All aboard the Mugo train!

[BrightsideB]

Might as well try to plant those branches with the roots!

Seems those branches are quite supported so the rest of the tree should be ok.

Sorce

That sounds like a good idea. I am going to work on this tree when i get home from work. Thanks

 

[Cosmos]

That sounds like a good idea. I am going to work on this tree when i get home from work. Thanks

These branch-trunks don’t turn into roots right away, they’ll have formed some kind of bulge/trunk under the actual soilline. That’s the exciting part!

 

[BrightsideB]

View attachment 256900

These branch-trunks don’t turn into roots right away, they’ll have formed some kind of bulge/trunk under the actual soilline. That’s the exciting part!

Thank you. I am excited to see whats under there. So when I start taking away the top soil to get down to where the branch that is buried. Should I be careful to not destroy any of these smaller roots coming from the base in the photo I posted earlier?

 

[cishepard]

Question: I am unclear as to whether Mugo’s will back bud on old wood that does not have needles. If not, is our only option to bend these long branches with foliage only at the tips in a contorted way to bring the pads closer in?
Yes, i already did this, but if I do get backbudding, I can always cut back and lose all the octopus arms!

 

[River's Edge]

They will backbud in areas without needles if they are healthy and pruned back properly! Adventitious buds will form. They do backbud more easily from the base of needles. If your wish is to promote adventitious backbudding then i would focus on improving the tree's health and discontinue development for a while. This will speed up the end result faster than continuing to work the tree. Fertiliser should be applied this fall and early spring to pump up the condition. Grow the tree out next year and cut back the following year when the tree is a lot stronger.
It is easy to be confused when a lot of the literature states the opposite and many people repeat what they have read. I have no trouble getting mugo pine to backbud even in areas where needles are not present. The fact is that improvements in Bonsai care are creating results that were not so common decades ago.

 

[M. Frary]

They will backbud in areas without needles if they are healthy and pruned back properly! Adventitious buds will form. They do backbud more easily from the base of needles. If your wish is to promote adventitious backbudding then i would focus on improving the tree's health and discontinue development for a while. This will speed up the end result faster than continuing to work the tree. Fertiliser should be applied this fall and early spring to pump up the condition. Grow the tree out next year and cut back the following year when the tree is a lot stronger.
It is easy to be confused when a lot of the literature states the opposite and many people repeat what they have read. I have no trouble getting mugo pine to backbud even in areas where needles are not present. The fact is that improvements in Bonsai care are creating results that were not so common decades ago.

I have a Scots that grew a bud on a stub with zero green on it.
It hangs out with some elms though.

 

[Cosmos]

Thank you. I am excited to see whats under there. So when I start taking away the top soil to get down to where the branch that is buried. Should I be careful to not destroy any of these smaller roots coming from the base in the photo I posted earlier?

Cut smaller roots as cleanly as you can with shears. These trees can handle a lot.

 

[Cosmos]

A 2G pumilio I bought earlier in the summer and repotted last week. Good potential with this short fat trunk I think, but now I’m mostly worried about what seems to be an infestation of European pine moth larvae around some buds, something build a kind of shiny dome over some buds, I destroyed it everywhere I could with a toothpick, but hopefully that doesn’t interfere with the recovery from the repotting (standard VW template). I’m ok with losing some branches next year if it comes to that.

 

[sorce]

European pine moth larvae around some buds, something build a kind of shiny dome over some buds, I destroyed it everywhere I could with a toothpick,

A shiny dome sounds normal.

Sorce

 

[Cosmos]

A shiny dome sounds normal.

Sorce

I stupidly did not take a "before" picture, but it was a kind of hard substance stretching between the bud and the base of the needle cluster (and in one case totally engulging the bud), not remotely close to anything I have ever seen on healthy pine buds. I was carefully not to touch the actual buds when poking the webbing, no fingers crossed it’s either nothing but that I somehow stopped it.

It looked like an early stage of this (European pine shoot moth):

According to the literature on this pest, the timeline fits, the larvae bury themselves in there in late summer.

Anyone has any experience with this?

 

[sorce]

Certainly not the "shiny dome" I was thinking.

Sorce

 

[Paulpash]

Dug up 2 days ago. Lots of fibrous roots hence the anchor points above ground otherwise I would have crushed some of the fibrous trying to anchor to the woody roots beneath.

It's been in my front garden for 12-15 years - I never kept a physical note. I created the Shari around 8-10 years back. I pruned a few shoots which formed an awkward whorl at the apex, apart from that all foliage is in tact. It also opened it up a little so I could see the trunk line better. Thoughts & reactions welcome.

 

[BuckeyeOne]

Klostergrun from Dave and Gretchen at WabiSabiBonsai.
Said to be about 5 yrs. old.
Love the short dense needles.
Should be fun!!

 

[BuckeyeOne]

Another!!
Slow Mound that I bought and chopped the h**l out of about 3 months ago.
Gonna leave this one alone for a while!! Might repot deeper in spring.
Buck

 

[BuckeyeOne]

Still have one more. Story @ 6.

 

[M. Frary]

. I was thinkin today how many people on here have these trees. There used to be a time when nobody but one man stood up for these little pines. So why don't we who now have one or many put a picture up of their Mugos good or bad and show Vance just how many of us have one.
We'll say he's the engineer of this locomotive that is starting to barrel down the tracks. All aboard the crazy train!View attachment 73134
I'll start. I got this poor little guy 3 years ago. He is just a former shadow of himself. Not sure what will happen to him next either. Poor little feller.

Look at him now.
4 years riding the train as the first passenger ever.
He still needs to grow another 5 to 10 years but he is coming along.
What a little time does huh?

 

[sorce]

Sorce

 

[Sansui]

Here is my crazy mugo nestled with oxalis. I don't recall the cultivar. I also grow them in my garden.

 

[M. Frary]

View attachment 258113


Sorce

I know!
Crazy isn't it?
Growing past the knuckle and turning into a proper bonsai.
I think I might be getting the hang of this whole bonsai thing.

 

[M. Frary]

Here is my crazy mugo nestled with oxalis. I don't recall the cultivar. I also grow them in my garden.

Nice!