extreme winter bonsai?

Discussion in 'Woody Plants' started by sunwaves, Feb 21, 2008.

  1. sunwaves

    sunwaves Member

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    Location:
    Winnipeg Canada
    Hi all,
    I would like to get into the bonsai art, not having been involved before, i have started my research online and am off to a start of sorts....

    I live in Winnipeg Canada where summer temps can reach 35°C and winter temps ( a few nights of the year ) can reach -35°C, but an average would be somewhere in the -15 - 20°C's in the winter.

    What types of trees would work for outdoors here? I've been reading alot about "zones" of growth but can't find any maps or anything...anyone know about this?

    From what i gather so far, a juniper would work as long as i shelter it from the winter winds, is this correct? Does it matter if the roots freeze as long as its out of the wind? With a box over it or something, maybe with a small window so it can still get some light? What about a maple, a tree that changed color in the fall would be cool too.

    Ideally i would like to have two trees. One inside (out for summer) and one outside all year.

    There is a ton of grown pine type trees and larches that are native here. Is that just because they're huge trees with roots that go below the frostline in the ground?

    thanks for any help and direction :)

    stef
     
  2. jetoney

    jetoney Active Member

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    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA, USA
    Any tree that grows in your area should do fine as an outdoor bonsai, given the right care.

    Here is a nice article on winter care for bonsai:

    http://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics/Basics_WinterCare.html

    The gist of it is that you do not want the roots of an evergreen to freeze solid, especially if the tree is exposed to drying winds. (The roots of planted trees go deep enough to avoid this problem.) I used to keep mine near the window in an unheated garage, but now that I am back in an apartment I have them on the balcony under a clear plastic cover. Time will tell if they will survive the winter, but they look OK so far.

    This is less of a problem with deciduous trees, like maples, since they are completely dormant during the winter.

    -Jim
     
  3. sunwaves

    sunwaves Member

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    Location:
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    Thanks Jim,

    I guess i will build some type of shelter for them for the winter to keep the wind off...I'm not sure how i will keep the roots from freezing though. I am also limited to a balcony, but i still have the low temps to deal with. The shelter may have to be fairly elaborate with some type of heat source eh? To keep things around the freezing point, i guess that also means that i will have to water occasionally aswell during winter months. So i could just leave a maple out in the open then for the winter with no worries? just a wind shelter?
    Thanks again,
    stef
     
  4. mannygo

    mannygo Member

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    Location:
    Moncton, NB, Canada
    In my opinion, "Any tree that grows in your area should do fine as an outdoor bonsai, given the right care" is misleading.

    Root freezing is a serious threat to all small trees, especially bonsai. You need to keep them in a "blanketed" environment to reduce the number of freeze-thaw cycles. You could keep it in an unheated garage/shed, bundled up with tree wrap or buried in soil, peat moss, vermiculite, etc.

    Bottom line: all the beautiful bonsai you see in books are in kept areas much more pleasant than Manitoba. In Winnipeg, you are setting yourself up for a big heartache. I like your idea of indoor bonsai.
     
  5. bonsai MD

    bonsai MD Member

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    Location:
    mills river nc usa
    bonsai in you area of the globe is possible, not impossible. you need to look for species that can withstand that kind of cold. some possible candidates are muhgo pines which are hardy to zones 2 and 3. scotch pine are also extremely winter hardy down to zone 2 (the lower the # the colder the climate). most junipers are hardy down to a 3 or 4. shimpaku (my fave) are hardy to a zone 4 and with proper styling, look beautiful! a must for any serious hobbiest. as for the maples, you cant go wrong with acer ginnala (amur or siberian maple as some know it). it it very hardy, down to a zone 2! they have very beautiful fall coloring and naturally small leaves which kind look tike a trident maples. what ever you decide to grow as bonsai (granted its hardy to your zone up there) should and could use some winter protection by taking the plant out of its container and putting it in a mulch bed or straight in the ground for over wintering. you can just submerge the whole container too with out taking the tree out, but, are likely too loose the pot due to the expansion of the soil inside from freeze. ive had plenty of pots freeze and burst even here in north carolina. so now if im partial too a particular bonsai pot i take the tree out and over winter it in a mulch bed. hope you can enjoy out door bonsai like pines juniper and maple with this helpful advice. happy growing!!
     
  6. yamasuri

    yamasuri Member

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    Location:
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    I was "googling" bonsai winter care ....well I end up here. This is my first post and hope some "montrealer" will share "bonsai winter survive tricks" This task is very important for me to be sure my bonsais are gona pass safe winter before I'll start again collecting plants/trees. I don't have bonsai friends yet so I'll focuse on nurseries find out how they make survive winter with all plants in containers. I need more details from this pros. So far I know they lay continers on side [horizontaly] one by another and cover them with turp [ perforating plastic cover...not sure about name, will find out exactly] and let snow cover up the top. Place where the plants are layed has to be covered from west [wind protection...house, wall...] and open to East [have morning sun?]..This is very interresting....horizontaly placed doesnt evaporate water? what is the reason. However this method is effective because they dont have high percentege of dead pieces. Deffinitely I'll go talk to person at nursery again and get more my questions answered...I'll post back....winter is comming..hehe
     
    Mathieu Rousseau likes this.

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