update on my ticket to ride, bought this ticket 8/6/2015, you can see the original on page 14 post 275. It is a generic nursery mugo, probably var. pumilo.
I removed a few branches, cut terminal buds on strong branches in autumn 2015, removed up and down needles on strong branches, left weak ones alone. It had been repotted by previous owner in spring of 2015 so I left it alone as far as root work goes. He used a lava, pumice, & akadama blend that still drains quite nicely. I don't like repotting too often, I think frequent repotting can weaken trees or at least slow them down. I'll repot 2017 or 2018. Need to change trunk angle when I do a repot.
So long term I think a semi-cascade is in order. I have a nice square YiXing pot for this. Plan to plant it deeper to bury the 2 legged nebari. I might even use a wire tourniquette, above the 2 fat roots, and try to force it to root out above the two ugly roots. The apex is guide wired up a little, this autumn I'll do a proper wire job and get the branches placed better.
All in all, I'm happy with the limited progress it made. I did remove maybe 20% of the original branches, you can hardly tell, it has filled in nicely, mostly in the right places. Still needs a lot of future ramification. Moved it to live on the farm in MI because my IL yard is too shady. Seems to appreciate it.
). It's so small and young, I thought maybe throwing some wire at it might create some interest in the trunk. TBH, @Vance Wood, I think your previous post is a great example as to why one might want to wire! I think the wire scars give the trunk a cool look that will most likely change over time, no?
