Trevor’s First Mugo

[TrevorLarsen]

I figured this tree deserved its own progression thread since I’m happy with its progress. I bought this tree from a grocery store in spring of 2022.



I had no idea what I was doing so I did a lot wrong, such as not waiting until summer to repot, and being too aggressive with the roots. As a result the tree suffered and it took a year for it to fully recover, but thankfully it did not die.



In summer 2024 I did some major pruning chasing the growth back towards the trunk, and I also did some needle trimming.

Before


After

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Really good transition!

Guessing the long bare stretch of branch on top is a sacrifice.

Not sure about the bottom branch. Almost looks like a separate tree from the images.

What are your thoughts on this?

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[TrevorLarsen]

Yes the bottom branch is a second tree that either has or will fuse to the main tree. I’m still not sure what I will do with the tree. The top is a sacrifice unless it back buds somewhere good. I might use the bottom branch as a semi cascade of just a low branch

 

[Hartinez]

It would appear to me that your tree is in here (green) and you have all the right budding to pull it off. @Deep Sea Diver is on to it, That top growing branch (orange) should be a sacrifice for sure. Keep that sacrifice growing long by only keeping the apical buds and cultivate those two trunk lines and their branching. It’s all right there @TrevorLarsen just gotta execute!