Jesse's Mugo

[JesseKane]

Picked up this Mugo in 2024 as my very first pine project. Started off with sawing the root ball in half, sticking it in a grow box, and randomly removing branches to get a look at the interior. Removed a branch that would have been a great new leader and allow me to completely remove a knuckle. Removed a lot of old needles on the branches and realized later that this could mean no back-budding. Learned about my mistakes a few weeks later and more or less lost hope for this lil tree, debating if I should keep it around or not.

 

[JesseKane]

I'm glad I decided to keep it around! This spring the tree grew like crazy. I noticed a few back buds forming low on the branches in late June, so come July 4th I decided to throw some wire on the primary branches and see if I could get it going in a better direction! Took the opportunity to get the majority of the secondary branches down to two in an attempt to try and keep the knuckles from getting worse. Two weeks after wiring I noticed a bunch of buds popping from old needles, and to my amazement, from one of the branch stubs I removed earlier that month. The vigor this tree showed started to get me back interested and seeing a future for it.

 

[JesseKane]

With the structure more open, I was able to see the nebari better and realized that I never really found the root flare when I potted it up last year. To my surprise, a couple inches of twisted trunk was hiding down there! The first structural root isn't until the near side of the buried trunk next to my finger in the pictures below. Interesting factor keeps cranking up. I pulled off the side of the box to get a better view of the trunk base and was happy with the density of roots. I'll be repotting in early spring to work out the root mess and figure out a proper angle with the buried section being exposed.

I took a few pictures today of the continued development of back buds and the crazy terminal buds the tree is setting. Did not expect to see the two inch growth of branch at the base of the terminal bud on top of the two inch candles it threw this spring. Strong branches giving 4 inches of growth on a dwarf variety was not expected at all.

 

[JesseKane]

Branches have swelled significantly in the last two months, to the point where I'm started to get concerned about wire bite. How much is too much? I expected to need to leave the wire on for at least a year if not more, yet in places the wire bite is approaching the diameter of the wire itself. If I remove the wire now, will the branches rebound over the rest of summer and fall? My instincts tell me it's not an issue as long as it doesn't become fully embedded, and I know many developers of JBP shoot for extreme levels of bite to help thicken branches, but I wanted to check with other Mugo-havers out there. Thoughts?





And a picture from today for posterity's sake.