Mugo Pine Progression

[Rockwellbonsai]

That's an awesome mugo!
I just bought some stock today, I root pruned and reported it, but don't have any bonsai soil until this Tuesday.
So, I don't know what to do. I need to put in some good soil, but everyone is telling me
To never touch my tree again.
Your tree is amazing and gorgeous though.
Porter

 

[Rockwellbonsai]

Repotted* sorry

 

[Vance Wood]

That's an awesome mugo!
I just bought some stock today, I root pruned and reported it, but don't have any bonsai soil until this Tuesday.
So, I don't know what to do. I need to put in some good soil, but everyone is telling me
To never touch my tree again.
Your tree is amazing and gorgeous though.
Porter

Do I understand your post correctly? You root pruned and repotted your tree but you wont have any bonsai soil until Tuesday? I am having trouble understanding for sure why you did this and what kind of soil is the tree in right now? Are we talking about a Mugo as well?

You need to put it in good soil, that's true but do you understand the amount of stress repotting and root pruning inflicts on the tree? You should have waited till you had the good soil before you attacked the root system. Your friends are correct in telling you not to touch the tree again but I would add for this year, "never" wont work any better than doing it too soon, which is what you are thinking about.

There are basically three kinds of people that approach root work in three different ways. The first are those who won't touch the roots at all, out of fear, there are those who will obliterate a root system out of ignorance as to what they are doing, and there are those who are fortunate enough to have a competent teacher.

A pine tree is not a garden flower that you can totally disregard the way the roots are handled, there are protocols that should be followed if you expect the tree to survive. One of those protocols is that you do not disturb the roots more than once every three years for Pines. I suspect that more of those protocals have been challenged but I can only guess.

I know Reddog will say I am scolding you but the truth is the truth. If you are serious about learning bonsai you need to educate yourself and realize it's not as simple as you might think it is. There are some basic principles that make the job easier once you learn them, but if you don't learn them you will continue to kill trees.

 

[M. Frary]

Do I understand your post correctly? You root pruned and repotted your tree but you wont have any bonsai soil until Tuesday? I am having trouble understanding for sure why you did this and what kind of soil is the tree in right now? Are we talking about a Mugo as well?

You understand correctly Vance. And a Mugo as well.

 

[Rockwellbonsai]

Hi Vance Wood,
Yes, I deserve to be scolded. Look, this was a $15 tree. I care about it still. But here's the problem. I haven't learned patience, and I make rushed decisions, which I shouldn't do in bonsai. I am truly committed to bonsai. I screwed up on this tree. If it even survives, I'm leaving it alone for 2 years. And I am SO grateful I didn't even touch my JWP and JBP. I won't touch those until spring. Which I will repot them, to let them grow. So, me being a beginner, I made a bad mistake.
Well, at least I learned one thing.
NEVER BARE-ROOT A PINE TREE.
Thanks Vance for waking me up.
Porter

 

[Dav4]

Hi Vance Wood,
Yes, I deserve to be scolded. Look, this was a $15 tree. I care about it still. But here's the problem. I haven't learned patience, and I make rushed decisions, which I shouldn't do in bonsai. I am truly committed to bonsai. I screwed up on this tree. If it even survives, I'm leaving it alone for 2 years. And I am SO grateful I didn't even touch my JWP and JBP. I won't touch those until spring. Which I will repot them, to let them grow. So, me being a beginner, I made a bad mistake.
Well, at least I learned one thing.
NEVER BARE-ROOT A PINE TREE.
Thanks Vance for waking me up.
Porter

Actually, all conifers, with a few exceptions, should never be bare rooted...even in the spring when most trees are more capable of surviving root trauma. Deciduous trees, on the other hand, are much more successfully bare rooted. In fact, you need to bare root them to properly do root work.

 

[Victrinia Ridgeway]

Golly..... Ten years is a long time for an update, but here it is anyhow. This summer, I actually sold it to my apprentice who really wanted an Issho-en tree in his collection. I miss it, but am learning to let them go. In these photos she badly needed thinning. But still lovely.

 

[Victrinia Ridgeway]

In the apprentice's garden, a very sweet moment for me. Need to bring my camera on a nice day to get better bokeh.

 

[tanlu]

Lovely indeed! It’s quite tidy and the bark has matured nicely. I like the planting angle too!

 

[Victrinia Ridgeway]

Lovely indeed! It’s quite tidy and the bark has matured nicely. I like the planting angle too!

Thank you... The tree is about 60 years old. So the bark was pretty special when I got it.

 

[tanlu]

Took a quick peek at the older photos. I'd be very pleased with the progression of the tree. Your apprentice should feel honored to have it now. They'd better take good care of it!

I can only imagine the feelings one would have when parting ways with such a tree. I don't know if I could do it!

 

[pandacular]

Wow, really like how this one ended up! I need to get out to Bremerton one of these days...