Beginner Questions - Mugo Pine

[somegeek]

I pruned this tree back a bit but I've read that you should leave 1/2" stub or so to die back to be cleaned up flush later, but then I've read to remove it and concave it a bit so it heals over more or less flush. Did I do this wrong?

I need to cut this one back to a single trunk but wanted to see if the above was the right/wrong way to go about it.

Appreciate any input.

somegeek

 

[Klytus]

Yes you errred,there is precious little living material between the points above and below the injury.

Your multitrunk is possibly a multitree already merging below the soil to yield a wide trunk.

 

[somegeek]

Yes you errred,there is precious little living material between the points above and below the injury.

Would the proper method here have been to leave 1/2" stubs to be trimmed back later once they died back?

Your multitrunk is possibly a multitree already merging below the soil to yield a wide trunk.

Ah okay - I'll do some soil removal and see what's down there.

Appreciate the reply.

somegeek

 

[Klytus]

I would have tried a more gradual approach,it's like the fear of the trunk bulging should be tempered by considering the loss of vigour.

It's sometimes difficult to leave a stub.

 

[Vance Wood]

You should have left stubs for three reasons. One: With Mugos the removal of a major branch can cause the life line to that branch to die causing the associated root to die and causing that portion of the trunk to die. Leaving a stub allows the tree to readjust those resources without the possible side effects. Two: Cutting flush, especially a large branch, can cause a large scar to form even if you hollow out the injury. Three: In this case it is as been pointed out, there are precious little pathways remaining for the top of the tree. Mugos are notorious for forming knuckles (large bulges with a lot of branches coming out of them) that need to be dealt with carefully.

 

[somegeek]

Ok, noted - thanks for the explanation.

Can you flush/concave cut a branch on a mugo if the branch is smaller or is it a general rule of thumb to always leave a stub to come back to later?

 

[Vance Wood]

Ok, noted - thanks for the explanation.

Can you flush/concave cut a branch on a mugo if the branch is smaller or is it a general rule of thumb to always leave a stub to come back to later?

It kind of depends on the over-all size of the tree. Normally I would say a branch the size of a pencil or smaller would be fine to flush cut---unless the size of the tree is not very much larger. To think of it in those terms I believe it safe to flush cut if the branch is less that 1/8 the diameter of the trunk.