Newbie's Pine. Any ideas are welcome

Scrooge

Hi all!

Firstly, I'm sorry for my poor English. So I'll try to explain.

I need some help with my pine. I think it's Pinus Mugo, isn't it? I've got it about two years ago and do nothing with it. The pine lives on my balcony. There are many old needles, but I think it's healthy good enough.

So I want to make some shape and I need your suggestions. I don't like its double trunk. May be I need to cut one main branch or I can split the root on two parts?

And I don't know nothing about possible style of my tree.

What can I do right now?


Front view:



Rear view:
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/...nus3_140508.jpg



Right side:
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/...nus2_140508.jpg



Close-up of the trunk:
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/...nus4_140508.jpg

__________________
I'm terribly sorry for my poor English.

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Cathie

Hi, I will presume you do keep the pot outside - it won't live inside for very long at all. What you need to do is Google Vance Wood - he's the top Mugo expert, and you will find lots of information (especially that it's best to wait until early July, really, to work on Mugos). You can also go to www.evergreengardenworks.com for more general information on growing and training pines. You certainly have some potential with your tree - have you dug a little bit to see where or how the two trunks are joined?

Scrooge

Thanks Cathie

This pine survived in two cold winters on my balcony, and there is a lot of fresh air now. I hope there is no problem with its place. Look at the needles of 2008.



Is it definitely Mugo pine? The height is about 2 feets.

Unfortunately I don't know much about its root, because I repotted it 2 years ago. I see simple V-shape, both of trunks begins at the same point.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/...nus5_140508.jpg

__________________
I'm terribly sorry for my poor English.

waltr

Scrooge,
Your mugo has many possibilities due to the many branches, almost too many. The one problem I see is the long internodes (distance from one sub-branch to the next). It looks to be in good health so that it should be possible to get new buds to grow closer to the trunk.
Do search on Mugos and Vance Wood for discussions on how to care and work on mugos.
Here is one link that will be helpful: http://www.karamotto.org/
Read the two needle pine care article and pull out the information on mugos.

If you can, get to a workshop for help with styling. There are several in eastern Europe by very good bonsai artists.

Your English and photos are very good so please keep us posted with this tree's progress.

walt

kedori

I would probably find the lowest and healthiest branch on two main trunks and severely cut the tree back to right above them. This will encourage the trunk to thicken and fresh, new, inner growth will sprout which will make the tree older and far more interesting. I have done this with paper birch, red maple, crab apple, oak, and other trees all successfully. It is still pretty safe to do this now, considering that it is still spring, but don't wait much longer. Good luck!

Scrooge

Walt

Thanks for useful link. I completely agree with you that the trunks are very long and straight as a line. I'm afraid I can't bend them at all. And I see no buds there.


kedori

Thank you for your opinion. I understood. But there're no large branches on the lowest part of the tree...
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/...cut0_140508.jpg



Ok. If I would try to cut the thick trunk and left lowest and biggest branch on small trunk, and then would cut another small branches.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/...cut1_140508.jpg




My pine will lost about 3/4 of its height. That's so awful! http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/...cut2_140508.jpg





P.S. I'm sorry for my bad. If it is possible move this thread it into the Show & Tell forum.

__________________
I'm terribly sorry for my poor English.

anttal63

im not convinced its mugo looks scotts pine to me see what vance wood has to say.

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Antonio . . .
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Scrooge

Do you mean some red color of the trunk?

__________________
I'm terribly sorry for my poor English.

AMKhalid

its quite clearly a mugo imo