Daluke wrote:Pretty cool tree to start with.
Big base, some flare, good branch choice and and Healthy foliage.
These things get reverse taper easily - don't have bar. Ranches.
I see the future in removing everything but the first branch and building the tree from there. Informal upright style.
I've had luck airlayering thick mugo trunk (100% success... but only tried one) so don't do anything drastic without trying to make a new tree.
Keep us posted:
Cheers, yeah I can tell in some areas already around the upper branches they are knuckling up and bulging and left on their own will create a reverse taper in a couple of areas.
Cutting down to that first branch is an option but at the moment not sure I want to, as others have mentioned it maybe better utilizing what is there as a way to learn the species. Got time to think on it though.
Also totally agree that any chop I may want to make I should give an air layer a chance first, excellent that you have had success so that is encouraging.
GavinG wrote:I don't know much about pines, but it's a damn fine dog, the beer's even better, so you're well ahead already.
You could cut very low, and redevelop a whole tree, but you'd be taking ten to twenty years - for your first Mugo maybe reduce the height by a third, cut all the bar branches, leaving the best balancing branches to build from, cut them back then wire some interesting shape into the trunk while you can. Wire the branches next season. If you've just bought it, check the root ball - if it's tight and nasty, the first priority might be to repot it, leaving all the foliage to drive recovery (except the bar branches), then do the wiring and cutting branches back in autumn.
Have fun!
Gavin
Me neither as this is my first pine, reading up on them sounds like fun anyway. The dog is pretty cool too, photo-bombs everything and the beer is nice but I do miss my Coopers.
This was similar to my first thoughts, it definitely needs a clean out so seems like a place to start. And the roots probably should be first up, they don't seem too bad now but after the growing season they will be a mess so probably better to get that out of the way first.
These trees are very supple. Put some heavy wire on the trunk and as many interesting bends into it as you can. Tilt the planting angle as well. Once you have created interesting movement only then remove the bar branches because you will have a direction for what branches to keep according to the bends etc....
