Bonsai will have to wait until June

Redwood Ryan · Jan 26, 2016

Ugh. I wrecked my car coming home from school last week before the storm even started. Slid on some black ice and smashed into the concrete wall. The car will be MIA for a few weeks. I've got a rental, but I'm still scared to drive that to and from school everyday....

wireme · Jan 26, 2016

rockm said:
Yeah, but you have all those bendy conifer thingies ;-) Deciduous trees native to the south aren't quite as flexible under snow load, much less almost three feet of snow load.

I'm actually very jealous of your big dump! A good three footer all in one shot doesn't happen all that often anywhere. Being a skier in a small ski town that's cause to celebrate. Nobody goes to work, everyone calls in sick and hits the slopes. We have a good amount of snow this year but it's all come as frequent little 3-4" teaser snowfalls, not even one big rippin dump yet this season.
I've actually had more problems with the conifers in the past though,with their foliage still on they can catch the snow more than leafless deciduous that alow the snow to filter through more. The conifers can get some pretty heavy unsupported hats of snow. My experience so far anyways but I don't have any large, well ramified decid trees.
I'm always thinking snow load when I pack trees away, adding support struts here and there. Supporting sensitive branches with rigid deadwood of adjacent trees. Keeping trees away from flexible branches of larger trees that might squash them, far enough from the house to not get clobbered by roofalanches etc....
Check out the tree well under this juniper, the hole goes right down to the mulch and the tree is holding all the weight. This tree is strong and unstyled and can take it but some of them need protection.
Must have been an exciting snow event for a lot of people down there!

wireme · Jan 26, 2016

Redwood Ryan said:
Ugh. I wrecked my car coming home from school last week before the storm even started. Slid on some black ice and smashed into the concrete wall. The car will be MIA for a few weeks. I've got a rental, but I'm still scared to drive that to and from school everyday....

Bummer man, glad you're ok.

rockm · Jan 27, 2016

Dav4 said:
Will you bother to clear the snow from the canopies? Back in the day when I lived in the MA snow belt, I kept most of my better trees under cover, but I had several largish weeping palmatums planted along my driveway and walk to the house. After one particularly snowy winter, with lots of shoveling, I was horrified to see, as the snow mounds slowly receded, that the one closest to the driveway had lost every one of it's main branches, essentially ripped from the trunk by the collapsing snow pile. That's when I started cleaning the snow off my trees, both bonsai and landscape.

No. I have found that trying to clear snow or ice from them can do more harm than good. I've just got my fingers crossed. The last time that amur maple forest was entirely covered with snow up over the canopy, a couple of the trees bent over almost double to the soil surface. They didn't snap, but took some time straightening themselves out.

Cadillactaste · Jan 27, 2016

Redwood Ryan said:
Ugh. I wrecked my car coming home from school last week before the storm even started. Slid on some black ice and smashed into the concrete wall. The car will be MIA for a few weeks. I've got a rental, but I'm still scared to drive that to and from school everyday....

Sorry to hear that...but cars can be repaired or replaced. Glad your okay.

Something told to me years back...when on ice, slip your car into neutral and get your foot off the break. It helps take back the car and get it back under control. Easily said than done...the same week I wrecked on black ice going into a turn...and my car refused to make the turn. After that...I chanted it and it became my motto. Later in life...I was on ice again...and was able to get my car under control by doing that method that was told to me that one day.

sorce · Jan 27, 2016

Donuts,
Illegal to make em.
Cops Love eating them.
Insurance companies get paid!

The system.

Sorce

M. Frary · Jan 27, 2016

rockm said:
snow load,

One reason I like to have no wires on trees going into winter.
The other is cold on injured cambium layers from bends.

drew33998 · Jan 27, 2016

Wish we had some of that white stuff down here. Maybe a couple feet a year would be cool. Instead we contend with 80s one day 60s the next

M. Frary · Jan 27, 2016

drew33998 said:
Wish we had some of that white stuff down here. Maybe a couple feet a year would be cool. Instead we contend with 80s one day 60s the next

Come take all you want.

