nice work lance thats a bunch of knowlegde under the belt...i do think you need to start pinching and picking buds or you're going to have a bush soon

I think I'm going to let it grow free this year. Considering what it went through already I think it's best to leave it for a year.

well thats up to you ,but just a tip for these guys ...ther will be the middle candle that will give you fast long branch growth then minor buds that will vary in size. choosing what you want to do to each branch is as easy as taking off all of the buds but the size (speed of growth) you want, leave a couple if you want branching,to stop the candle growth pinch off the end , take 'em all off for backbudding. this is the time to do it,you are not supposed to touch the fall buds.best of luck keep us posted

Do you think it would be okay to start pinching this year?

i recomend it .if it wasnt growing so well id be concerned. its guna get out of control if you let all of those buds grow...one more thing to add from before if you pinch the end of a candle a new bud will form and lay dormant till spring

your best bet would be to take off all of the large candles and reduce the sidebuds to the 2 smallest and let them grow.this will give you some better ramification.next year if it is as healthy do it again. mine is only 4 inches tall but the needle bunches are smaller than a quarter and has about 20 branches...this is how its done

Good to know. I'll start pinching off the dominant candles this week.
Thanks.

Thanks manofthetrees and pinkham, i learnt a lot just reading this. I really have to get my hands on a pine.

Bonsai4me.com has a good care sheet for mugo pine that has pics of how to do it. It is the best indepth one I found online.

Ya bonsai4me has great info on it