After attending the AABC Conference in Melbourne, I was motivated to attack my very raw black pine, which was calling out for a drastic work over.

The pine had 25cm long candles and required some major reconstruction. I removed the main trunk and a heavy back branch and shortened all the other branches.

It had an ugly first bend, which I was able to improve by adjusting the angle of the tree in the pot. The number one branch required severe adjustment. So, using a heavy wire splint under the branch and down the trunk, for extra support, I then wrapped it in wet raffia around the trunk and branch at the junction, where the main bend was to take place, then down the branch. It was now time to wire, with heavy wire at around 55 degrees, a little wider than I’m used to, but thought I would give it a go to allow me to shape the branch and bring it down to the desired position. To adjust the branch I at first used a guy wire then found it stayed in place on its own so I removed the guy wire. The tree at this stage looks quite ugly. However it has a long way to go and I look forward to continue work on it for many years.

A tree for the next generation!