ColinFraser · Jan 27, 2016

drew33998 said:
Wish we had some of that white stuff down here. Maybe a couple feet a year would be cool. Instead we contend with 80s one day 60s the next

M. Frary said:
Come take all you want.

@GrimLore has a whole truck bed full, ready for delivery!

drew33998 · Jan 27, 2016

Haha. Ship it down here. We actually had flurries on saturday. Nothing stuck though. Second year in a row we have had flurries. Before last year the last time we had any type of snow was 1989

rockm · Jan 27, 2016

wireme said:
I'm actually very jealous of your big dump! A good three footer all in one shot doesn't happen all that often anywhere. Being a skier in a small ski town that's cause to celebrate. Nobody goes to work, everyone calls in sick and hits the slopes. We have a good amount of snow this year but it's all come as frequent little 3-4" teaser snowfalls, not even one big rippin dump yet this season.
I've actually had more problems with the conifers in the past though,with their foliage still on they can catch the snow more than leafless deciduous that alow the snow to filter through more. The conifers can get some pretty heavy unsupported hats of snow. My experience so far anyways but I don't have any large, well ramified decid trees.
I'm always thinking snow load when I pack trees away, adding support struts here and there. Supporting sensitive branches with rigid deadwood of adjacent trees. Keeping trees away from flexible branches of larger trees that might squash them, far enough from the house to not get clobbered by roofalanches etc....
Check out the tree well under this juniper, the hole goes right down to the mulch and the tree is holding all the weight. This tree is strong and unstyled and can take it but some of them need protection.
Must have been an exciting snow event for a lot of people down there!View attachment 92967

I understand about the snow dump. I used to teach skiing back when I was MUCH younger. Grew up between two ski resorts--I wish I could've gone after this one. My favorite place is West Virginia near where the snow total was 42 inches for this storm. The place is run by the folks who operate Whistler/Blackcomb out your way.

Most of my trees are sheltered by an overhanging deck in the winter. The wind blew so hard, the snow blew in and smothered everything.

GrimLore · Jan 27, 2016

drew33998 said:
Haha. Ship it down here.

Send a refrigerated Truck and we will fill it -

Grimmy

JudyB · Jan 27, 2016

rockm said:
favorite place is West Virginia

Snowshoe... ahhhh.

Cadillactaste · Feb 19, 2016

Dav4 said:
Will you bother to clear the snow from the canopies? Back in the day when I lived in the MA snow belt, I kept most of my better trees under cover, but I had several largish weeping palmatums planted along my driveway and walk to the house. After one particularly snowy winter, with lots of shoveling, I was horrified to see, as the snow mounds slowly receded, that the one closest to the driveway had lost every one of it's main branches, essentially ripped from the trunk by the collapsing snow pile. That's when I started cleaning the snow off my trees, both bonsai and landscape.

I wish to thank you for sharing this with us. We had a heavy wet snow...branches were breaking everywhere. I went out and shook the snow off the tree in the front yard which had the branches touching the ground so weighted down. Shook other things in the yard clearing them. And what I couldn't shake I took a broom to. I lost no branches...can't say the same for my neighborhood. It's so sad...seeing so much destruction from the heavy snow. Mature weeping cherry tree I've always admired...has only one branch left on it. Just so sad...But, your post here. Had me out addressing my own lawn...and I wish to thank you for taking the time to share it.

rockm · Mar 28, 2016

This is the boxwood that was buried under three feet of snow in the second pic (don't bother looking for clues where it is in the photo. There is no trace of it).

The tree is fine and just got a new set of shoes (a new pot) on Saturday.

JudyB · Mar 28, 2016

Nice! I like the stature of this tree.

Vin · Mar 28, 2016

Very rugged yet graceful. Well done!

GroveKeeper · Mar 28, 2016

Nice boxwood.

I'm glad I don't live in god forsaken tundra land lol. For few days in December we had temp swings of 40 degrees and I lost several main branches on one of my oldest trees. It also got knocked over and I had to repot it for the second time in a few months

It's budding out though.

rockm · Mar 29, 2016

Have to get back to work lowering the left branch again. I had it guy wired for two years. It's springing back up again.

Also squirrels chewed off a lot of its mature bark in the back at the top. Little bastards. Luckily, I think they didn't get to the living cambium underneath to kill the top. The little tree rats have also brought ticks with them into the backyard. I've been scratching bites all weekend.

Bonsai will have to wait until June

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