Ok.
I saw this visual cue yesterday that I been looking for.
This reinforcement of buds at the tip.
This one decided to go threefer.
View attachment 159809
And this one elongated a bit and tapered out.
View attachment 159810
The Mugo files say Vance cuts em in July.
And I've heard him tell somone do it before the end of August.
I got to thinking about the NATURAL RYTHYM of the tree and how to best utilize it for our purposes.
It is very important to note, that this theory is NOT based on Bonsai, it's based on the NATURAL RYTHYM of the tree and how to utilize it best for our purposes in Bonsai.
As single flush pines, if we consider these 2 season pines, this theory is easier to understand.
A simpler rythym.
The conversation in the tree, as it would be on the mountain, is as follows.
What happened this winter, what have I lost, and what must I do to grow best this year?
What happened this summer, what have I lost, and what what must I do to grow best next season.
That's it. Simple.
Not!
This time right now is the time it has had, or is having, its internal conversation, and deciding what to do. It's already unsafe to cut for bonsai purposes.
But to dive deeper into perfecting timing, and gather as much energy as possible, to keep foliage growing roots all summer..
I propose not to cut in July, but rather, waiting till a week before this "conversation" happens.
Before this ONE VERY PARTICULAR TIME in the trees NATURAL RYTHYM, I believe we are merely confusing it.
Which I think is what causes those little "yeah I got energy" spurts of fake second growth...
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Which looks like the same Juvenile foliage JBP throws when it is stressed. Hint hint.
Yes we see buds form, or pop, or this fake second flush, after a July cut. Summer damage happens on the mountain too.
But come back down off the mountain...
We are doing bonsai.
That is not what we want.
We want to wait for it to have stored ALL the energy it possibly can before this one particular time in its NATURAL RYTHYM when this conversation happens, so we can allow the tree to have a Bigger Conversation!
More healthy buds!
That alone should gather enough energy to then take advantage of the PROPOSED SPRING PRUNING. *
This one is deeper.
Haven't quirked it out, or seen the season natural enough to study it well yet, but here it is.
When I cut branches in spring, which hasn't been timed or figured, more just clean up to see in when you buy it cuts...
So far just....unneeded big branch removal...
Those actions in spring have created buds further in the interior.
Those cuts made the tree send buds where there were no needles....
Why?
And how to better understand it to utilize this side of the natural rythym?
Because I haven't noticed this further interior budding in July....
I think the tree conversation if cut in spring, before growth starts, goes like this....
What the Fuck? I lost that giant branch out there this winter? Fuck that, I gotta grow back closer to the safety of my trunk.
Hence....better far interior backbudding with spring cutting!
*Proposed Spring Pruning
What of the energy right?
If we look at the NATURAL RYTHYM of these single flush pines...
And the facts of their natural environment, we have a tree which, in nature produces one flush of growth, to sustain it through both these seasons.
Here's my Anti Bow Tie Statement....
One flush of growth, Plus older needles, is what gets this tree all the way thru 2 seasons.
This wasn't supposed to pop up in this storm, but here it is....
I understand why to "bow tie", or remove top and bottom growing needles to better allow light into the tree.
But I understand better why I can't bring myself to do it...
And likely never will.
The "system".
In that Scots video with Ryan Neil, he talks about the tree being a system. Leaving branches on to support the system. This branch feeds the roots which in turn feed that part of the tree which we intend to keep etc.
So in an effort to bonsai with all the energy possible...
Why not just leave all them needles and uneccesary buds on till these obvious 2 action times?
I personally don't have any areas that would benefit any other part of the tree if I removed them.
And none of them are causing knuckles.....
So I say again...and again and again....
Don't Mindlessly remove up and down growth.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL.
We got these newbs removing up and down growth like it's the God Damn plague!
The fact that a Mugo branch can be twisted to make up and down growth side by side growth is just one fact that says we may have had a better branch pattern had we not removed all those options.
I can not be the only perfectionist, who knows perfect doesn't exist, but decides to give it a go anyway.
Oh...what I'm trying to say is....
We are not allowing these single flush pines to make it all the way thru these 2 seasons on old needles and one flush of growth with their natural maximum energy.
Especially if we are Always removing needles that don't necessarily need removal, AND cutting off all the new growth in July which is one to two months too early, and seemingly a uneccesary stressor.
Again, I haven't figured this heavier spring cut thing fully yet, but I am working on coming up with some solid observations to continue perfecting these trees I love so much.
Maybe give em a summer action rest, to hit em hard in spring.
Maybe not removing needles and waiting till the last minute to perform summer action will give them enough energy to hit em hard in spring.
What is fact...
In nature they have enough energy for these twice yearly damages.
And we have been removing more energy than necessary.
This is why There IS MORE!
Not to mention when I first got that Pugo Mine, I figured it was gonna take way longer to make into a tree...
But in gathering information from every angle...
And applying it, that tree is shaping up faster than I ever expected.
I still feel like a dick for suggesting Vance may have flaws.
Flaws defined as, just general bad old school bonsai practices he was unable to shake while being a Mugo badass!
Anyway, in feeling bad, I thought about how I shouldn't feel bad.
Cuz when Vance got to talking about a new understanding of wiring, I got mad excited that we may get to view his trees might get that much doper!
Hoping you folks knew I wasn't provoking Ill attitude, or young buck disrespect, I realized that if I can provoke Lord Mugo with thought as to become Mugo Overlord...
I'm like fuck it...keep typing!
To Vance !
To Mugo !
To baseball.....
Sorce