Mugo Pine-Styling, repotting, etc.

Hello All~
I acquired this large, old Mugo Pine from a nursery trip yesterday for a ridiculous price (Free). It was buy one get one free. I think it has potential.

Any suggestions, virts, must do's etc., are greatly welcome.

Thanks in advance

Would really like for Vance Wood to take a look at this.

Thanks

Would it be possible for you to take the tree out of the container and photograph it in 360 degrees and post the photos? The problem I see with it in the photos you have now posted is the same difficulty I pointed out in the young Mugo being discussed in another post; that of a large knuckle. In your case the tree is substantially older as evidenced by the bark, the knuckle problem goes back many years and has become a major part of the nature of this tree. I think there may be a way of using it to advantage but it will be hard to tell without additional photos.

I am thinking at present the major problem is the base of the trunk. With the knuckle you have an inverse taper that will not be usable as an upright style but, you may be able to remove a few branches and lay the tree on its side. More about this later if I can get a better understanding of the tree.

Here are some 360 pics out of the pot. The first pic is of the tree as a whole, the following ones are closeup of the trunk corresponding to the full view.

This is a reply I received on another forum:

"Still doesn't look like mugo...maybe someone else will have some insight. I'd also cut it back further to get some back-budding...leaving about 12 pairs of needles on each branch...total." to encourage back budding.


Thank you in advance for taking a look

Bump

Does any one have any suggestions with how to prepare this tree before overwintering other than just putting it in the ground?