- Mugo pines do well in full sun or partial shade. In a shady area, though, you must avoid keeping the soil too moist. A mugo pine also thrives in a wide range of soil textures and tolerates alkaline soil. Avoid planting a mugo pine on a site where the soil remains cool and wet in the spring and dries out in the summer, as this sets the plant up for fungal disorders. Well-drained soil is a must for a mugo pine. This is one plant that will literally drown when sitting in water for too long.
- Water a mugo pine when the soil is dry at a depth of 3 inches. Although mugo pines are drought-tolerant, long periods of drought stress the plant and leave it susceptible to certain diseases. Don't allow the soil to dry completely; instead, ensure that you don't overwater it. The same holds true when fertilizing mugo pine: Excessive fertilization makes the plant more susceptible to tip blight. Test the soil before applying any fertilizer, and avoid fertilizing a sick plant.
- Mugo pine is attractive to a number of pests. It is a host for pine sawfly, whose larvae do the most damage. The green caterpillars with black heads can defoliate a mugo pine over the course of two days, according to experts at Ohio State University. Remove the pests daily by hand and crush them, or use insecticidal soap. Manage pine needle scale, which looks like white dots on older growth, by applying horticultural oil when the mugo pine is dormant.
- Mature mugo pines under stress are particularly susceptible to a fungal disease known as Diplodia tip blight. The most obvious symptom of the disease is dieback of the branch tips. Over time, a mugo with Diplodia will become deformed and its branches will die. Early control of the disease includes cutting infected twigs and branches 2 feet below where you notice the symptoms. Disinfect the pruning tools between cuts, and bag and discard pruning debris. Fungicides applied in spring just before bud break and repeated two more times, every 10 days, help manage the disease.
previous post
next post