Scots pine styling

[Somatom]

Hello everyone,
Yesterday I managed to get my hands on this small Scots pine for a really good price. I know it’s not the best-looking pine out there, but I’d still like to see what I can do with it.
Right now I’m thinking about how to style it: I have a few ideas, but I’d love to hear what you all think.
Here are some pictures of the tree, with the first one showing what I’m considering as a possible front.

 

[Somatom]

I’m pretty certain about wanting to remove the middle branch, since it’s growing on the inside of the trunk’s curve, but I think the bottom branch probably needs to go as well.
My main concern is that I’d be removing too much foliage, leaving me with fewer branches to use for styling (and the tree might suffer more than I would like to).
I’m also not sure if this is the right time to do that kind of work, or if I should wait until spring. I recently moved to Denmark from Italy, so I’m not very familiar with the local climate or how the trees behave here.
Here are some pictures where I’m moving the branches around so that you can get a better idea of their placement:

 

[BartelBe]

It's a beauty with lots of potential. I'm too novice to help with any styling wisdom. Others will eagerly guide you, I'm sure

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Now would be a good time to remove parts, as the sap flow has slowed down before dormancy.

As for design and styling, I recommend getting some wire and just start wiring. The points where branches come in three, you should reduce it to two; one branch, the other is a continuation of the trunk. On the end of the branches, three gets reduced to two to make the 'Y' shape that later on makes its own V in continuation, that's how pads are made.
If you wire now, before cutting anything off, you can get a good feel of the options you have.

In the resources page of the forum, I dropped a guide for scots pine / pinus sylvestris that tells you all you need to know in terms of care.

Please update us with pictures when you've done any work! I'm curious to see what you make of it.

 

[Attmos]

Is Mugo Pine a dwarf version of Scots Pine?

 

[Somatom]

It's a beauty with lots of potential. I'm too novice to help with any styling wisdom. Others will eagerly guide you, I'm sure

Thank you, and every comment is always welcome

Now would be a good time to remove parts, as the sap flow has slowed down before dormancy.

As for design and styling, I recommend getting some wire and just start wiring. The points where branches come in three, you should reduce it to two; one branch, the other is a continuation of the trunk. On the end of the branches, three gets reduced to two to make the 'Y' shape that later on makes its own V in continuation, that's how pads are made.
If you wire now, before cutting anything off, you can get a good feel of the options you have.

In the resources page of the forum, I dropped a guide for scots pine / pinus sylvestris that tells you all you need to know in terms of care.

Please update us with pictures when you've done any work! I'm curious to see what you make of it.

I just read the guide and it's really great, thank you! I also like this idea of a more conservative styling approach.
I'll probably work on it this week

 

[Somatom]

Is Mugo Pine a dwarf version of Scots Pine?

They are both single-flush and can be both found in Europe, but they are two different species. I think that the mugo tends to live in more alpine regions

 

[Paradox]

Is Mugo Pine a dwarf version of Scots Pine?

Mugo is a separate species, but their native distribution does overlap some what.
They are both 2 needle, single flush pines that like cold winters

 

[Paradox]

I’m pretty certain about wanting to remove the middle branch, since it’s growing on the inside of the trunk’s curve, but I think the bottom branch probably needs to go as well.
My main concern is that I’d be removing too much foliage, leaving me with fewer branches to use for styling (and the tree might suffer more than I would like to).
I’m also not sure if this is the right time to do that kind of work, or if I should wait until spring. I recently moved to Denmark from Italy, so I’m not very familiar with the local climate or how the trees behave here.
Here are some pictures where I’m moving the branches around so that you can get a better idea of their placement:
View attachment 620091
View attachment 620092
View attachment 620093

I agree with your assessment to remove the middle and lower branch and keep the older more gnarly looking one for the main trunk.
You dont have to remove them all at once. I would remove the middle one now and see how it grows next year
Put some wire on the branches for some shape. You can remove the lower one either next year or even the year after that when the rest of the tree is more filled out and stronger

 

[Somatom]

Hello,
Yesterday I was finally able to get dome work done on this pine. I decided to remove the middle branch, which was too long and leggy and was likely going to cause some swelling.
I'm still thinking that the lower branch should go too, but I didn't want to be too aggressive especially since it's late fall and the tree would have been left with too little foliage. So, I bent it using a guy-wire (I didn't have any thick wire to use for the bend so I had to improvise something).
What do you think about this first styling?

 

[Mike Westervelt]

Nicely done! That's a great start.