Mugos again

[Vance Wood]

I just started another Mugo Pine bonsai yesterday. I figure it will take me three or four days to go this tree but here are the pre-work photos. Some of the work toward finish I will load up tonight.

 

[berobinson82]

Looking forward to the progress pics.

Your post says "started" but it looks like you've spent some time prepping this tree for work with the potting and reduction of branches. How long did it take you to get this out of a nursery and into this stage? Can I guess 2 years?

 

[Vance Wood]

Actually I have had this tree for probably 15 years. It was one of those really ugly Mugos that got by my selection process. I picked this tree up for a workshop and the person who originally selected the poor thing decided they didn't want it; "could I have another?" ---and so I got it back after someone else had been hacking on it.

After a number or years floating around, five years ago I tried to do some styling to the tree and that was not to my licking, I'm still learning too, and my tastes have changed since then. Two summers ago I pulled it out of the three gallon container, drastically cut the roots and put it in the colander. Last year I could not believe how fast the tree had recovered and decided this year to take it seriously due to the trunk having developed so much volume;--- and so you see it now.

 

[berobinson82]

SLIGHTLY longer than I had guessed. This might be the year to give mugos one last try.. Seemingly they don't want to live in my back yard.

 

[Smoke]

Wow! now thats a challenge.

 

[jkd2572]

I have never seen nursery material that did not look like a mushroom. I have killed one though. Check that off my list.

 

[Vance Wood]

I have never seen nursery material that did not look like a mushroom. I have killed one though. Check that off my list.

Do you really want to clarify that statement, or elaborate further?

 

[Vance Wood]

Here comes the first round of design. If I get the chance and the weather allows I plan on going after the dead wood and continue removing unwanted needles and downward growing "stuff". Then I need to wire the growing tips upward.

This stage still need this next summer to develop. Much of the growth on the left side of the tree needs a year or two to lengthen and fill out in order to balance the image.

Shitake, or Portabello? I can't decide.

 

[A Random User]

Vance, are you working on your tree at the Home Depot ???
The background in your pics looks like it...

 

[Vance Wood]

Vance, are you working on your tree at the Home Depot ???
The background in your pics looks like it...

That's the potery barn and Telly's nursery and GreenHouse. We use that facility for our club meetings. This last week end we had our Bonsai Circus. A program where we get several demonstrators together to demonstrate various aspects of doing bonsai from soil to styling. Every body has fun and sometimes people learn something. The point is every body has fun and some get excited about their trees and some start making better bonsai.

 

[RKatzin]

Mushroom Mugo (Pinus mugo fungifolia)

Here you go!

 

[Vance Wood]

Here you go!

This is typical of what you might encounter at a nursery. Most of my Mugo bonsai started out looking like the ones you have presented. Following shows a group of nursery trees I purchased a year ago as they came from the nursery. Some of them were cleaned up at the base and a lot of the extra growth was removed. I took them with me to our summer show and though I did not intend to sell them, I just wanted something to work on, never-the-less they sold. Any-way you can see what was going on with these trees. As you can see the trees I selected are similar to yours. I do however; have a problem with Monrovia products. They are pretty much the best there is in doing what they do and that is prepping trees for the landscape trade. Monrovia Mugo tend to be very closely and carefully clipped giving them the classical mushroom shape.

 

[edprocoat]

This is typical of what you might encounter at a nursery. Most of my Mugo bonsai started out looking like the ones you have presented.

That may be Vance, but what you make out of them is simply magnificent. I have seen none better than yours and only few that are on par with yours. Now maybe you have a shed full of reject ones hidden from the public, but what you have been kind enough to share here and the images I have found online of your trees are superb. Keep up the good work.

ed

 

[Vance Wood]

That may be Vance, but what you make out of them is simply magnificent. I have seen none better than yours and only few that are on par with yours. Now maybe you have a shed full of reject ones hidden from the public, but what you have been kind enough to share here and the images I have found online of your trees are superb. Keep up the good work.

ed

Holy crap! Now I have to clean off the walls, my head just exploded and it looks like a crime scene in my office because you made my head swell so large I could not contain it. Those are the kindests words anyone has said to me in I don't know how long. Thank you very much.

 

[RKatzin]

I completely concur with Ed's sentiments Vance, I always am inspired by your works and your words. We owe you a debt of gratitude for sharing so much of yourself for our benefit.

I don't want to steal your thread, but I call this tree, 'The Poser', because it's not what it appears to be at first glance. This is the same tree shown earlier. It looks like a nice tree, lots of healthy foliage and buds, and you feel a nice fat something down there below the soil line.

As you say, it's likely the best production landscape tree, but as to bonsai, look at these bones! Inside it's all helter skelter. All the foliage is held aloft on spindly stems. The second pic is backbuds I've grown since opening the canopy. If you want to do more than have a good chuckle I'll start a thread. Hey! I can take a joke and I laugh about the Poser many times. Mostly sincere, Rick

 

[jkd2572]

Do you really want to clarify that statement, or elaborate further?

