and in two or three years, your little one gallon nursery pine will start to look like a bonsai. If you want it to develop quickly, do not put it in a bonsai pot when you first purchase it. Put it in a large plastic tub, like the ones large nursery trees come in. It will grow and develop much more quickly.