Nice improvement .

Hi guys,

One new question about this pine Species,

I´ve read that Mugo Pines, unlike Japanese Black Pines, backbud from where old needles have remained on a branch and not from where they have been previously plucked. So, old needles are kept in place to promote new growth in Mugos. Now, my question is that if I don´t want to backbud from the underside of a branch...

Should I remove ALL the needles from the underside of each branch? Can this be done without much risk and guaranteeing at the same time the desired backbud?

Oh, and one more thing... In some previous thread I posted a question regarding the remove of the wires in a pine, but it wasn´t answered back then So, I was wondering if you could help me out this time?

The question was: How long can I keep my Mugo Pine wired until branches achieve the desired rigidity so I can remove it safely? I asked this because I wanted to know if I can take it out right now without having to re-wired my tree again because branches didn´t hold their current position. The thing is that with Spring already here, branches are beginning to swell and I suspect that sooner than later the wire would carve into the wood... And of course, I don´t want those ugly scars in my pine.

Thank you all in advance!

Alain

- I am a pine killer, just so you know -

What you say about Mugo also goes for Scots pine; Backbudding mainly happens on locations where the needles are left. So yes, on my mugo, when it was still alive, I pucked the needles at the bottom of the branches. But you can also pluck the buds from places where you do not want buds..

You leave the wire on untill the wire starts to bite in (I *think* for pines the true damage only happens when the wire is really starting to be swallowed by the branch, so 50% of the wire is already below the bark surface). Other marks seem to grow out quite easily (But here I would like to know more too, as I have very little experience with pines)

Sorry about the thank you, i click it by accident sometimes.

I do not know about the back-budding thing, however the wiring bit is a different story.

I have hardly wired any pines, so i would wait for answers based on experience from more experienced people

But i can say that when i wire my elms, i just wait until the underside of the wire touches the wood on all sides of the brach. Roughly two three months.

Just a bit of advise based on theory and a bit of experience.

As leatherbak said, minor damage is quite fine.

Here is a blog on wiring pines, not mugo, but something.

bonsaitonight.com/2013/03/29/wiring-3-year-old-black-pines/
Kirk out.

bob wrote:

But i can say that when i wire my elms, i just wait until the underside of the wire touches the wood on all sides of the brach. Roughly two three months.

Odd. For me that is immediately after putting the wire on.

I go to a nursery and I got a few tips from the owner of the bonsai nursery, and so he said that I can wire it loosely so that I can keep the wire on longer so it holds the branch in place for longer. naturally, the wire needs to be a bit thicker to bend branches...

it does work for me, but I cannot say for sure on pines as I have not done wiring on pines.

leatherback wrote:

- I am a pine killer, just so you know -)

Ha... I'm having a hard time believing that. Some might have gone down along the way, but I'm sure you are not a pine killer.

Now, as for your reply, thank you so much. I'll remove those underneath needles and wait a bit longer to remove the wire.

Alain

So far, I have not managed to keep a pine alive for more than 3 seasons. Probably because I 'know' deciduous trees, and know where to push them. With pines, that point is reached way sooner. Hence.. I kill them. They are so slow to develop!

bob wrote:

I go to a nursery and I got a few tips from the owner of the bonsai nursery, and so he said that I can wire it loosely so that I can keep the wire on longer so it holds the branch in place for longer. naturally, the wire needs to be a bit thicker to bend branches...

it does work for me, but I cannot say for sure on pines as I have not done wiring on pines.

Fine that it works for you, but it is bad advise. The wire needs to be tight. One of the reason is that, if you wire loosely, you have a bigger chance of breaking the branch when you bend it.

You cannot shape a branch the way you want when it's wired loosely.

Ok, it must be that i bend branches in a simple way as in not twisting, just bending in one direction. As i say, I am not too exerienced, sorry for the bad advice. I'll try the conventional way and if what you say is correct (in which it is 99% likely to be as you are experienced in wiring) then it should work more effectively .