Calendar Guide?

[Apex37]

Is there anything out there that has a calendar like guide on maybe repotting times, pruning times, defoliation, wiring, etc. that can be easy for beginner to understand and follow? Maybe something that delves into each major bonsai species and what to do each quarter?

 

[RKatzin]

Almost all good bonsai books have an appendix listing trees and proper timing of most functions.

 

[Deleted member 32750]

Is there anything out there that has a calendar like guide on maybe repotting times, pruning times, defoliation, wiring, etc. that can be easy for beginner to understand and follow? Maybe something that delves into each major bonsai species and what to do each quarter?

The best book that I have seen with a calendar for each species is called the ultimate bonsai hand book. It’s not the best bonsai book by any means but it’s worth it for the calendar listed for each species and it’s an all around cool book. I will attach a link below. There is a video on YouTube by Bjorn Bjorholm that goes into seasonal application of techniques for deciduous species. The conifer video is only available for paid Bonsai-U members. I will also link to the free deciduous video. It’s probably one of the best free bonsai videos out there in my opinion.

The Ultimate Bonsai Handbook: The Complete Guide for Beginners: Hirose, Yukio: 9784805315026: Amazon.com: Books

The Ultimate Bonsai Handbook: The Complete Guide for Beginners [Hirose, Yukio] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Ultimate Bonsai Handbook: The Complete Guide for Beginners

www.amazon.com

 

[Deleted member 32750]

Bjorn broadleaf and deciduous seasonal timing video:

 

[cishepard]

I’ve bookmarked this:

https://nebaribonsai.wordpress.com/monthly-bonsai-care-tips/

And this:

https://www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/general/calendar

And this is from Bonsai Tonight (in California):

JANUARY

• Repotting
• Cutback and wiring
• Grafting
• Thin needles on pines
• Satsuki azaleas: thin flower buds on satsuki now through April to give each flower adequate space to fully open

FEBRUARY

• Repotting: when possible, repot bonsai before new growth appears
• Cutback and wiring: finish wiring and cutting back all species that are just starting to grow
• Grafting: February is good for grafting species that are still emerging from dormancy
• Pinching: pinch new shoots on refined Japanese maples
• Thin needles on pines

MARCH

• Repotting: although most bonsai have started growing by March in the Bay Area, junipers and deciduous species that have yet to start growing can still be repotted.
• Wiring: March through May is a great time for wiring young shoots on deciduous species before they become too brittle to bend.
• Pinching: pinch new shoots on refined Japanese maples and Japanese beech

APRIL

• Wiring new shoots on deciduous species
• Deadwood: although deadwood work can happen year-round, bark separates easily in April
• Cutback and wiring: use caution when making big bends in spring as sap is flowing quickly

MAY

• Repotting tropical bonsai: May through September is the best time to repot tropical species so they have time to establish new roots before they slow down in fall and winter
• Cutback and wiring on deciduous trees: May and June are a great time for cutting back and wiring deciduous species
• Air layers: May is a good month to start air layers
• Decandling: the end of May is a good time to start decandling large black and red pines, particularly if you live in a cooler part of Northern California
• Azaleas: once azaleas have finished blooming, old flowers can be removed and branches can be cut back and wired; now is the second-best time to repot azaleas that weren’t repotted in early spring

JUNE

• Repotting tropical bonsai
• Azaleas: continue deadheading spent flowers, styling branches, and repotting trees with poor drainage
• Decandling pines: pines can be wired after decandling
• Cutback and wiring

JULY

• Decandling: July is the last month to decandle black or red pines, particularly smaller pines
• Repotting tropical bonsai
• Junipers
• Summer is a good time to clean up deadwood and apply fresh lime sulfur
• Cutback and wiring

AUGUST

• Cutback, wiring, and repotting tropical bonsai
• Junipers
• Remove old needles on white pines
• Cutback and wiring

SEPTEMBER

• Repotting tropical bonsai: this is the last month to take advantage of the relatively warm weather tropical bonsai require to respond well to repotting
• Deciduous cutback and wiring
• Juniper styling
• Ponderosa pine clean-up and styling

OCTOBER

• Cutback and wiring

NOVEMBER

• Needle-thinning: remove extra needles on black or red pines now through February
• Cutback and wiring: November though February is a great time for wiring and cutting back temperate bonsai
• Remove old leaves on deciduous species after most of the leaves turn brown

DECEMBER

• Repotting – December is a great time to get a jump start on repotting for all temperate species, especially bonsai that start growing in January such as umes, plums, and oaks
• Cutback and wiring
• Thin needles on pines
• Grafting: December through early February is the best time for side veneer grafts in the Bay Area

These are specific to the PacNW:

 

[BrianBay9]

Remember, the calendar lists are usually written for cool temperate climates. The time for work in Texas is not the same as Michigan. Make sure the author is talking about climates similar to yours, or that they provide cues that tell you the tree is ready for a particular kind of work.

