Mugo advice

[Tommy lemmings]

I have a mugo pine in early stages . Last summer did quite a lot of work on it ( big trunk bend & chop )
Also cut back new growth to encourage back budding in august . It has lots of new buds .
Problem is almost all of them are no good in terms of position. In bunches in crotches mostly.
My question is do I leave these new buds alone as the tree might still be recovering or just get rid and hope for better placed buds next time round ?
Thanks

 

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

You generally want to remove unneeded buds until there are 2 buds at the end of your branch, of roughly equal health. Sometimes that means cutting off the stronger buds and leaving the weaker buds to grow.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Are we talking back buds, or buds on the tips of branches?
Back buds you leave alone. You can twist a branch to reposition them later.
Tip buds, reduce those to two, preferably on opposing sides so they grow out forked.

 

[Tommy lemmings]

Thanks for replies !
So to rephrase slightly - if you are wanting backbudding and say 90 percent of your new buds have appeared where you don’t want them ( in this case at the junction of existing branches ) - do you still remove them all or would this weaken a tree ?

 

[Japonicus]

Once you can post pictures please do so.
In the meantime leave them be.
Full shot photos as well as close ups of the buds without a lot of
distracting background "noise" ( ie. green foliage against green grass or other plants)
Also, for future helps and references, it would be best to update your profile
with a general location and USDA grow zone.
There's a tab at the top on this page (Resources).

Resource icon

Compiled Vance Wood on Mugo Pines

Jun 5, 2015

Posts compiled from Bonsai Nut by Vance Wood from 2010 onward on mugo pine care and development

• Lazylightningny
• mugo pine pine care
• Tutorials

Link ^
I doubt this will answer this specific question, but should be helpful in the care of mugo pines.

 

[A. Gorilla]

So...ok. I have to say it.

I have read Vance's spiel about Mugos since 2001.

I don't how or why he managed to get away with what he claimed*, but I probably killed a mugo every few years since then. That is, according to his rx. Must be me?

Then I de-nursery-soiled one at a conventional time in spring, whadda ya know. It's alive and kicking.

We'll never know the true scope of the carnage, because almost nobody returns to give updates on their initial threads.

*Possibly because the west coast of Michigan is humid as hell, moderately warm, and gets reliable snowfall in winter.

 

[Paradox]

So...ok. I have to say it.

I have read Vance's spiel about Mugos since 2001.

I don't how or why he managed to get away with what he claimed*, but I probably killed a mugo every few years since then. That is, according to his rx. Must be me?

Then I de-nursery-soiled one at a conventional time in spring, whadda ya know. It's alive and kicking.

We'll never know the true scope of the carnage, because almost nobody returns to give updates on their initial threads.

*Possibly because the west coast of Michigan is humid as hell, moderately warm, and gets reliable snowfall in winter.

I have been able to repot mugo in the summer and get them to survive but I have always found my spring repotted trees usually bounce back way faster and better than a summer repotted tree.
I think it has to do with his climate. Yes it does get hot where he is but it might be the humidity as you say but I also think that where he was just didnt get the prolonged heat that you get in your area. My summers are also a bit milder because of my proximity to the ocean that cools it a bit. Go 20 miles to my west and the temperature is always at least 10 degrees hotter.

A lot of people that live in the middle of the country south of Michigan had a lot of trees die after mid summer repotting.

Dont get me wrong, Vance was a great guy and a great contributor to the bonsai community and I admire that greatly.
But it is the one thing I disagreed with him on - summer repotting. It worked for him and I did get it to work for me with mugos but not scots pines, and it didnt work so well for many others.