All aboard the Mugo train!

Mugo - Sherwood Compact.

This cultivar as far as I know only comes grafted, even still, it's hard to pass up a tree that says it wants to be a bonsai.
Iseli Nursery produces Sherwood Compact from cuttings. Hard to find someone selling them, though. And they are expensive.
Good looking start.
 
Iseli Nursery produces Sherwood Compact from cuttings. Hard to find someone selling them, though. And they are expensive.
Good looking start.
Spot on, this one is from lseli Nursery. When they say "cutting" they actually mean cutting onto a root stock. In bonsai we call that grafting.

From what I've read into it, sherwood compact was a witches broom they discovered in the past and have since mass produced them via. taking cuttings and grafting.

My local garden centre brings in a few each year and they usually have swelling at the graft site, but this one is quite well done.

Retail $90 CAD, I got it at 40% off.
 
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Picked up this little mugo mops yesterday (my first pine!) at a nursery. What caught my eye was the tight bundles of needles, the main trunk, and the first branch, while the other options mostly had bar branches. I think the gentleman who cashed me out was excited to see someone excited about a Mugo.

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The “back” may have some good potential too, but the first photo shows off the trunk a bit more. I think it will stay in its training pot until at least spring, then I’ll up-pot.
 
Spot on, this one is from lseli Nursery. When they say "cutting" they actually mean cutting onto a root stock. In bonsai we call that grafting.

From what I've read into it, sherwood compact was a witches broom they discovered in the past and have since mass produced them via. taking cuttings and grafting.

My local garden centre brings in a few each year and they usually have swelling at the graft site, but this one is quite well done.

Retail $90 CAD, I got it at 40% off.
If the tag says "TruDwarf" it is not grafted, it is propagated from a cutting. According to their propaganda.
I have several of their Mops mugos and love them.
Good find. All of the ones I have seen are a ball of 20 branches coming from one point.
 
I got this Mugo for free from my go to nursery, not sure of the cultivar it only said "Pinus-Mugo" and she wasn't sure. Maybe one of you would know. I haven't done anything to it except wiring. Was going to wait till spring to do a repot but as Vance has noted not any root prune. Is the forth year for root pruning referring to the actual age or after first repot? This has some wild roots so I'm assuming the nebari is actually below the soil line and the lowest branches have now rooted.
Below are some pics of the front, back, top and base. I would welcome your advise!
 

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If the tag says "TruDwarf" it is not grafted, it is propagated from a cutting. According to their propaganda.
I have several of their Mops mugos and love them.
Good find. All of the ones I have seen are a ball of 20 branches coming from one point.
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I'm still new to mugo's, but I thought this looked like a graft at the bend. Maybe it's just how their bark grows. If so... double score!
 
Anybody familiar with the wintersonne mugo? Is it essentially the same as regular mugs but lighter color? Do they respond well to pruning?
 
View attachment 382995View attachment 382997I got this little mugo about four years ago now. True to it's claim it has stayed quite small while putting on some growth. Next spring I think it's time for a repot as it takes a minute now for water to penetrate. Any suggestions? It's been doing pretty good.View attachment 382999View attachment 382998
Here’s an Iseli Slowmound I bought back in 2014. I am humored by how much I can see the resemblance in these clones

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2016
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2015
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View attachment 382995View attachment 382997I got this little mugo about four years ago now. True to it's claim it has stayed quite small while putting on some growth. Next spring I think it's time for a repot as it takes a minute now for water to penetrate. Any suggestions? It's been doing pretty good.View attachment 382999View attachment 382998
Sorry, following up on your questions…

I do like the informal, playful design you have right now. Do you want to continue down that path of an unrestrained design versus something more formal? I think you need a few more growths before you can make bigger picture styling decisions.

Your Mugo looks a touch overworked. By that, I mean the needles all look to be from this year. I recommend leaving on up to three years of needles — you’ll get good back budding and thickening. Do you have the time and space to get more trees, especially mugos? I’ve found it’s nice to have multiple trees of the same species so I can compare how strong they are.

I think with a few years of a larger pot, moderate fertilizer, and ensuring the soil goes a bit dry you will have some new, strong growths to style.

In the PNW we have really good water but it has very little dissolved solids. I’ve found that supplementing calcium and magnesium works really well. The light green color of your . You could do crushed oyster shells and epsom salt or just get liquid Cal Mag. We also benefit from cottonseed meal, as it provides good NPK values while also acidifying the soil as it breaks down.

You’re on a good path! Keep it up :)
 
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This is the clump I separated with a steak knife July 2018. Both separations survived.

I'm struggling to find what needs to go. There are 6 trunks emerging from the nebari.
If you notice where my fingers are to the left side, there is a 2nd trunk off of the 1st one
that follows horizontally to the left. I believe I will keep the upper one and remove the lower one.

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Here's a better shot of that left trunk.
On the right are 2 dominant trunks and a ground hugger in the middle of the clump heading directly to the rear.
It's once you get up into the individual trees, that I'm losing the ability to decide what needs to on this particular piece.

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It is entirely possible that I may not remove any of the trunks.
 
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This is part 2 or the other half of the separation from 2018 from my previous post in the pond basket.
Not much to look at yet but the trunk has nice movement. Lots of extraneous branches have been removed.
I guess the left fork will be a jin eventually. Too low for a branch.
 
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This type of stuff only falls into the extremes for me.
It's either doing it because it has to (unhealthy) or doing it because it can, (healthy).

Sorce
Aaaand it can continue for years!
My forever flushing mugo finally went half dormant. I snipped off the buds that didn't. Lets see what happens.
 
This type of stuff only falls into the extremes for me.
It's either doing it because it has to (unhealthy) or doing it because it can, (healthy).

Sorce
It's quite healthy and enjoying its pond basket, the 1st one that I had ever used.
Aaaand it can continue for years!
My forever flushing mugo finally went half dormant. I snipped off the buds that didn't. Lets see what happens.
I thought about yours when I posted that, problem was I couldn't remember that it was you
that had the one that defies single flushing.
I'm not going to remove these, just going to let nature run her course and see what's what in Spring.
 
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