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Root
Pruning: Don't wait until the last minute.
The
delay won't kill you, but certainly could damage your
Bonsai.
If
you haven't already done your root pruning for
the year . then, by all means do it right now!
However, If you don't need it then don't do it
just as a ritual. We spent the last Sunday root
pruning our Bonsai and it took nearly 3 hours to
do our 6 large Bonsai in our collection. It's a
task of love. For by doing this you will keep your
Bonsai with a fresh, new and youthful root system
that will carry it through for a few years to come.
Normally, the tropical Bonsai like ficus and snow
rose will need root pruning more often than the
temperate climate Bonsai like junipers and maples.
Why? It's a matter of the length of their growing
season. Temperate climate Bonsai have a rest period
in which they do not grow where tropical Bonsai
have two periods of growth (which means they grow
all the time) in their native situations.a dry
season and a wet season.but still both are growing
seasons. Depending on the size of the pot you may
need to root prune your tropical Bonsai from every
year to every three years. Temperate Bonsai need
root pruning every three to five years. We normally
remove about 1/3 of the root mass and remove any
roots that don't appear to be helping the Bonsai.as
for instance - dead
roots or roots that have just grown so big or so
long as to be growing out of the holes of its pot.
You
need to be thinking about spring time. Yes,
parts of our great United States of America are still
in their winter mantle of snow, but the lower portions
of the 48 are seeing leaf buds swell and some flowering
of quince and cherry trees. Mid March is our last
freeze here in Dallas, Texas, so we really race now
to prepare all our Bonsai for the Spring Season and
the beauty that they will present us in the way of
unfolding beautiful leaves and outstanding blossoms.
Of course your part of the world has different last
freeze times, but the daylight time which is so important
to our Bonsai and its cyclical growth patterns is
basically the same. We have 247 days that are free
of frost. St. Paul, Minnesota has 170 days and parts
of Montana have only 100 days.. Why am I giving you
these parts of the USA and their frost free days?
You need to know the climatological details of your
area and to use these details to benefit your Bonsai.
We can't fight mother Nature so we need to go along
with her rhythms and adjust as best we can for our
Bonsai to thrive.
Our suggestions for this month of March are:
- Get your pots ready if you haven't transplanted
already.
- Have plenty of Bonsai
soil (potting medium) ready
when you need it. Be a good Boyscout/Girlscout
and be prepared.
- Start
thinking about fertilizers for the Spring/Summer
seasons. Fertilizers are extremely important
to your Bonsai during this "coming out" season..even
for evergreens as they wake up from their winter
hibernation.
- Think about a pruning
tool, wound
sealant, wire and branch
benders. Of course you can prune any
time of the year, but your Bonsai will recover
much more quickly this time of the year.
And
as always ... enjoy your Bonsai . keep
it in good health and it will reward you in so many
ways.
Happenings
at Dallas Bonsai Garden:
New
items that will be here soon ... but not in
time for this email message:
- Some
giant plastic pots . up to 19" in length.
- A new dirt patter with a plastic handle.
- The Japanese Juniper picture book that we ran
out of so quickly.
- The Kokufu collection of Bonsai masterpieces.
- A
new Bonsai Book: The Bonsai Specialist.
Book Mark the new
items page and check it periodically.
This is where we will announce these items as they
arrive from Asia.
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