Shaping Colorado blue spruce and a mugho pine - Ask Extension
Hello, I’m a pretty good pruner but I’m stuck in two areas and I’d like some guidance. I’m very happy to pay someone for a consultation.
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Knowledgebase
Shaping Colorado blue spruce and a mugho pine #867431
Asked May 07, 2024, 1:45 PM EDT
Hello, I’m a pretty good pruner but I’m stuck in two areas and I’d like some guidance. I’m very happy to pay someone for a consultation.
1-a group of three Colorado Blue Spruce. These are about ten years old. They have made a nice and rather open grouping but they have lost their individuality by branching into one another. They were more attractive before this. I’d like to make them look like they went on a diet. I need someone with a sculptural eye to advise me.
2-a mugho pine shrub. Again, probably ten years old. It is dense but getting to the point where selective branches could be removed as it moves into adolescence and starts to assume its adult characteristics.
Hennepin County Minnesota
Expert Response
I hesitate to tell you this, but you are fighting the natural mature size of the evergreens you have chosen. Both can be pruned by trimming the new candles each spring but they will continue to grow. There is a pygmy mugo pine that will remain smaller and the Fat Albert will not be as large as the Colorado Blues you have chosen. You should seek the advice and help of a certified arborist who could, perhaps, do some pruning. Go to this site and click on Find An Arborist. Put in your zip code when prompted and a list of certified arborists in your area will appear. https://www.treesaregood.org/