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bonsaiTALK Master
Join Date: Mar-2005
Location: Georgia
Country: USA
Posts: 326
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New Mugo Pumillio from the nursery
I swore when I lost the last mugo I attempted I'd never attempt another one. What's that they say about "never". Im not a novice, but with this pine I have terrible luck. This one is such a beauty I'm going to act like a novice in the hope I can get some "Peter Rabbit" guidance!
So a friend brought me the one in the pictures. Mugo pumillio. It's in a "3 gallon" can which i de-collared yesterday and cleaned all the detritus from the soil surface.
That trunk is about 1 3/8" to 1 1/2" wide. The tree seems pretty healthy at this point. I does have a little dieback on a couple of lower twigs which I attribute to either sun scorch or the extreme drought and heat of the summer.
Now what to do next. this fall shold i attempt to snip out some of the twigs in an attempt to judge the real underlying design and direction/movement? Shhould I trim out some of the minscule "candles and leave it at that, waiting until spring/summer 2008 to do any pruning?
When it comes time to pot it up how about crushed granite and Turface only for the soil? Or should i put in a minimum amount of pine bark?
If I prune and/or trim candles in the fall, can I repot in the spring, or is that too soon, considering the "only one shock a year" rule?
In short, what should I do first and when should I do it? By the way I'm 64 and I'd like to see this looking something like its true potential before I get too old to enjoy it!
Thanks for any help or guidance you can give
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Over 25 years experience - good and bad, and still learning!
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