Gordon - there's got to be some confusion here somewhere between you
and the water company A pH of 9.2 is not low, it's HIGH. Neutral is
pH 7.0, the higher numbers are alkaline, and the lower numbers acid. A
pH of 9.2 is quite high for drinking water! Bet it practically rattles
coming out of the faucet... "Hard" water, that is, with a large amount
of dissolved salts, typically has a higher pH as well.

Mugos, like most pines, prefer soil on the acid side. My references
say ~6, and as low as 4! Depending on the components of your bonsai
soil, the high pH of your water *may* be an problem. The water company
was right that soil can change the pH of applied water, but that is
true mostly for ground-soil, where you have a large volume and a lot
of organic content with buffering capacity on your side. Container
plants in peat-based houseplant soil would be less affected than
bonsai in gravel or baked-clay-based soils without much organic content.

High pH also reduces the ability of plants to absorb certain trace
elements, especially metals. This may be weakening your mugos, as well
as other plants. Look at your local plant supply supplier for a
fertilizer that contains chelated iron.

Here's an excellent online guide to pH prefs of landscape plants:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...s/1731-29.html
You'll notice that they give only 3 categories, slightly alkaline,
slightly acid, and more acid. Nothing much prefers more alkaline, and
most plants are really pretty adaptable (notice how many have Xs in 2
or all 3 categories).

Another possibility is that mugos, in my brief experience, and many
friends' reported losses, really dislike simultaneous root and top
work. Try doing only one "half" each year, and see if that less
cavalier approach helps!

For your water, here's some options:
-acidify the water
-use distilled or rain water for *all* your bonsai
-make your soil mix more acid with a higher organic content to buffer

Which of these makes the most sense for your particular situation,
only you can judge. Do you have other bonsai enthusiasts in the area
with same water supply that you can trade notes with?

Grow well,
Anita

Gordon Williams wrote:
Hi,

Actually, I was told that the water was very soft here in Ottawa. They have
the pH this low to prevent damage to the pipes. We have a problem with lead
pipes and lead getting into the drinking water here and the change in pH is
supposed to reduce that. I as told that if the water was harder, the
minerals coat the pipes and reduce the lead.

Anyway, I was surprised by the low value and was wondering if this was the
reason my pines were dying.

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