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1 Week Ago
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#1 |
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bonsaiTALK Journeyman
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What would you do with this Mugo?
Hi, everyone -
We've had this mugo pine growing in the front bed for about seven years - probably a ten year old plant all told. Wife hates it. Thinking it'd be a good candidate for bonsai. Dug it up tonight, and have it potted in as big a pot as I could find. I'd like to thin it out and do a little shaping to offset the damage to the roots a bit; I can't decide what should stay, and what should go. Given these photos, what would you do with this tree? Thanks for any input. Scott |
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What would you do with this Mugo? |
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1 Week Ago
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#2 |
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bonsaiTALK Master Craftsman
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I am going to halph to agree with your wife. LOL She has a good eye.
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1 Week Ago
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#3 |
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bonsaiTALK Artisan
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Can't hurt to see what you can do with it.
I wouldn't mind having something like that to play with. Vance wood probably has the most experience with mugos. Could be a literati, or with backbudding, could be something else. Definitely needs some chopping sometime though. |
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1 Week Ago
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#4 |
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Learning = Growth
 
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Bliorg. Please update your user info to help us give proper advice.
Mugos tend not to be worked until summer after the candles have hardened off. This includes root work/repotting. AND rule of thumb for pines is not to do root work, serious re-pot (like digging it up) AND styling in the same 12 month period. While yer waiting until next year, read read read about your species. A lot of info in these forums, just search Mugo or Mugho in the search function. Tree looks like fun, though. Hope this helps, -Wm PS, I would get it in a grow box instead of the constricting pot...
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Life without Bonsai would be...well, death. Last edited by BunjinEnt : 1 Week Ago at 09:47 PM. |
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1 Week Ago
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#5 |
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bonsaiTALK Master
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I'll second every thing Wm said. For the next entire year or more let it adjust to the pot.
Once it is healthy and vigorous try to induce some back budding. Then look at styling options in two to five years. In the mean time search for Vance Wood and Mugos. He has written a good deal on them. |
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1 Week Ago
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#6 | ||
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bonsaiTALK Journeyman
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Quote:
 I'll google grow boxes. I think I have an idea, but would like to see some afore I start in to building one. Quote:
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1 Week Ago
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#7 |
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Learning = Growth
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6B is good, but state might be more specific..
Grow box: wood box about 2" or so on all sides wider than root ball. 4-6" deeper than root ball with 1/8" or 1/4" screen on bottom. Strips of 1-2" wide by 1/4"-1/2" thick wooden strips to support screen and tree. Wire tree in TIGHT to minimize shifting and movement (shoot for NO movement an cat 2 tornado...lol)Watch wire throughout season so doesn't cut into wood. But google them as well. there are several styles. Vance Wood also makes them for root refinement. -Wm PS while you're doing your search, also research soil and watering needs.
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Life without Bonsai would be...well, death. |
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1 Week Ago
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#8 |
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bonsaiTALK Master Craftsman
Join Date: May-2006
Location: Sydney
Country: Australia
Posts: 748
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Hi Scott and this could be fun
What is you experience with Bonsai? Are well versed in the art, or a newbie? Member of a club? The answer to this would have some bearing on what you can do with the tree and more importantly what you should do with it. For me, I would sit back with a couple of beers and look at it for a year or so while it gets adjusted to the put life. this will give time to evaluate its personality, and to let the tree tell you what it wants to be. Once primed and the tree is happy, then execute the plan you have for it. Ken
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When engineers work out how to make something Idiot proof, humanity invents a better Idiot |
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1 Week Ago
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#9 |
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bonsaiTALK Expert
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I think it has some future but will need major reduction for that to happen.
I circled a sub trunk in black, anyway we can kind of isolate that branch and get a picture of it?? To me it seems to have the best possiblities for the most buds down low. Everything else has very long internodes so one would have to hope for back budding in the middle of nothing. I see lots of powerful jins with a small compact tree in there. Better pictures would get more styling advice now that we know you aren't going to work on it for atleast 1 year  This will be fun....when the time is right.... I have a mugo similiar to this that I will be doing soon.... Best of luck!! Jason
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Jason's Bonsai Fun! www.oregonbonsai.com USDA Zone 8, NW Oregon 1.20.09 Texas gets the villiage Idiot back!!!! |
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1 Week Ago
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#10 |
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bonsaiTALK ArchMaster
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Picture #2 shows you what you should be concentrating on. At this point you, and many others are looking at all of that humongous top and thinking how can I make a bonsai out of that? You need to be concentrating on the structure of the base and considering ways of getting the tree to bud back down lower so that you can utilize a beautiful base structure.
You could start now by cutting back some of the upper branches to points where there is still a good deal of active growth. This should encourage some back budding. Resist the advise to remove old needles, a practice used with Black Pines but not so good with Mugos that need back budding. Back budding is more predictable when there are needles on the branches. A hard lesson I learned a number of years ago is that Mugos do not well tolerate their roots being disturbed more than once every three years. Resist the urge to repot it once more unless we are talking about slip potting one container to another without root disturbance. I personally see a very strong base and two trunks coming off that base. Everything else should be removed off the base. When you are done with this tree you should have something about 24" tall so you can see you are going to have to work on back budding. One caution about back budding. The buds we hope to encourage will be lentiginous buds from under the bark. If you notice the little bumps on the trunk these are areas where there were once needles. These locations will also be the places where new growth will develop. This new growth, when and if it occurs, will be very fragile for at least two years and easily broken off. In essence I am telling you that if this tree were mine I would be regrowing the tree and basically forgetting about all that growth on top other than ways to reduce it. Do not take off more than 30% of the top at any one time. Bottom line: The base is well worth working with and will make an excellent bonsai one day, in about ten years. If this does not fit your time schedule then you can always go out and buy some expensive pre-bonsai or finished bonsai. At this point even a collected tree is going to take ten years. Would I work on this tree? Absolutely. If I found this tree today in nursery I would buy it. I like doing my own work not working over some other artist/grower's work. Below is an example of a similar tree I started working on in 06 Father's day about June 20. The tree started out about six foot tall but had a good stump, it ended up as you see in the accompaning photo which is not a good photo but should give you an idea how I think. I will update this picture sometime this week as I have started some detail work this spring.
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The only finished bonsai is a dead one; me 1992 MABA Des Moines Iowa Last edited by Vance Wood : 1 Week Ago at 10:55 AM. |
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