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GrimLore

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Do not cut off all of the old needles. Cut off all of the upper facing needles and the downward facing needles so all the needles that remaining look like a bow tie.

I Get the bow tie type pruning but I want to grow out from were I started a lot of snake like branching. It is young and using the air hose lined tethers I can do some harsh bends without breaking branches.
I figure if I let any pairs of candles grow AND trim clusters of candles down to two each I can achieve what I want next year, trimming the new growth as you described.
Will it hurt the plant of I do defoliate, or?

Thank you in advance, Vance ;)

Grimmy
 

Vance Wood

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I Get the bow tie type pruning but I want to grow out from were I started a lot of snake like branching. It is young and using the air hose lined tethers I can do some harsh bends without breaking branches.
I figure if I let any pairs of candles grow AND trim clusters of candles down to two each I can achieve what I want next year, trimming the new growth as you described.
Will it hurt the plant of I do defoliate, or?

Thank you in advance, Vance ;)

Grimmy
I am not sure what actually you mean by defoliate but if you mean cut off all of the needles on any one branch limb or the tree you will probably kill it. Why would you want to defoliate it anyway? Rule of thumb: NEVER DEFOLIATE A PINE!!!
 

Vance Wood

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GrimLore

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I am not sure what actually you mean by defoliate but if you mean cut off all of the needles on any one branch limb or the tree you will probably kill it. Why would you want to defoliate it anyway? Rule of thumb: NEVER DEFOLIATE A PINE!!!

I had planned to extend twisted branching as it grows. It is growing and because we had a rather wet Spring much of the old leaf has browned - and it is NOT a drainage problem, just moisture. As I wanted to extend and shape the branches over time and eventually properly work off new growth(in this case healthy candles) I "thought" that getting rid of the rubbish below them would be ok allowing me to continue on my intended path... I do mean take off leaf before the candles and seems to make sense that plant auxin would permit me to do this - honest I see no real problem regarding how most plants work and truly appreciate your input :)

Grimmy
 

Vance Wood

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One of the problems with clearing off the old needles as in all of them is if this is not done carefully you also destroy the epicormic buds at the junction of the needles and the bases. I generally leave at least the base of the fasicles in place in the areas where I hope to get back budding. Don't do anything hasty right now I have most of my Mugos at a point where I can get some photos of this process and the reaction to it. So if it doesn't rain like it has been for the last few days I will be able to get some pictures along with Mike's Juniper I promised him.
 

Soldano666

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You seem to be heading in the right direction. You have to decide if you have a direction you're heading with this tree. You need to start opening up the interior of the tree.
Yup. They were purchased last year. Cut and repotted except the one in the Monrovia pot. That'll get a report this summer. I see some lines in there for sure, I can't wait to cut a bunch more off this summer and give it round two of the ole development train
 

Soldano666

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[QUOTE="Vance Wood, post: 453145, member: 6" ] I have most of my Mugos at a point where I can get some photos of this process and the reaction to it. So if it doesn't rain like it has been for the last few days I will be able to get some pictures along with Mike's Juniper I promised him.[/QUOTE] your guidance is much appreciated Vance. I look forward to those pics
 

Vance Wood

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Yeh me too. I have been unable to get out and work on trees for a host of reasons not the least of which has been the weather; raining constantly for days. Helping my son move into his new house and I have been laid up with Bronchitis for over a month.
 

Paradox

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@GrimLore

As Vance said, be very very careful of wiring now. Not only can you very easily knock and break off the new candles, mugos tend to swell branches in August which causes them to bite in easily. If you can wait, I would wait until October to wire.
 

Grant Hamby

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My train ticket is still alive somehow. The new growth seems healthy. It backbudded pretty well, so hopefully it continues to do so in the future. Guess I'll just let it do its thing for a while and hopefully the base swells a bit to address the reverse taper. If not, it's still a fun tree.

IMG_4563.JPG
 

Vance Wood

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My train ticket is still alive somehow. The new growth seems healthy. It backbudded pretty well, so hopefully it continues to do so in the future. Guess I'll just let it do its thing for a while and hopefully the base swells a bit to address the reverse taper. If not, it's still a fun tree.

View attachment 144739
If this was my tree I would first remove all of the needles that point straight up, except for a few at the very tip of the branch for appearances sake. Once you do this lets take a look at your options. We will probably proceede by removing the straight downward pointing needles. The idea is to reveal the interior of the tree to your inspection and more importantly exposure to light which will stimulate budding. It is best to use scissors. You need to do this now. Refer back to the bow tie effect. You have to leave needles growing to the sides, this is where you hope to get back budding. Interfoliar buds will break more predictably if you have needles in those locations where you want buds.

Now we wait for opportunities to wire the tree and the time to decandle/shoot the tree. We are in all probabilities talking mid summer sometime around the Solstice.

Have you noticed that the promenence of the knuckle is becommine smaller?
 
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Grant Hamby

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If this was my tree I would first remove all of the needles that point straight up, except for a few at the very tip of the branch for appearances sake. Once you do this lets take a look at your options. We will probably proceede by removing the straight downward pointing needles. The idea is to reveal the interior of the tree to your inspection and more importantly exposure to light which will stimulate budding. It is best to use scissors. You need to do this now. Refer back to the bow tie effect. You have to leave needles growing to the sides, this is where you hope to get back budding. Interfoliar buds will break more predictably if you have needles in those locations where you want buds.

Okay sounds good! I'll do that asap and post a pic. Thanks!
 

Vance Wood

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Okay sounds good! I'll do that asap and post a pic. Thanks!
Be patient, work slowly and watch carefully what you are doing. Use good quality bonsai scissors and be careful not to cut out new and emerging buds.

You will also have to watch that in the process, you do not knock off any of the newly emerging buds in among the needles----there will be some.

If you get tired or start seeing double stop and take a break. This is one of the most time consuming and tedious tasks involved in caring for Mugo bonsai but very much of the success is wrapped up in this technique.
 
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