mugo pines

[gbhunter77]

Well they were realty cheap, since they wanted to get rid of old stock. I got me. One The question is , most of the pine has long branches with needled at the tip. I heard mugo bud back very well when cut properly. Is that true.

[kdodds]

Supposedly, yes. You have to follow "the rules" though. If you want to keep a branch but want back budding, the only thing you can do is repeatedly cut the tip. AFAIK, once a branch is devoid of growth, it will never come back. Pines are a true test of patience, in general. Don't expect your first snip to result in new back growth. But, over time, it will happen.

[gbhunter77]

I think the pines I bought were older thus the growth is further from the trunk....however this does not mean the end. I will try to do something wth them, the best thing being that I get to learn in the process. I can see possibilities if I can get branches to thicken up get more dense. The problem with old nursery stock is they don do anything to open the plant up so all the needles inside die. I am proud to say that I have only had one tree die on me. I however had many failures that will grow in the garden. I will go back to the nursery tomorrow to see the other mugo pines. Then I can use these two to test technices on. It is possible come summer that one of these two will show some promise but that's just me being optemistic(rare occasion). The interesting question is if you have a long needle covered branch can it be cut shorter?