Funny I was just telling my daughter if she remembered when I tried to reshape a big Mugo at the corner of the house. Well I got totally carried away and it ended up so ugly that took the whole thing out. Uptil then there was really nothing wrong with it. Of course it can be done but just not by me.

northspruce - not so much. My understanding of conifers is that if you cut into old wood, which a major renovation would do, nothing will grow back. For instace, if you cut some branches back to the main trunk of the mugo, which would certainly be old wood, that spot would always remain branchless.

If you are cutting the tree back to be shorter, and it removes most of the needles you will probably kill it anyway, and it would be very unsightly after that if it did survive. Conifers hate severe pruning.

The key to growing a nice, moderate-sized mugo is to pinch the new growth(candles) back in half or more each spring before they turn into needles. This will keep the growth dense and slow the growth down. On a mugo that is already "out of control," I'm not sure if you have any option other than start over or leave it. Sorry. :(

Gillian, I think Weeper's right.

I saw a program last year and they showed and explained it pretty much as she says.

I just snipped off the candles on mine this afternoon.

I love Mugo Pines, and it was pretty sad when we removed the overgrown one that the previous owners had. It was completely blocking a window, so I reluctantly dug it up. It was huge ! I planted two small ones to replace it.

Is yours really big ?

Lynn

It's about 8' tall x 10' wide now, maybe a tad less. I happen to know it was planted in 1982 because the original owners gave me their landscaping blueprints. It's long past trimming candles so I'm deciding if I'll just let it be or remove it. I love mugo pines too, and it really doesn't look bad where it is (the south pointing corner of my house) but it's hogging a lot of prime real estate and I'd like to completely redo the garden around it.

Thanks for the advice. :)

I like nut's idea, if you could raise the bottom (cut low branches back to the main stem) if possible you may end up with some area to put acid and sun loving plants. Possibly azalea , blueberry....

Yeahp, you'll kill it. My dad did that years ago to one that was out of control and it perished.

Rip it out and go shopping. Who doesn't like to go plant shopping and you will have a good reason to justify it!

I am curious as to why wayne is suggesting acid loving plants, is your soil acidic?

SCG

I had assumed that it being there since '82 the soil would become more acidic from pine needles, it may not be.

Years ago I thought the exact same thing. I was planting a lawn on what used to be a pine forest so thinking that my soil would naturally be very acidic (no I didn't test it) I thought I would be smart and lime it before planting. Grass would germinate then barely grow and eventually die, I thought still to acidic and added more lime. Repeat but with faster death. Fast forward a few years and I took my soil in to get ph tested. When I got the results the fellow asked where the heck I lived because he had never seen soil in this area so alkaline. I told him what I had been doing and he laughed and said our soil is alkaline to begin with and the pine needles do nothing to the ph. I banged my head on the counter several times and purchased sulphur to counteract the lime....amazing how the grass grows now. LOL

That was my first major gardening mistake!!

SCG

My soil is fairly acidic. It's loam rather than clay, and I have 5 very large mature colorado blue spruce. I haven't tested the pH but the plants that do best are acid lovers so I know what I've got.

By the way, further to the Mugo, I cut off one side of it and it doesn't look too terrible.

What we did years ago,..cut most stems off and left only one, looks more like a regular pine now.

I am having the same problem now and I wondered what to do with my overgrown Mugo pine. I love that plant and don't want to kill it, but neglected it when I should have pruned it for a few years. I hate to kill it, but I will try the bonsai method and see what it looks like. If it is bad, I will just replant.

Hey all- I have recently acquired some of these that are very overgrown and was looking for some advice. They all have fresh candles on them and I wondered if I could simply trim them off to give them more shape this time of year or if I should leave them all until spring? I only wish to shape them and do t want to cause damage- any tips please? Thank you in advance, Charlotte x

They look like Alberta spruce, you would be spending a fair bit of time trimming them back because they are dense to start with. ALL growth now on trees in the north will have hardened off and is not the best time to prune. These particular trees are not fast growers.

Can someone explain why soil underneath a pine or spruce wouldn't be somewhat more acidic than not underneath the tree? It seems like countless needles over the years would amend the soil

Supposedly there is a low level of acidity in cones and needles and if the ph is above neutral (7) than it will have minimal effect but should still be more acidic than away from the plants.

Seems like there would be plenty of organic matter in the soil, at least