Wintering Bonsai

tycoon · White Belt Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 15

Hello all

With summer almost over and winter soon approaching, I am never successful when it comes to wintering bonsai. This is only my second year doing bonsai and I have non of the original Bonsai that I started with last spring. I have read countless books on the subject and still am very confused some say put them in a cold frame, others say in a cold well lit room in the house. I realize that the technique differs with the type of tree (Conifer or Deciduous) I also visited a friend of mine who has been doing bonsai for a number of years. He said that what he does with his juniper and conifer bonsai is digs a hole in the ground and takes the tree out of the pot and puts it in the ground and covers the entire tree with leaves and mulch. So you can see how I got confused so I thought I would listen to the people of Bonsai Help and figure out a way to winter my bonsai safely and correctly.

My main question is where should I put my Juniper bonsai and where should I keep my soft leafed bonsai? Also I just acquired a 36 Year old Banyan Bonsai And do not want to kill it. Please help as usual anything is really appreciated.
(I live in London Ontario, Canada--------zone 5--------)

------------------------Thanks Tycoon------------------------------

Dick · Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2005 3:38 am Post subject: Re: Wintering Bonsai

Hi Tycoon,

What do you mean that summer is almost over and winter is coming soon. For bonsai in a zone 5, there are still a couple of months left. We actually do not live too far apart, perhaps about 200 km. I'm directly south of Buffalo near the Pennsylvania border, but I'm also in a zone 4b which is actually colder than in London. Being nearer to the lake helps keep you a bit warmer in winter

Your juniper can live outdoors very easily. Not knowing it's size and the size of the pot is a little of a disadvantage in giving you specific information, but you do know that the tree is fully hardy in your area. The pot may need some protection that we can address later, but I would not worry about the juniper tree at all. A little protection from the winter wind is sufficient. And if you have a cold frame, all the better. But if it's completely outdoors all winter, all the you need to do is to bury the pot and roots of the tree and leave the foliage exposed. The juniper will turn a deep bronze color and that's normal since it doesn't photosynthesize very much during winter and doesn't need chlorophyll as much. In the spring, you simply lift the pot out of the soil, clean it off and the tree will naturally green up as the sun gets warmer and days lengthen. As for watering, as long as the tree is well watered before the pot is buried, it should be all right, unless London has a low snowfall winter. But once it snows, the snow melting at the soils surface will provide enough moisture for the tree throughout the winter.

The soft leaves tree is unidentified and I cannot comment about it with any accuracy.

The Banyan will need to be taken indoors since it cannot tolerate the winter temperature at all. It will need to be in a place where there is an excellent source of natural light and it may still need artificial light to supplement. It may drop some leaves because of the decrease in light, but that's to be expected. Water it when necessary, rotate it so that all sides will get the advantage of the light source, and in the spring, when it's warm enough, replace it outdoors, gradually increasing the light exposure.

Hope this helps. This is what I do with my outdoor trees and so far so good.

steve · Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2005 3:43 am Post subject: Re: Wintering Bonsai

Your friend's advice is not bad although you really should just bury the whole pot into the ground if you're going to go that route. Dick (who is a shade or two colder than you) uses cold frames. It really comes down to personal preference and Dick would be more help here as he is from a nasty-winter area. In zone eight I leave 'em to the elements for the most part.

Your banyan will need to be moved inside before the temps get much below the mid sixties. Keep it moist and in as much light as you can without it being in a window sill. Contact with glass is very much the enemy of leaves. Not to mention the possiblity of sunburn.

tycoon · White Belt Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 15

in regards to the size of my juniper and the type of deciduous the juniper is about 7 inches tall and the deciduous is a boxwood and a banyan.

Thanx so much

steve · Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2005 10:25 pm Post subject: Re: Wintering Bonsai

Wow I don't know how I missed Dick's reply but I guess I wasn't too far off the money. A tree that small could really use a cold frame or some other kind of protection. What kind of boxwood do you have?

Dick · Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:53 am Post subject: Re: Wintering Bonsai

Hi steve,

I think we posted replies almost simultaneously. Good work!

As for the juniper, I have weathered junipers that small outside of a cold frame throughout my nasty winters. They eventually get totally covered with snow and are protected by the snow from the deeply cold temperatures and from the wind blasts. It's not a danger for them to be all covered up. Inside a snow pack, the temperature is a constant 32F (0C) and sometimes (very often for me) much warmer that what the air temp is.

tycoon · White Belt Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 15

My boxwood is a Buxus Japonica and I have a maple as well thanks so much for the replies I'll build a cold frame in my back yard is there a preference as to what the lid should be made out of? Wood, plastic, glass etc?

And know that you know what kind of Boxwood I have where should I put it?

Thanks a lot guys I really appreciate it

Dick · Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 2:05 am Post subject: Re: Wintering Bonsai

Dependingh on the size of your trees, your cold frame will be very good for all trees except those that are not hardy in your zonal area.

My cold frames are about four feet tall and the walls are made of