Pinus mugo mughus

greenD · White Belt Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 5 Location: London

I recently bought a small pinus mugo from a garden center to train it as a bonsai. It has a short stem and quite a lot of short thick branches. All the branches are covered with old but still green needles.
Is it bad for the tree to remove those old needles?
It would be easier for me to see the structure of the tree if i removed them.

Dick · Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 1:48 am Post subject: Re: Pinus mugo mughus

Removing the needles doesn't bother the tree. However, watch for the sap to follow where the needles once were.

steve · Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 5:57 pm Post subject: Re: Pinus mugo mughus

I absolutely love mugos. I have one that I have incorporated into a waterfall for my pond and have never seen such a responsive pine. They react instantly to decandleing and send out so many new buds that I was caught nearly unprepared. Shorten one candle and six or seven sprout within the week!! Good luck with it and post a picture if you can. Also when you pluck the needles pull in the direction they are growing for less damage to the tree.