Hi. I just recently got a large (20 gallon) Tanyosho compacta. It seems to be something of a "bush" (multi trunk) form although I have seen them grafted to standards-- or, are they "treed" in other words, the small lower branches taken off to expose the trunk.
I'd like to keep this as a Niwaki, and may need to use "bonsai" techniques. It seems to want to be a bush rather than an umbrella shaped tree-- but I am wondering if that umbrella shape is the result of treeing, (also removing all trunks except one) or grafting.

If it wants to be a bush that is okay with me, but I will still candle prune to get it bushier, and reduce the congestion in the lower small trunks. Here is a picture. It is a mess right now. (It also obviously needs fertilizer).

Naturally, its what you have and will grow into a tall multi-stemmed shrub. With pruning, it can be trained to a multi-trunked or single trunked tree. The nice things about pines is if you cut off a branch, it won't regrow or sucker from that point. But that's also the bad thing, no second chances.

I think the plants you see with the long trunk have been grafted to that long trunk. It would be interesting to see one in person because Japanese Red Pine has very distinctive red flaky bark. I bet the bark of that long trunk is a different pine bark.

That sounds like quite a project! I have never sculpted a tree like that and will look forward to following your progress.

Lucy68 said:

I think the plants you see with the long trunk have been grafted to that long trunk. It would be interesting to see one in person because Japanese Red Pine has very distinctive red flaky bark. I bet the bark of that long trunk is a different pine bark.

I've been looking this up all evening, and I think you could be right. It should have been grafted on a standard at a much smaller/younger stage of growth. It would be a different kind of pine tree-- white pine or something. Not sure. I have seen the multi trunk kind as well. I think what I will do is clean up the multiple trunks (keep the thicker ones), and "tree up" a bit to expose the wood. Also keep the candles trimmed to make the canopy thicker. I also have a mugo pine in a 10 gallon size which I am going to start candling to make it thicker.
It is a Pinus densiflora 'Umbraculifera'Compacta. The branches come from a centeral area (where the roots also come from). It looks like that is what was done to this specimine. You can see how it abruptly comes from the ground -- not on a longer trunk, but a "V" shape from the ground. This is the natural form, I think. My confusion is that I see trees that have long stems. It could be that the "compacta" is short. I was also told not to attempt to bend it like a bonsai. I am okay with that.

You could really open that up and make some interesting 'pads'. Who knows what's inside that mass that you can expose. Definitely keep us updated!

I just ran across this thread. I planted a Pinus densiflora Umbraculifera many years ago. It was just a foot tall when planted about 30 years ago. It remains one of my favorite trees - its star feature being the flaking red bark Lucy mentioned above. Its bark starts flaking at a young age. I was trying to find some old pictures to show its progression but the earliest I can find shows its trunk at around 15 years of age. You can see it is already distinctive.

Here are a couple of pictures from about 10 years ago. I don't have any more recent.





I didn't do much pruning on mine - I removed a few inner stems but it naturally formed multiple trunks. Yours will likely remain smaller than mine, since it is Umbraculifera Compacta, but it should still have the same beautiful bark. I would definitely agree with opening it up to isolate a few primary branches and show the bark character.
The only other advice I have is to anticipate that it get bigger, despite the 'Compacta' name. In my original planting, I had the cutest assortment of dwarf conifers imaginable - the Tanyosho pine was surrounded by other 'dwarfs' including Pinus parviflora Hagoromo, Pinus thunbergia Thunderhead, Cedrus atlantica Sargentii, Cedrus atlantica Uwe, Picea orientalis Bergman's Gem, Pinus strobus Greg, Tsuga canadensis Pendula. 30 years later, Tanyosho and Thunderhead are too tall to candle prune anymore. Hagoromo, Uwe, Greg and Bergman's Gem all died after being shaded out. The Sargent cedar and weeping hemlock are doing fine, but they are way too crowded near the surviving Tanyosho and Thunderhead.... You live, you learn!

[quote="SL_gardener"] I planted a Pinus densiflora Umbraculifera many years ago. It was just a foot tall when planted about 30 years ago. --- I was trying to find some old pictures to show its progression but the earliest I can find shows its trunk at around 15 years of age. [quote]

I learned more information since posting. This Tanyosho is 12 years old. It has been in a pot for 12 years. Probably root bound. I will have to root prune. It is also probably just after its 4 year leaf-drop which is why it is so thin. It is actually going very well at the moment. Nice long candles forming. I will probably do a root prune in the fall in case it is rootbound.
Knowing this, I figure it will always stay low to the ground. I am not sure if this is due to stunting due to the pot, or if it is the compacta cultivar. Good to know.