Slowmound Mugo pine advice

[palafr01]

Palafr01 here and I'm back with another thread. This time I need some advice and guidance on this mugo pine (slow mound cultivar).

Quick timeline so far:
Sept/Oct 2020. purchased tree.
Nov 2020. cut back to an existing branchlet at "apex" hoping it would gain strength. Branchlet Died over the winter.
July 2021. removed ~1/3 of the existing foliage and repotted into a pond basket following guide. Allowed it to grow for the rest of the year.
late march 2022. removed ~1/4 of existing foliage hoping to encourage back budding while letting some light in. Had marginal success (i.e. did get some back budding).
April/May 2022. Growth was strong this year, ~2 to 3 inches from virtually every bud, which is good considering the cultivar. Previous insults hardly seemed to slow it down.
This week 6/13. removed a single branch on left trunk apex to improve visibility for photos below.

With that out of the way I can get to the questions.

1. Which trunk of the two trunks would you choose to go with?
At the moment I'm stuck because I think both could work as separate trunk lines. However I do see issues that would need to be addressed regardless of the choice I make. I had considered using both, but I feel that just isn't viable nor believable.
2. Once a trunk is selected, which branches would you recommend that I remove now to advance the design? (Keeping in mind what I have already done so far)

A more general question.

3. Given where I am in development and the "work" I have done to the tree which of these techniques should be used and how much should I do of each this year?
Hard pruning to a strong interior branch and/or removing undesirable branches (like mentioned in question 2)
Candle cutting leaving 1/8 inch if new growth to stimulate bud set for next year on last years needles
Needle cutting upwards and downwards needles to direct back budding to preferred areas

Another way of putting it, what is my energy budget in terms removal. I already took some foliage off this year (again ~25%) so I wanted to maximize what I could do this season without compromising the tree's health. My intuition tells me that I can still remove about 2-4 significant branches entirely and still have room for the other techniques. If I remove more, than I will likely have to do little else for the rest of the year. As far as the candles, they have hardened off and I am already starting to see buds form for next year indicating to me that my work window may in fact be closing (the tree started to grow early this year).

If you made it to end thank you for reading.

(note: pic one is from Dec 2021 while the others are from this week.)

 

[Paradox]

I think the side you are showing is the front of the tree but could you provide a picture of the other side? It would help in choosing branches.

I am on my phone right now but later I can take your pictures and show you what I would do with this tree if it was mine

 

[sorce]

More pics!
It's hard to gauge anything without a look at the whole general thing.

Pictures could provide the answer to this question, though an answer from you directly would answer it, the results of the actions are also needed as they vary, which makes both the pictures and the answer necessary. Then the question is still quite rhetorical, as it requires a bit more study of the tree to know know what's going on.

The question...
When you say 1/4 off, or a 1/3 off, from where was this growth removed?

I reckon you can take off 1/4 of the foliage which may include ALL the growing tips, and take a 100 health to somewhere around 50.
Where the removal of 3/4 of the foliage, in the form of one entire branch, can leave a 100 health somewhere around 75.

Not many animals will go around a pine and eat all the new growth. So they have a more difficult time bouncing back from that. Where the loss of an entire branch can be coped with rather easily.

Auxin, crosstalk, blah blah.....

This is why "pussyfooting" around the outside trying to get "book" backbuds usually results in only lessened health, which makes backbudding less possible, and results in lanky useless statures.

In this present state, I reckon all I would focus on is Hard Pruning.
Though depending on the "pussyfooting" state, it may not provide good results until you get this thing flowing at a 100 health again.

From the look of the roots....
I'd be styling it to go this way.


Sorce

 

[palafr01]

Some more pics...

 

[sorce]

Looks healthy.

I reckon you could use that basket to guy wire everything down to get more light to the interior.

Sorce

 

[Paradox]

Palafr01 here and I'm back with another thread. This time I need some advice and guidance on this mugo pine (slow mound cultivar).

Sorry it took me a bit to get back to you on this but I wanted to give it the time it deserved and try to help you make some decisions.
Now keep in mind that if this was my tree this is what I would do. It is your tree and ultimately your decision. This is just an option.

I think that this is definitely the front of the tree:



The green line is your main trunk IMO. To start I would cut the other large branch at the yellow line and then carve that down once it dries to to be a little bit greater than the diameter of the one just below it so you have a double jin there. Getting rid of this very strong branch will help to divert more energy into the main trunk.

Here is the back:



I would also cut the branches with the red lines. You are probably going to remove other branches later on but you dont want to remove too much foliage at once, but rather in stages over a few years.

Take a look at how much foliage youll be removing with just taking off the large second branch/trunk at the yellow line. If its more than about a third of the total foliage of the tree, then I would leave the other cuts until next year (again keeping in mind only remove 1/3 of the foliage in any given year). Once you make those cuts, re-evaluate the tree and see what your next steps are for that.

I wouldnt candle cut this year but I would remove the up and down growing needles on the branches to open up the foliage and get more light in

Meanwhile feed the tree at least once a month with fertilizer from mid April - Mid October to keep the tree healthy and strong so that it will be encouraged to back bud on those branches once you get to that point.

 

[palafr01]

Update. I made some cuts on June 20th using the advice I received here with the primary goal of "opening the tree up". I felt that removing the right side was best accomplished in stages, so the first branch I removed was the apex of the secondary trunk. By being conservative I felt that I left enough "wiggle room" so I could prioritize the removal of the competing apex located on the left trunk (best seen in photos #2 and #4). This branch was rather large so I went light on the pruning elsewhere on the tree (which wasn't much). Removing the competing apex really opens the tree up on the left side, and I hopefully will see more back budding there in the future. Interestingly since I took these photos, I think I may have spotted one such bud close to a fork further back on the tree (not shown here). Hopefully it will grow strong next year since it is in a nice location.

Next year I will likely reduce the right trunk back to the interior buds as seen near the location of the removed apex in pic #4, and I will hopefully have more options on the left side of the tree so I can complete the removal of the extraneous branches. In 2 years time, likely around ~2024, I hope to have the foliage within the confines of the pond basket. I believe this is a reasonable near term goal and will be right around the time the tree will be due for its next repotting. That's all for now. Happy growing!

 

[palafr01]

A

 

[palafr01]

Small update 1 year since the last post. Growth was strong this year so I continued chasing the foliage back. This is most evident on the right side where I took off ~2/3 of the foliage. My hope is to shift the strength/energy of the tree to the left (the side I'm keeping) so that I may get better back-budding on that side of the tree. At the same time I lightly thinned some branches on the left to pairs in order to focus the energy into fewer points which should hopefully restrict where new buds will form (i.e. removing some of the last multiple branches from one point that the tree has had since I purchased it).

Note: This tree is up for a repot next year (3 years flew by quickly) so I decided to push the tree this year since I plan on letting the tree rest for the year after the repot in 2024. In the mean time I will just feed it until this time next year. However during the fall season, I may try to wire the apex to begin the process of shaping the canopy as it starting to get unruly. That decision will depend on the tree's bud formation in response to the pruning I have done. Until then happy growing!

 

[palafr01]

Sad to say that this tree has passed. Didn't end up repotting it on time and it quickly declined with the excessive heat and periods torrential rain this spring and summer. I learned a lot from this tree and I will miss it. As such this is the end of this thread.