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Time is charging toward cold, cold weather! Let’s be good girl scouts and boy scouts and be prepared! |
IN THE NORTHERN TIER OF STATES:
We displayed our Bonsai and Bonsai supplies at the
Wisconsin and Minnesota State Fairs for over 10 years.
During that time we constantly asked our patrons
how they over wintered their hardy and temperate
climate Bonsai. We are not talking about tropical
or tender varieties here. I will detail that in a
moment.
From the hundreds of persons we quizzed about
this the following is a summary of their achievements
and failures. 1. Over wintering outside was usually a failure. This
is where you dig a hole in the ground and bury your
Bonsai for the winter. Here are the negative elements:
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A. The pots
quite often broke, thus losing your Bonsai
to drying of the now exposed roots because
there was no moisture and sometimes no soil
inside the broken pot. Even if the pot didn’t
break completely apart the Bonsai could be
drastically weakened from this.
B. Varmints, meaning gophers,
rats, mice ate the roots and top growth.
C. Even though the Bonsai
was covered with snow it dried out during
this time. This can happen because the roots
are frozen to such an extent that they just
dry out. This can also happen because the
soil thaws and freezes resulting in heaving
of the soil and the roots to such an extent
that both the soil and the Bonsai’s
roots dry out. There is quite often damage
to the branches and for an evergreen a tremendous
amount of leaf damage.
D. There are temperature points
at which certain Bonsai or parts of the Bonsai
will die. As for example when the root temperature
of Japanese maples goes below 16 degrees F
the roots will die. We have had this happen
to us in the nursery when we had very low
temperatures on our Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis
obtusa nana). These were 10 year old specimens
on 3 foot tall nursery tables located outside.
We had one of our rare 12 degree days. There
was no obvious harm shown at that time. But,
when the temperatures started rising the Bonsai
started turning black. We lost over 100 of
them to old man winter and his fickle cold.
The roots died and the Bonsai was not able
to recover from that loss of sustenance provided
by its root system. |
2.
Construct a cold frame. There are many books available
that will give you a “how to” to
do this. This appears to be acceptable except
that varmints, not watering or giving some ventilation
during warmer spells can cause a problem. You
just can’t forget your Bonsai and think
they are not around.
3.
Over wintering in a cold room,
cool room, garage, unheated room or basement.
This seems to be the best of the alternatives.
A number of hobbyist stated that they were successful
in keeping their Bonsai where the temperatures
were just above freezing with some light, even
artificial light. You still need to water. How
often will depend on many factors (temperature,
humidity, soil porosity, growth of the Bonsai,
even the time of the year). So you need to develop
your own routine on this. Check this routine periodically
as you will need to increase or decrease the timing
of your watering.
IN THE LOWER TIER OF STATES:
How we do it in our part of the world
- Dallas, Texas, which is zone 8 or 9 depending
on which map you read.
We have Japanese Black Pines,
Japanese Shimpaku and Japanese Maples.
1.
We dig about
a 4 inch deep hole in our flower beds which face
South large enough to accommodate one of our Japanese
black humidity trays. We then place the tray upside
down in the dug out area and then place the Bonsai
on the tray. We do this so the bonsai will not grow
roots into the underlying soil. It will send out
some roots between the pot and the tray, but that
growth will be minimum. If we don’t have some
form of barrier we can have a foot of roots outside
the pot. This excessive growth can clog up the pot’s
drainage holes and cause water problems. Then we
cover the Bonsai pot with our triple
screened pine bark. As the bark is usually
very dry we try to wet it first by putting the bark
in a bucket and then filling the bucket with water.
After you cover your Bonsai with the bark, you
need to water the bark more than normal for a
few days to ensure that it is wet enough. This
is usually enough protection here in Dallas. We
water daily. Now if there will be a really cold
temperature say in the 20s or teens we carefully
cover the Bonsai with sheets to protect them even
further. We then water down the sheets to offer
a barricade of ice around the Bonsai. Normally
this low temperature lasts only a day or so. So
it’s off with the sheets as soon as possible.
2.
Japanese
maple branches can be damaged by low temperatures
so we are extremely careful during these times. Death
will occur when the root temperatures are 16 degrees
or below. Remember that’s
root temperature and not air temperature.
INDOOR BONSAI
As to your indoor Bonsai you have two items to be concerned with
now that the outside temperatures are plummeting.
1.
Light – If you have placed your indoor
Bonsai on a window sill to afford it Mother Nature’s
adequate light you need to be reminded that the
natural light is not what it was in June or July.
The length of the day and the intensity of the
light is greatly diminished. What to do? You many
need to add artificial light so that your Bonsai
will survive during this time of very low light.
These lights are available at your local nurseries
and most of the big box hardware stores. Plant
lights come in incandescent and fluorescent types.
Usually these are used for 16 hours daily and
are kept about 12 inches from your Bonsai. Automatic
timers are available at affordable prices to make
this chore easier.
2.
Water. You are now heating your environment. With
this heat comes excessive dryness. Your home can
be like a desert with 12 % or so humidity. This
may cause your Bonsai to suffer from drying of
the leaves and soil. Some of this can be ameliorated
by using a humidity
tray and nachi
rocks. Both
of these items are available on our website.
Just
remember that you can’t neglect your Bonsai.
Take good care of
them and they will reward you many times over
with their serene beauty.
| What's
happening here at Dallas Bonsai Garden |
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We
are getting a bunch of new stuff this month
and next. We have just received the Secrets
of Bonsai DVDs that
you will want to have!
More new books and DVDs are somewhere in the delivery system. They were sent
over a month ago, but we still haven’t gotten them. Please stay tuned…
A container is on its way from Japan with all kinds of new goodies. There are
the current Kokufu books, new tools, more gravers, new fertilizer holders and
many more new items that we will have up dallasbonsai.com as soon as we can.
This week we are getting in a container of Chinese figures and will update this
area as soon as we can. New larger plastic pots will be in our warehouse next
month. Lots of exciting items!!! |
| Bonsai Channel Update - Secrets
of Bonsai volume I
& II Teasers |
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Last month we placed teasers of
the secrets of Bonsai Videos on The Bonsai Channel. ( Head there
now and check them out! They are really great videos! ) Well, we are
pleased to announce that the videos are finally in stock!
Also, we will be making our update to the Bonsai Channel mid-month,
we will send an announcement when it is ready to view.
Thanks for all your advice and kind letters! We appreciate it!
Visit
the Bonsai Channel
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