Mugo

grog

Shohin
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Picked this mugo pine up this morning. Pines are pretty intimidating but I figure I won't learn if I don't get started killing them so this is probable victim number one!

Keeping it in the shade and planning to mist as often as possible till it decides whether it's going to accept this treatment or not.
 

Vance Wood

Lord Mugo
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You only need to mist it twice a day if the weather is hot. Make sure though, that you do not get the soil too wet. Water the soil only when it starts to dry out. It looks like you have the tree in a pond basket so watering should not be a big issue unless it gets too dry. Don't do anything else with it till next summer.
 

grog

Shohin
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Thanks Vance. It means a lot to have a comment from THE mugo guy. Not that the tree's that nice or anything, just the notice. It's greatly appreciated. It's been a hot bitch of a summer, I imagine you've had the same in Michigan. Strange how the normal mid-summer storms are coming in almost two months late isn't it?
 

Vance Wood

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You are right about the weather. Sad thing is, I was in Des Moines/Indianola two weeks ago. If I had known you were working with this tree I would have loved to have helped you with it.
 
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Nice find on this little tree. Pines intimidated me when I started this road, and now they are the trees I have the best success with! Go for it!
 
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I love to see the pond basket, nice start, but I must warn you, those mugos can be addictive!



Will
 

Vance Wood

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If you have not had time to read what I have written about Mugos on the Internet you might want to do so. I have been growing them for many years and have found that they do not always fit the "Care for two needle Pine" mould most people will quote you.
 

grog

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The pond baskets are just about perfect for most of the things I have growing and now I wish I'd bought more in the spring. Getting stocked on them and a good stockpile of turface for next year is going to be a winter project.

Vance, it would have been quite the honor to work on a tree with you or just shook your hand. I'll keep an eye on the MABA site and if I see anything about you heading that way on a weekend it's about three hours to Des Moines, not too terrible.

If there's anything you've written on mugos that I haven't read it would probably only be on gardenweb. The only thing I may have deviated on from what I understand is I may have taken off more foliage than I should have and doing it a couple weeks ago wouldn't have hurt either. Then again it rained for almost a month straight so maybe that's not such a bad thing.

Thanks again for the feedback and help!
 

Vance Wood

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Three hours? You live somewhere around Davenport, or Councle Bluffs? Any way I'll let you know but it will not be till next year now. We always make a trip to Des Moines in late July early August, we both, my wife and I, have family there.

As to taking off too much, I don't think you have a problem from what I can see but make sure you give the tree a chance to recover and push back buds.
 

grog

Shohin
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I'm about a half hour south of Council Bluffs. It's about three hours to Kansas City and about the same to Des Moines. I plan on doing more nursery shopping for mugo pines as the season winds down so I should have plenty to work on next summer.

Fair warning though, I'll talk your head off trying to pick your brain!
 
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