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I live in Zone 6 and have overwintered my JM seedlings for a few years now. I have built structures out of palettes and 2x4s to make shade structures to protect them in the heat of summer. In the winter I then just mulch between the pots and wrap the structure in clear plastic. They have been...

It is unfortunate but this is the trade off in all forms of horticulture. I used to love bananas but there are few that are cold hardy and still require a great deal of winter prep. I love palm trees and have managed to find one that is zone 6 capable but still has a hard time. I really want to...

Learn to pinch. I have a couple of ERC that I dug up from the farm because I was just beginning and they were free. One may someday be a mediocre semi-formal upright and the other might be a fairly interesting windswept with deadwood. Regardless if they ever turn into anything nice they have...

I would hardly say I have experience but last year, I went digging with a Springfield, MO group and Hackberry (Occidentalis) was the primary take. I started poking around at my family farm and found an entire stand of them. They are everywhere. But I am in SE KS, kind of far from you. Guess that...

Have you ever gone collecting beyond your city limits? I drove a few hours away to a very rocky area where pick axes were necessary. Luckily the fellows I was with brought the picks. We went to collect, and battle it was.:cool:

It's called a shovel head with a pipe and a loaded end. I had never thought of that. I built (had welded) my own "spud" bar for bamboo digging to sever the rhizomes. I don't know why I never thought of a smaller piece with a hammer. That would make the longer carry negligible. And I have a...

Well from your pictures the tree looks just fine. No mis-colored leaves, trimmed to shape. My stock is mostly growing on so I haven't done any refinement and I have never bought an already styled tree. What I do know about pyras is that they tend to grow aggressive shoots that I refer to as...

That was my other thought about being on the other side of the equator, your seasons are backwards. So you are coming into your growing season. Watering should be fine until you get used to what it wants. If your not familiar with the chop stick in the soil , search for that. It is a way of...

Oh, oh, I'm the first to get to say it needs to live outside. Sorry to get excited, I'm not usually first on the scene with the general questions. :D There are others, far more experienced than I who will chime in. But generally all bonsai, unless "tropical" need to live outside year round...

I am in zone 6B and the landscape crapes do die back, largely to the ground pending the cultivar. The dwarfs reliably die to the ground and the larger ones can keep some height but always take die back. I dug up a seedling and kept it in a one gallon can, buried in the ground and it lived. But...

I was going to post another update picture because it had been a while and it looked like the thing has been putting on a bit of growth. All this heat. Amazing that it is growing, but fresh green at the tips. I might wire the top up to be perfectly straight or cut it, to get a little movement...

I would say what damage is done is done, no more insults for this growing season. It is already budding back and will put out something for the end of the year. Being the tree that it is it should be hardy and able to recover from the chop well enough for winter. Any fancier of a maple and you...

Because some of us don't have trees worth showing.:D I'm finally getting over digging up every seedling I see and this year might have a tree or two I would show. MIGHT. I try to resist using bonsai pots because of SIAP syndrome. I don't want to be accused of that so most of my stuff is in grow...

I want to share what I have found about soil mixes and making your own but that is not what this thread is about. To stay on topic I imagine boiling the bark would be the worst thing for it. I understand where you're going but it would likely sterilize and actually set back the composting...

Figured I would give an update since it had been a while and I actually had something to show. The pictures are sort of a left/right view and an up closer of the trunk. I did place it where it gets full sun for several hours of the day. Even though the soil looks super loose that is mostly top...

I put this in general because the tree is collected stock, several years of growing before it will even take a shape. I went on a collecting trip back in March. I brought home a small Black Cherry, a medium cut back Hackberry and this larger cut back Black Cherry with about 4" caliper at the...

In the past when a more humus based soil was used a drainage layer of crushed stone or a mixture of the soil with gravel was the norm. I have seen the layers of soil suggestion in older texts. Modern soil choices tend to be very coarse and fast draining. When people talk of 100% inorganic and...

I guess I shouldn't have said I had studied quite a bit considering I don't own a copy of Dirr's propagation book (or the Grafter's Handbook). If it's been done then it's possible but as pointed out, not likely to be successful. I was referencing commonly known and accepted grafting stocks...

That depends on what you mean by "girdle." In most every case you will have to "girdle" the branch by cutting away the ring of bark to force interruption in the hormones. This will trigger rooting. Then there is air-layering a conifer in which most books site needing to loop a wire and tighten...

I am not highly experienced in grafting but have studied it quite a bit. Just haven't gotten the field experience to back it up. I can tell you that those two species are not compatible. A quick search finds "Acer palmatum cultivar scions can be grafted to Acer japonicum rootstock and vice...

It is an interesting piece, indeed. If you are aiming for Shohin (approx 12") I think it will look very nice by time it gets there. By the size of your thumb this only appears to be 3-4" tall at the stump. Your branches are already thickening in and you have a shoot going straight up. I would be...

I have a Caroline Wisteria (floribunda) and their Wiki pages claim Japanese and Chinese are the same hardiness. I had it in a large pot on some bricks and the bugger escaped into the ground. So I left it at the NE corner of the house with just mulch on the top of the pot and around the base. We...

I guess I didn't really address your pictures, OP. Luckily JKL came along like he is known for and gave you sound advice. If the tree is in too bad of soil, re-potting even a little late will be of more benefit to the tree for the entire growing season to come. While re-potting you would have to...

If you aren't familiar with re-potting you may want to read it in a book first. I would always agree that video is better than book because there is a lot you can't see happen in a still shot. However Youtube is full of as much crap as it is good video. And if you can't tell the difference there...

I found a picture of "after cutting" but "before repotting". It is not the best shot but it does show the reduction. I have been babying the tree, still, as it went through a lot and I can't put it in harsh sunlight. I'm sure that would finish it off. I guess it needs to come up on the porch...