Restoring character to a pinched mugo pine

Here's a dwarf mugo pine (Pinus mugo pumilo) we met 18 months  ago. It had been shorn for years so that it looked just like every other landscape meatball. We knew we could give it a chance to regain its personality.

Below, left: April, year one. What a shame -- except for its lighter color, it's been shorn to be indistinguishable from the yews behind it!  Below, right: Same plant, that same April, after pruning.

Below, left: One year later. (With apologies for a fuzzy photo. Janet CANNOT do without Steven!) Below, right: After a discriminating cut (not shearing).

And to see the yews' story...

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