All aboard the Mugo train!

Vance Wood

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It is odd to me that you mention good bark on Mugos. It was not alwas the case when Mugos were dicussed. It was always said by those who were certain they knew what they were saying was true, which was that Mugos did not posses a decent bark at all.

Then it was said that only the Mugos from Europe could make decent bonsai. It was further claimed that the Mugos grown in America were not the same trees that grew naturally in Europe, even though something obtained in a nursery may possess the same botanical name as those in Europe. It is in this point where we find the real crux of the matter. The methods of cultivation in the case of Mugo pines more than almost any other Pine, determines how the tree will grow for many years.
 

M. Frary

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. It was not alwas the case when Mugos were dicussed. It was always said by those who were certain they knew what they were saying was true, which was that Mugos did not posses a decent bark at all.
They have killer bark. I've seen it on a lot of your trees.
Are you guys down there supposed to get blasted by high winds today and tomorrow also Vance?
 

M. Frary

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The weather is kind of iffy from what I have heard.
Yeah. We got ice,then snow,then rain this morning. Now it's supposed to be windy enough they have tree and power crews on standby to clear the powerlines. I'm shocked I have power right now. The limbs of the pine trees are drooping onto the lines in spots by my house. If the wind kicks up its all over.
And my house is heated with electricity so it could get a little chilly in here.
I hope everything goes good down there for you.
 

Waltron

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I've heard tornado talk for tonight and tomorrow... its 70 degrees right now.. tomorrow's low is 23.
 

M. Frary

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I've heard tornado talk for tonight and tomorrow... its 70 degrees right now.. tomorrow's low is 23.
We hardly get them up here. Or used to never have them until the last few years.
 

LeonardB

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My two buck Mugo from a forum contest a number of years ago. I repotted it last summer and put it in a new pot made by one of our club members: Stone Gardens.

The tree is now ready for a bit more design work.


View attachment 133379 .
Vance,
Wow! It already looks so developed and aged ( to the newbees eye? ).
The only thing I see is that a more well defined apex is needed. Does that mean compacting the lower foliage so that the present apex stands out? Or top to bottom?
 

LeonardB

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We had thunder snow today!
Very rare for here. And I got my trees covered again.
Mike,
Wow! It rained cats and dogs down here. I had just finished cleaning off all my winter dirt ( removing dead growth, not needed, etc. ), getting ready to show Vance this weekend and whoosh I was soaked.
I also just put Osmacote on everything, so they got fertilizer and rainwater bath the same day. Everybody win, right?
Leonard
.
 

Vance Wood

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Mike,
Wow! It rained cats and dogs down here. I had just finished cleaning off all my winter dirt ( removing dead growth, not needed, etc. ), getting ready to show Vance this weekend and whoosh I was soaked.
I also just put Osmacote on everything, so they got fertilizer and rainwater bath the same day. Everybody win, right?
Leonard
.
I hope you guys are OK. It is still awful early. I hope things don't go side-ways and dump us all in the doldrums. I kind of resisted doing anything to any of my trees other than look at them. I did however get out and do some pruning and details clipping to a birds nest spruce growing in our landscape. I hope that goes well.
 

LeonardB

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I hope you guys are OK. It is still awful early. I hope things don't go side-ways and dump us all in the doldrums. I kind of resisted doing anything to any of my trees other than look at them. I did however get out and do some pruning and details clipping to a birds nest spruce growing in our landscape. I hope that goes well.
Vance,
I thought the same until I started using the solarium on the front of my house to wake up my trees ( it lengthens my growing season almost two months ). I mist the trees each morning and they seem to respond well to the warmer climate. So the theory that the trees need a much shorter dormancy could be true, and I may do this to all my plants from now on.
This goes one step further I think from just using a cold frame to protect the trees, but actually promoting extra growth. Do you do any greenhouse growing like this?
One of the experiments that I am conducting is to get two smoke bushes to bud early so that I can defoliate early and try to get them to bud again in one season ( I read about it and Lamont at Telly's reinforced the idea for making smaller leaves faster ). This week, it has been rising to the 80's inside the solarium ( which also transfers heat to the house during the day when the sun is shining ).
I told you I was an old hippie ( I was making solar energy back in the 70's, and we built the solarium in the early 80's ). Until they found out I was an engineering student and that it worked like gangbusters my neighbors ( as well as my folks ), thought we were a little cracked to spend the time and money. Here it is 30 years later and still works like a charm ( and saves us a fortune in heating bills! ).
Regards,
Leonard
 

sorce

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a new pot

Not a fan of crackle much but that one has a cool design.

However.....

Mugo makes me think of Alp like mountains and snow....

I would like to see it in a grey and white rectangle pot.

For me, there is way too much disconnect for enjoyment with this combo.

But the burning question......

Has Vance posted his AAC intro post yet?

Sorce
 

Vance Wood

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I seem to be becoming more dense as the years go by and I have no clue what AAC is?

As to the pot the tree is in?? I don't like rectangular pots as much as some people. I put the tree is this pot because I liked it.
 

Guy Vitale

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I enjoy the tree pot combination quite a bit actually, the cracked finish on the pot compliments the rough bark quite a bit. I'm with Vance, for some reason rectangular pots don't do it for me either, unless the rootspread and trunk take up much of the open space in the pot similar to what Walter Pall pulls off. I'm certainly no tree/pot combination expert for proper display, but if it looks good, do it.
 

Vance Wood

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I enjoy the tree pot combination quite a bit actually, the cracked finish on the pot compliments the rough bark quite a bit. I'm with Vance, for some reason rectangular pots don't do it for me either, unless the rootspread and trunk take up much of the open space in the pot similar to what Walter Pall pulls off. I'm certainly no tree/pot combination expert for proper display, but if it looks good, do it.
The only other thing I can think of that will not look boring to me, which is the real issue as far as I am concerned, a boring rectangular and clunky pot, make the tree look less than it is in my eyes. Over the years I have become really fond of round and oval pots, probably because I tend to design a tree without a specific front at the expense of all other points of viewing.

I remember the day when designing a tree consisted of right branch, left branch, back branch and all the others falling between those below in a reasonable order finishing with an apex. This is what some call cookie cutter bonsai. For what its worth this is more or less the pattern known by some as the rules and there is nothing wrong with "The rules". except they are not commandments from God graven in stone by the finger of The Lord. Very often designing with this system in mind can result in some very strange results if done by a beginner like I was once upon a time. One of the fitst trees I worked on was a young Lodge Pole Pine about 12" tall. I designed an informal upright and when it was view from the so called front it looked fine buy if you turned the tree to either side you notice the chief flaw; the tree was two dimensional, from the side it was like looking at a playing card edge on. The rules were not really specific about depth and balance and I really did not have a clue what I was doing. 1958 circa

The point being that a square or rectangular or angled pot for that matter demands the presentation of a specific front. My sensibilities have changed to allow for an acceptable presentation 360*, thus a roundish pot is more appropriate.
 

Guy Vitale

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My main issue with rectangular pots are that unless you have a massive root spread, the trunk will always look undersized and the pot surface will be nothing but a sea of bonsai soil. Because of this I tend to shy away from buying them, aesthetically they look as good any other bonsai pot.
 

Vance Wood

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My main issue with rectangular pots are that unless you have a massive root spread, the trunk will always look undersized and the pot surface will be nothing but a sea of bonsai soil. Because of this I tend to shy away from buying them, aesthetically they look as good any other bonsai pot.
I would tend to agree. A square pot on the other hand, is essentially a round pot with corners if you think about it.
 
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