First project

[Roy9954]

This is my first attempt to style this pinus mugo from the nursery. I have been doing research and they say best time to prune back and wire is late summer so I am assuming I will leave it in the nursery pot until the end of August and then attempt to prune it back and wire. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Shibui]

Pines generally do not like both top prune and root prune close together.
We tend to do one or the other and then follow up with the remainder of the work later in the year or the following year.
I find Spring is no problem for either top prune or repot. I haven't tried repot for Mugho in late Sumer but I've seen plenty of reliable growers doing it so must be OK.

I'd probably repot now, let the tree recover through summer and top prune either end of summer or next spring. Your colder climate may require different timing.
How much of roots are you planning to remove when repotting? How far back are you planning to cut the branches?

You need to be aware that Mugho is what we call a single flush pine species which means it only grows once in Spring. If pruned after the Spring flush the tree will usually produce buds but they won't open and grow until the following Spring.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

I always followed this resource when I had Mugos. Worked really well.

Resource icon

Compiled Vance Wood on Mugo Pines

Jun 5, 2015

Posts compiled from Bonsai Nut by Vance Wood from 2010 onward on mugo pine care and development

• Lazylightningny
• mugo pine pine care
• Tutorials

 

[just.wing.it]

It's too tiny, let it grow for a few years.
Repotting into something a bit larger would be good.
Wait until after Father's Day to do anything to Mugos, that was Vance's rule of thumb.
Been a good rule for me, however my mugos all dried out several winters ago, so I picked up 2 new ones to start over with this year.
I plan to put them into grow boxes or maybe a "colander" of sorts for a while.