 

[Deleted member 32750]

Remember, the calendar lists are usually written for cool temperate climates. The time for work in Texas is not the same as Michigan. Make sure the author is talking about climates similar to yours, or that they provide cues that tell you the tree is ready for a particular kind of work.

Good point. Although calendars are handy resources and decent starting points, seasonal cues are more accurate indicators of when to perform. It’s import to learn the cues for your trees in your climate and adjust you approach accordingly once more experienced.

the Bjorn video I linked above is good about teaching these seasonal cues

 

[Shibui]

Techniques and timing for bonsai is constantly evolving and changing. When I started no-one would ever consider repotting in late summer but now it appears to be readily accepted.
Calendars tailored to local conditions or consisting of seasonal cues as mentioned above are a good starting point but definitely look out for new and emerging options that may supersede older paradigms.

 

[TinyArt]

Look up the bonsai clubs in your area -- someone near you may have created just what you need!

And while it's true that most bonsai books have information for specific species, each author offers a selection -- for you in a metro area, it's well worth "previewing" books through the library, or seeing them in-hand at a bookstore, in my opinion.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

If you use a calendar created by an author more than 200 miles or 400 kilometers north or south of where you are growing your trees at, the calendar is GUARANTEED to be wrong for your local climate. You MUST learn to observe local season phenomena indicators to time different techniques. For example; decandling of Japanese black pine should happen roughly 100 days before your local average first frost date. This means the later your first frost the later you decandle your JBP.

Larches need repotting when buds begin expanding, before green shows between the bud scales. Here the calendar date is irrelevant, you repot before the larch is in active growth.

I bring most of my trees out of my below ground well house only after the landscape maples have leaves about 1/3to 1/2 unfurled from their buds. This is the sign that last hard freeze has past.

Learn local indicators of the season, and stages of growth. Then you can create a valid calendar for your home growing.

 

[ShadyStump]

Calendar

calendar, bonsai, care, maintenance, winter, summer, spring, fall, cold, warm, water, fertilize, fertilizing, pruning, watering

www.bonsaicarebasics.com

Found this link really quick.

There was a good one I had bookmarked on my old phone, but I haven't come across it again yet. When I do I'll try to remember to come back here with it.

I'll echo others in saying that these sorts of things should be looked at as a very rough guide; certainly not rules to live by. But sometimes it does give you some confidence having a sort of check list to measure your gut instinct against.

 

[Burt in SoCal]

https://www.ptbonsai.com/
Go to the menu click on monthly and choose the month. Keep in mind Peter is based in the San Francisco area

 

[Lutonian]

calendars even if they are for your location are only a rough guideline as seasons start and end at slightly different times each year and each year is different. Best way forwards is to learn what cues the tree will give you when work needs to be done. for example take repotting, calendars may say march but it best to look at the buds because they will tell you the right time each year and the calendar will only ever say March

 

[cishepard]

I like having the calendars to refer to - they are not hard to adapt to my seasons and climate where needed. I find it very confusing to remember which species gets what and when, so if I can look ahead on the calendars to see what may be coming up for the next month or so, I find I learn better what my trees are doing and what to look for, rather than from straight memorization.

 

[Lutonian]

I like having the calendars to refer to - they are not hard to adapt to my seasons and climate where needed. I find it very confusing to remember which species gets what and when, so if I can look ahead on the calendars to see what may be coming up for the next month or so, I find I learn better what my trees are doing and what to look for, rather than from straight memorization.

Using a calendar as a rough guide is fine but after a few years you will surpass the calendar as your experience grows you will know when things need to be done as it will be ingrained in you. When I first started I used calendars but I have now out grown them and I bet you will too.

 

[PA_Penjing]

There is a guy on here from Texas like you, his name is "markyscott" didn't want to link it and summon him. But he has started documenting his seasonal chores this spring so it could be helpful for you. I wanted this same calendar the first few seasons I grew trees but in the end the most important part is to know why you are doing it. My seasons are so unpredictable that evenm if I wrote up a calendar for my own backyard it could be off by three weeks each year, then start considering that different types of trees all follow different internal schedules

 

[Apex37]

Wow this got a lot more responses than I thought it would. Thank you all for your contribution and help! For me I'm a visual person, so sometimes seeing it all written out can help me plan ahead. I'm definitely aware of seasonal changes and how each year is different. 2nd week of February north Texas received crazy winter weather for us. A couple days reaching below 0 degrees and cold chill down in the negatives (which is crazy for Texas). All of this is more of a baseline to plan ahead for each tree since I'm newer and this my first official year.

 

[Apex37]

Bjorn broadleaf and deciduous seasonal timing video:

Love Bjorn videos, I need to watch this one. It was one of the last videos of his bonsai basics I hadn't watched yet.

 

[cindiesue]

We are in the desert of Tucson. We would love to have a seasonal calendar for dryer and warmer weather. How can I get a copy of the 3 page document above?