Stubmle's Vance Wood Memorial Mugo Contest Entry #3

[stubmle]

Found another mugo & couldn't resist. The tag lists it as Pinus mugo "Pumilio." This was about $50 at the local orange big-box store. Last one left, which I took as a sign I should grab it. Since acquiring it I've cut down the top of the nursery pot, brushed off loose soil, and removed dead stuff from the interior, but no work otherwise.

Proposed front:
View media item 6172
Front close-up:
View media item 6174
Decent root spread, I think. Branch selection is going to be a real dilemma, though.

Side:
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Other side:
View media item 6176
I think this tree could have decent potential, but also a few odd issues.

Issue #1:
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This looks like the result of physical injury, so not too worried about it- just going to cut it off later when I do initial cut-back. The other issue is a lot more worrisome.

Issue #2:
View media item 6171
I have NO idea what this is, but I really don't like how unwholesome it looks. Obviously it needs to be removed to correct the swelling, but what IS it? Should I be treating this tree with anything?

All that aside, I'm planning to repot & cut back this tree in early July if it looks healthy enough to do so.

(I embedded several gallery files in this post- they should be visible soon if not already.)

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

That's a weird bulge indeed. Since pines rarely, if ever, develop cankers, I think it might be damage from where the label used to flop in the wind.

Nice pick though!

 

[stubmle]

That's a weird bulge indeed. Since pines rarely, if ever, develop cankers, I think it might be damage from where the label used to flop in the wind.

Nice pick though!

Thanks! I ended up cutting it off a few weeks ago when I thinned out the foliage a bit. I dissected the growth after I removed it, but did not find anything especially weird. The wood at the core was darker in color than what I've seen on normal branches (I assume it was dead), but no sign of insects or outright decay. The swelling was mostly composed of newer live wood around the core. I think you are right and this was an old injury that healed in a strange fashion. I have heard of people hammering trees to induce swelling- I wonder if this was something similar. If it was a disease or fungus, I have no idea what it was, but I sterilized my tools afterwards anyway.

The tree seems healthy enough otherwise. Planning to get this thing out of the nursery pot this weekend if time permits. I don't have a pond basket or colander large enough for it, so I'm going to build a grow box out of cedar planking & reinforced pet screen material.

 

[stubmle]

Didn't get around to repotting this over the weekend- just as well, I still have to make the box for it. It's going to be way too big for a pond basket, even after root reduction. Forgot to mention earlier that it's been slowly losing all of it's oldest needles over the past few weeks, but from what I have read that is normal this time of year. The younger growth seems healthy as ever.

As with Mugo #2 (also in this contest), I'm planning to put this in a mix of equal parts composted bark / pumice / NAPA 8822. I'd rather use lava than 8822 but I haven't been able to find a good local source for it yet. Pumice was expensive but I'm done with Perlite.

In other news, I think I found a better Front for the tree- might have to get creative with the planting angle though. I'll post a pic later this evening if I don't forget...

 

[stubmle]

Finally got this one done yesterday. I ended up keeping the original planting angle for now, with the trunk leaning heavily to the right.

I first removed about 1/3 of the root ball by sawing off bottom, then cut into the sides a few inches to loosen and untangle long circling roots. I tried untangling them by hand first, but most were so deeply embedded that it honestly seemed like I was causing more damage than just "slicing the pie" would, so I went with that approach. I suppose time will tell if this was a mistake.
I found that the inner core was much denser than the exterior- the tree was evidently slip-potted* a few years ago. The core was so dense it felt almost like azalea roots! It seems like both times it was planted in composted bark, so not the worst substrate, but this will need to be dealt with in future repottings. I tried to leave about 50% of the root mass undisturbed. Hopefully the dense, compacted substrate does not pose too much of an issue with watering- if it does I may try drilling into it like an azalea.
*I'm going to take a moment to condemn slip-potting. Wiser people than I have done so but it bears repeating- you are just making more work for yourself later on. If you're taking the trouble to repot a tree, do it properly and loosen those circling roots or don't bother at all!

Due to the rather involved & filthy nature of the repotting work, I do not have any pictures of the root ball before potting. For substrate I used mix of equal parts composted pine bark / pumice / NAPA 8822, with a small amount of horticultural charcoal added.

After I got the tree secured in its box, I pruned off some of the undesired foliage, removing about half. This was after some thinning done about a month ago, so probably a 60-70% reduction from where the tree was when I acquired it. I hope it's not too much all at once... I have been reading through all of the old Mugo threads on the forum & seen them survive more abuse than this, so it may be OK. Guess it all comes down to the tree's initial health & subsequent aftercare. This one was vigorous, so hopefully it will be all right. I'm going to give it morning sun for a few weeks and water when the substrate starts to dry out as directed.

The results-
Front:
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Higher-angle view of front / side:
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Back:
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Not the best pics, but I was exhausted & it was getting dark. I'll try to get some better ones later.

For scale, the box is about 16" wide and about 12" tall, including the legs. Interior depth is about 10". The tree was in what I think was a 5-gallon pot prior to this. Root ball was about 8" tall before reduction and about 13" wide. I think I actually made the box too deep and wound up using way more soil than intended. Thankfully I over-budgeted and had just enough on hand to get this done. In hindsight I should have removed the tops rails first, reducing the interior box depth to about 6".

Definitely a lot of work to do on this one over the coming years assuming it makes it... Virtually all of the current branches are very leggy, so I'll have to start chasing back the foliage & praying for back-budding once it recovers from repotting.

 

[stubmle]

1-month update: Tree appears to be doing OK. A few twiggy branches have died off, but not too many of them. The tree is also in the process of dropping a medium-sized branch that I had cut back to when I shortened a larger branch. The foliage all over this branch is fading uniformly to a pale gray-green color. I think I made the cut too close and the tree decided to drop it entirely. I think it will be OK- I was not planning to use this branch anyway and it might make a nice jin. Otherwise the tree seems to be doing all right and the other foliage is a nice healthy green. I may start fertilizing lightly soon, probably just fish emulsion to start out.
Not out of the woods yet, but I feel pretty good about this one so far.

 

[stubmle]

1-month update: Tree appears to be doing OK. A few twiggy branches have died off, but not too many of them. The tree is also in the process of dropping a medium-sized branch that I had cut back to when I shortened a larger branch. The foliage all over this branch is fading uniformly to a pale gray-green color. I think I made the cut too close and the tree decided to drop it entirely. I think it will be OK- I was not planning to use this branch anyway and it might make a nice jin. Otherwise the tree seems to be doing all right and the other foliage is a nice healthy green. I may start fertilizing lightly soon, probably just fish emulsion to start out.
Not out of the woods yet, but I feel pretty good about this one so far.

Pic:

Not the best angle admittedly. I removed the dying branch already so it's not visible any more.

 

[stubmle]

Well, this one is toast. It slowly faded away over a few months and is now totally brown.
Unlike what happened to #2, this did not seem to be the result of abrupt shock, it was more of a slow decline. I suspect that the box was too large and kept the roots too wet. I have not performed an autopsy yet- when I get around to it I'll post some details about what I find, if anything.