Hello everyone,
I am new to bonsai having only been in the hobby for a few months. In order to improve my bonsai skills, I purchased a pinus sylvestris from one of my local plant nurseries in the hope of being able to eventually turn it into a bonsai. I started pruning some of the branches as well as wiring some, however I am not sure which particular branches to cut to start to get the proper look with the tree. Is anyone able to give me some potential pruning ideas from the pictures of the tree in the attachment? As well as this, I would like to ask if pines are able to produce shoots from areas that are cut on the branch?
I appreciate any help or advice
Thank you

Yes, it can be trained as a bonsai; It's a good sign having branches low down, but...
There are two potential issues that can spell failure:
- The main trunk has a whorl of branches that were cut, forming an ugly callous; one solution is hard cutting (chopping) the trunk below it (the callous) and using one of the back branches as a new leader.
- The two main branches are sorting from the same height from the trunk, and they have the same thickness; IF this tree were mine, I would choose one and cut down the other.
Too radical? Perhaps, but this is the way it is.
And plenty of time. 5 to 10 years, I guess.

Take the wire off. It is doing nothing. I would remove the long centre branch, and possibly the one on the right. Will make a semi cascade possibly,
It should be very pliable and easy to bend but the wire needs to be done correctly. It is a good piece of material to work on and learn the different things to do. Buy a book and find a club near you.
Geoff.

i agree with semi cascade. have one branch cascading and have the other kinda going up and out forming a S shape. i did that with a hemlock once an looked amazing! just a suggestion! in the end you are the one that has to be happy with the tree. good luck!

Hello m5eaygeoff,
Thanks for the suggestion, I would just like to ask if your suggestion would be detrimental to the health of the tree, with it losing all that foliage? And should I do large cuts at this time of year?
Thanks for responding to my post and giving suggestions

No I don't think it would, I would do it if it was mine. It is not growing much right now. I would need to see it all round before I could say precisely what to do, but from what I can see it is probably what I would do with it. It needs to be reduced in height and size, The branch in the middle has a very long internode.
Geoff.

First do some lessons in wiring. This is completely useless. Take a look here: www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/styling/wiring

I just did a wiring pruning and repoting course on a small juniper and learned alot