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In the spring of 2017 I collected the Virginia pine, Pinus virginiana, pictured multiple times, below. I love the bends and curves in the trunk but have, to date, focused on its health and recovery and have not decided how to take advantage of those curves to make a nice bonsai. It has been doing exceptionally well so I thought I would give some consideration to the future design starting with the planting angle.

I’m sure it’s difficult to see, but from this side, above, the trunk comes toward the viewer and hides it connection with the soil, so this side is pretty much out.

I played with the angle, above, considering a design that would drop the trunk line down in a cascade before turning back up again. I pushed it a little further by rotating the camera to imagine a steep drop as in the image below.

Ultimately, I think I have decided on the angle in the last tree photo, below. This position places the hardest bend directly above the base and creates an interesting diamond shape that I think will work nicely.

It may take a long time to work this into a finished design, like the sketch at bottom, but this decision will help guide any pruning and wiring that are done, even if before it is replanted at this angle.

Thanks to Owen Reich for helping me thing through some possibilities. I will be sure to share any updates when I do work on this tree over the coming year.