Sorry I meant that I can never find any good material at box stores. They are always very short and look like a mushroom. Tons of branches coming from the same place. Inverse taper Ect.

 

[Vance Wood]

I completely concur with Ed's sentiments Vance, I always am inspired by your works and your words. We owe you a debt of gratitude for sharing so much of yourself for our benefit.

I don't want to steal your thread, but I call this tree, 'The Poser', because it's not what it appears to be at first glance. This is the same tree shown earlier. It looks like a nice tree, lots of healthy foliage and buds, and you feel a nice fat something down there below the soil line.

As you say, it's likely the best production landscape tree, but as to bonsai, look at these bones! Inside it's all helter skelter. All the foliage is held aloft on spindly stems. The second pic is backbuds I've grown since opening the canopy. If you want to do more than have a good chuckle I'll start a thread. Hey! I can take a joke and I laugh about the Poser many times. Mostly sincere, Rick

What does the trunk look like under all of those rocks. It is surprising how much can be done with a Mugo if you reach deep enough into the gut bucket to find the courage to experiment. Did you ever see a raw, rough diamond?

 

[RKatzin]

The tree is growing on a mound, the stones keep the birds for dustbathing and throwing the soil off. Pesky little juncos and finches.

The trunk, well, there was none to speak of, just a thick wad of strangulating roots wrapping around the base of the tree. Removing these a little each season to get the trunk to this state. The bark has alot of scarring where the thick roots were imbedded and as these heal it leaves an erratic bark pattern.

 

[Vance Wood]

The tree is growing on a mound, the stones keep the birds for dustbathing and throwing the soil off. Pesky little juncos and finches.

The trunk, well, there was none to speak of, just a thick wad of strangulating roots wrapping around the base of the tree. Removing these a little each season to get the trunk to this state. The bark has alot of scarring where the thick roots were imbedded and as these heal it leaves an erratic bark pattern.

I get your point, trunks like this do happen, but they can be worked with. Did you ever notice the nature of the bark on a Japanese Black Pine? You see a lot of the same features.

I'm not suggesting that you are doing this, but there are a lot of people out there that still believe you cannot make a bonsai out of a Mugo Pine, and this is one of the arguments used. It seems that there are some who have tried the tree and for one reason or another have problems growing them. I have found that for the most part the difficulties reside in efforts to treat them like Japanese Black Pines.

The two most important differences in their cultivation: One, they do best when repotted in the Summer any time after the last week in June to the first week in October. Second; they like a lot of water but do not like to sit in soggy soil they must have great drainage.

This means they need a quick draining soil. In the case of my experience they prefer a bit of organic material in the soil mix. I use composted Pine Bark Mulch and have had great experience with this stuff. Most of the people I know of who have had failure with the tree also adhere to the so-called Boon Mix with no organics at all. I am not claiming a correlation but it is worth thought.

Another thing about Mugos that you have to consider: In the world of two needle Pines Mugo is one and Japanese Black Pine is another but there is a basic and significant difference between the two trees. JBP is called a two flush growth tree meaning that the tree will put out new extending growth twice a year. Mugo Pine and, a host of others, are single flush growers; meaning that they will grow extending candles only once a year.

Getting these trees to behave predictably is the underlining goal of bonsai culture. The problem with the way bonsai is practiced is that most of the literature for Two Needle Pine care is written about, and demonstrated with, the Japanese Black Pine in mind and in hand. The timing and methods used for Japanese Black Pines are, in my opinion, the major reason most people fail with Mugo Pine.

More to follow

 

[Vance Wood]

I completely concur with Ed's sentiments Vance, I always am inspired by your works and your words. We owe you a debt of gratitude for sharing so much of yourself for our benefit.

I don't want to steal your thread, but I call this tree, 'The Poser', because it's not what it appears to be at first glance. This is the same tree shown earlier. It looks like a nice tree, lots of healthy foliage and buds, and you feel a nice fat something down there below the soil line.

As you say, it's likely the best production landscape tree, but as to bonsai, look at these bones! Inside it's all helter skelter. All the foliage is held aloft on spindly stems. The second pic is backbuds I've grown since opening the canopy. If you want to do more than have a good chuckle I'll start a thread. Hey! I can take a joke and I laugh about the Poser many times. Mostly sincere, Rick

This is where a lot of bonsai interested people lose it. It is almost a given, because of the way Mugo is cultivated in the nursery trade, that you are not likely to find a tree that cries out "Bonsai". It becomes necessary to observe how the jumble of branches that sometimes make up the base can be sorted out and a decent trunk line can be selected that extendes into the crown with successively smaller trunk diameter. Once you can establish a single trunk line it will thicken nicely. However it is not necessary that a Mugo have a single trunk. In nature they often have many trunks but they exist in harmony and create a wonderful image as well. A straight up Pine like JBP's tend to be are relatively easy to identify a design option and Mugo is not.