Overwinter?

[derkap10]

Hi everybody,

Just wondering what everybody will be doing with their trees over the winter. I'm thinking I'm gonna build a small cold frame against the back of the house out of some 2bys and plastic sheeting. Will also mulch in with some pine straw and/or some other form of mulch. Doesn't get overly cold here during the winter just looking to protect from frost at night. Would love to hear, and see pics of, what the folks in the more Northenly areas will be doing for the Winter. Thanks y'all,

Allen

[BewilderedGreenyO.o]

I won't be doing anything with my trees this winter... our winter will likely be all about sunshine and great weather If we do get some frost I may be tarping them but normally its pretty warm throughout the winter and drastic measures just aren't needed here. I wish we could at least get some rain this winter.

[linlaoboo]

I'm moving to CA for the nice weather some day.

Last couple years I've kept my japanese maple in something like this with the plastic covered without problems here in NJ.



This year I've bent 2 pvcs into the ground, cover over with plastic sheets from Home depot and I'll over winter my maple and chinese elm in it. .. well see what hapens. Our winters are much colder than Mississippi but I'm not sure how much opening I should leave. I kept my ficus on my rack as shown above a couple weeks ago with it covered and some leaves got scorched cuz it got too hot during the day yet.

[Gnome]

derkap10,

Some of my things stay outside all winter with no shelter other than what nature can provide. I do help in that I never leave anything exposed after Thanksgiving, everything goes on the ground and is mulched in with shredded leaves. When snow arrives I cover the bed with snow and keep it covered as long as I can. This works surprisingly well and I seldom have a problem.

Other things, such as Chinese Elms or this years seedlings, stay out exposed until around Thanksgiving and then go inside to an unheated garage. It gets cold in there but not extremely so and the drying winds are not an issue.

Still others, like Pomegranate, stay outside long enough to get a few light frosts before being brought inside the garage. Later, when the group above comes in, the Pomegranate go into a cool basement.

Norm

[TomM]

My overwintering methods are much the same as Norm's. No cold-frame. The hardiest trees either go out into the garden and stay under snow or get placed on the back patio against the house - north side, no sun. That's the pines, larches, junipers, cedars, spruce, etc.

Less hardy maples and elms go into an unheated but attached workshop/woodshed - cold but no wind or sun. Then there is a cool corner in the cellar. Good area for the hornbeams, boxwoods and others.

My main concern this year is to prevent damage from the critters that did a lot of damage last winter, mainly chipmunks and/or mice. Plans for a lot of D-con from now on. I learned the hard way. Errrrr!!!
Zone 4b

[djlen]

I use a lot of Norm's methods myself. Most of my deciduous trees go into the unheated garage after the holidays for the coldest months. Freezing roots is the biggest killer of trees in my experience and the garage seems to do the job in that regard. Deciduous trees (some will tell you Evergreens as well) need no light when dormant so light is not an issue during the winter.
Chinese Elms can come into the house under strong fluorescent light early in January after an abbreviated 'rest' where they can get a jump on Spring inside.
Where you live in Mississippi, it seems to me that cold should not be that much of an issue. How cold does it get where you are?

[joedes3]

I am fairly new to bonsai. Last year I left two Junipers outside on the bench, no protection. As you can guess, both died.

This year I have read a great deal more but have no juniper. I now have schefflera. I was afraid to purchase outdoor plants for bonsai for fear of just killing them again. This site has been a world of knowledge for me.

I just found and joined a bonsai club. Attended my first meeting and we had Collin Lewis as a guest speaker. WOW!

Now I can't wait for next spring! To go back and get more junipers etc.

Great initial post, I'm sure there are a number of people wondering about wintering bonsai.

[TomM]

Joe D. - First off I want to say that I am so glad that you did not give up after losing your two junipers. So many people get discouraged as soon as their first attempt with bonsai fails. And you did some reading and found this forum. You're on the right track.

Now you've joined a bonsai club - NICE. Oh how I wish more people would do that. Guest speaker Colin Lewis!! Excellent. Good for you.

