Hello ladies and gents
I recently purchased this dwarf mugo and was attracted to it’s trunk and interesting nebari.
I have looked at this tree for many hours and have studied a lot of threads on this forum, particularly Vance Woods posts
I decided today to take the plunge and start on branch selection and structural wiring. I got to a point and stopped as in one of Vances posts it says not to remove more than 50-60% of foliage mass.
Would just like to know if you guys think I could get away with more or leave it until late next summer?
Thanks in advance

Welcome Cris.
Nice tree!
It has a whorl of branches low down, and this can be a big problem in the near future, as the trunk will swell and create a reverse taper over there.
I would address this issue first.

Thank you Clicio
Sorry, I thought I’d attached the ‘after’ image as well. Please take a look at the attached
I intend to Jin the branches which I have removed and left a large stub on
I have so far only done half of the tree but was worried about taking off too much foliage in one go

Vance Woods is an authority on mugo. If hisrecommendation is to not reduce more than 50% then that is what you do.

In general with pines.. Go VERY slow. It may look like it is happy, and then dies 7 months later. One insult per 12 months. So, only trimming, or wiring, or repotting. Or you put the life of the tree at risk.

Thank you leatherback, I agree on pines in general. I’ve had a couple of hard lessons with JWP’s
However, again, reading Vances posts, I was under the impression that with this Mugo being nursery stock it can take quite a few insults? I am steering on the side of caution for now though don’t want to lose another pine