Pinus Mugo development

Hello,I have a few questions regarding the further development of a Pinus mugo.The primary branches are present. The goal is to further develop secondary and, if necessary, tertiary branches.
I’ve already watched quite a few videos and read information about shaping a Pinus mugo.
I understand that to encourage further branching inward (i.e., backbudding), you reduce the number of buds at the end of a branch to a maximum of two and allow these to grow into candles of about 2 to 4 cm. These should then be pinched back to promote backbudding, which helps create buds further inward on the branch that can contribute to further branching.What stands out to me in the information and videos is that it seems the goal in the final shaping is to end up with only one bud with needles at the end of each branch that is kept (I mean the finest branching). Is that correct? Or can multiple buds with needles remain on such a fine branch? Or is that shaping-wise not the purpose?A second question: once you have the fine branching you want, I assume you no longer let the candles grow to 2 to 4 cm before pinching, but instead you do bud selection on each fine branch and pinch them immediately once the needles have emerged (so without letting them grow into long candles? And then you (partially?) pluck the old needles.Maybe these are basic questions, but I’m still not very into pines and have some doubts .I’m attaching a few photos; photo 1 shows how I bought it. Photo 2 and Photo 3 are after an initial shaping.
I hope the photos are somewhat clear, because I find it quite difficult to take a good photo of a bonsai...
I’ve also left quite a few needles on the primary branches where I still want buds, since I read that Pinus mugo only produces buds where needles are still present...Any feedback is always welcome  

 

 

You got it totally right about how to maintain growth on pines. Except possibly the only one bud in the end of each branch. I am not sure what you mean. But you got it right in earlier in the post. Two buds in the end of each branch it is.

I guess you bought the tree recently, took it home and started working on it. For next tree I recomend to learn how to grow the species healthy before starting working on it. And stick to the right time of the year without exceptions.  For pines the reduction and shortening of buds is still important, but that is 6 months away. You have plenty of time to study the topic until then.

The wiering is really ugly. But practicing is the only way to learn. I just want to highlight an improvement potential that is more relevant than how to finalize styling in 5-10 years.

The overall canopy form looks good, but the initial styling is not finished yet. You still have plenty of places with more than 2 branches.

For now, just focus on plant health. Come spring bud selection and shortening (I prefere cutting, not pinching). Come late winter 2026 resume the initial styling. 

Hi Tropfrog,

Thanks for this valuable feedback.

What I mean with "one bud with needles in the end of each branch" is following (see also picture below).

 

It seems that the last branches in the ramification always end with one bud of needles, and not two or three.

What exactly do you mean with "You still have plenty of places with more than 2 branches"?  Do you mean primary branches at the same height?

Greetings
Gunther

Ok, now I understand what you mean. But I think you are overthinking things and it gets wrong. Trees do not have several buds for a long time. Once grown out they are no longer buds but branches. The picture you are using as reference is taken inbetween new branches has matured and next buds to develop. The care is the same. That tree will as well develop multiple buds, the owner reduce to two and shorten them every year.

yes, the most obvious place where there are multiple  branches in one place is on the trunk. But I think I can see places with multiple secondary branches as well. Do not atempt to do anything about it now. Wrong time of the year and and proboably too early in your posession.

Hello!
I'm quite impressed with what you did, there are things to attend, like Tropfrog said, but it looks like you're in the right way.

Unfortunatelly we don't have Mugo Pines here, mine are JBPs, and I've been learning about pines too, like about 2 years now, so I don't have much to give you...
But for Black Pines there's a method or cycle of interventions to properly build and structure branches, and there are moments for each one, like Metsumi, Mekiri, Mekaki and Hanuki.
Timing is very important for pines, in the beggining it might be easier to follow a "schedule" on those, but we must learn to read the plant, rather than just think about what month should I do what...

To be honest, I still a bit insecure about my timing sometimes, this year for example they woke up earlier for spring, so I decided to do Metsumi (candle cut or pinching) on the strong candles, just for balancing that vigorous growth of spring.
I don't know if the interventions would be the same that we use for Black Pines.

There is a big difference In mugos and black pines in that mugos are one flush pines and blacks are two flush.

Maintenance and timing is quite different.

Thanks again for the positive feedback.  It will continue taking care of this Mugo and for sure it will be with some trial and error... but I am already happy that I got the basic principles right

Tropfrog wrote:

There is a big difference In mugos and black pines in that mugos are one flush pines and blacks are two flush.

Maintenance and timing is quite different.

Oh I see, interesting!
I tried to make clear that it could be different, but it's good to know for sure, now!

I find Mugo Pines very cool, I wish they were available to us too, it looks like you can make them quite small...

You have both species there, right Tropfrog?
Does the single flush makes Mugo pines slower in growth? Or it's not like that?
When I see them on the internet, my impression is that it grows faster (but not bigger), but it's more shrub-like?

I think I need to pass on that question.

We have a lot of mugo pines awailable all the time but not that many JBPs. Myself I have almost 10 years experience with both of them, but it is hard for me to say something about growth speed. My JBPs are grown in the ground and my Mugo in pot. I guess that makes a bigger difference than the species itself?

On top of that my mugo is a variety called carstens wintergold. A variety that is known to grow much slover than the normal mugos.