About junipers, if cared for properly (outdoors) they are pretty tough customers. I'm in a colder zone than you. I overwinter junipers on a back patio buried in snow and kept from harsh drying winds. Winter winds can be the biggest problem.

I commented on your pond basket question on your other thread.

[joedes3]

I now wish I had a juniper to just try wintering the correct way. This forum has been very helpful. I haven't post much but I have been reading everything I can.

In my other post, I wrote that my understanding of wintering junipers is:

1. Put the bonsai plant in the container on the ground near the house, protected from the wind.
2. Cover the container with leaves or whatever.
3. When it snows, cover the plant with snow.

Does this sound correct?

[djlen]

I have done just that for years with much success......a pot or two broken along the way when the odd super cold spell came up and the pot had excess moisture in it. But those broken pots were spread over 40 or more years of sometimes very cold Winters so I cannot complain.
I use the south side of the house for the outside stuff, because it gets the most sun(for warmth more than for light).
Now ALL my deciduous plants go into the garage or cold frame or shed for Overwintering if possible. If you don't have access to any of those pick a sheltered, southerly spot against the house.

[TomM]

I have a different take on the 'southern exposure'. Not to start an argument as I respect Len and would not criticize his experience.

I find that when given a southern exposure in winter the trees are subjected to more frequent and repeated thaws and freezes. Late winter/early spring cycles of thaw & freeze can do much harm to new bud growth.

My preference for a northern location is to keep the trees frozen/dormant for as long as possible - late April or even May if possible. This is to eliminate the warm/cold cycles as much as I can. That works better for me in my location. I get very early and vary late killer frosts at my elevation. It might be different for others in warmer climes.

Zone 4a/b

[djlen]

Tom, your input is always welcome and valuable so never hesitate to add or comment on any of my posts.
I am surprised to hear that your trees do so well considering your Winter climate can be harsher up in NY State than ours here in New Jersey. Possibly I've not given my trees credit for their ability to handle out north and north-west winds that I should. I've just had pretty good success using the south-west sides of the houses I've lived in. Hearing that our trees can handle colder environments for longer periods of time will go into the "data bank" for future reference.

[TomM]

Len, Thanks for understanding my post, and for offering good advice here. Maybe it is a matter of "location, location". Our friends in Mississippi (and I lived there in my military years) would have a very different take on care of junipers. But our writer, Joe in Massachusetts, is getting good info from this forum regardless. The most basic of rules applies here - "please please don't keep your junipers indoors".

So "just east of zone 7a" is New Jersey - was wondering about that!!!

[derkap10]

Thanks for all the great input guys.
Really helped me to get a better understanding of what to do with my trees this winter. I think I'm going to go with the cold frame along the back of the house. This is the South side of the house but it's much more sheltered than the front (North) side of the house. The front would have virtually no shelter from wind, rain, or frost. When I build the cold frame I think I'll put hinges on the bottom of the sides as well as the top so that if there isn't any real chance of frost they'll be, basically, just in the open. Still sheltered by the eave of the house though.
Last winter in Mississippi was an aberation. In early through mid-January we went 16 days without the temp getting above freezing (either tied or set a new record). Usually though it's not at all unusual for it to be above freezing most days. Not unusual to slip below freezing at night. And it's not unheard of to get temps over 70 in mid-winter. I think my main thing will be protecting from frost and too much water (Winter here is the rainy season. Snow? Yeah right ). And we have short winters. Probably got over a month before I even have to begin to worry about frost. By mid-March that danger will be past. So I think that for most days this winter my trees will just be mulched-in with the cold frame just being closed on nights (or days) when there is some frost.
Thanks again y'all.

[TomM]

Still concerned with the mid-winter days that go over 70 degrees - and that happens here on occasion too. With a cold frame having a southern exposure it must really heat up in there - cooking the little trees. Do the vent windows cool it enough? Then the trees come out of dormancy just as the temps drop again. Big problem.

Here we pack ice/snow around them to try to extend the dormancy period if possible.