Can anything be worked this time of year?

GailC

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Kind of a odd question but are there any species that can be worked this time of year in a cold climate? I've been having tree tending urges really bad the last couple weeks and would love to be able to do something before the snow comes.

Normally I would have tended trees all spring/summer but I had some health issues this year (nothing life threatening) and between being sick and recovering from two surgeries, I did barely anything to my trees. I managed some repotting and minor trimming early spring then things went to hell in a handbasket.

Poor trees got just enough water to survive and fertilizer a couple times. Surprisingly, everything did well except a maple I root trimmed too much.

What I'd really like to do is deal with the blue spruce I pulled (yes, pulled) this spring. Its very, very thick and has a ton of teeny tiny branches that need snipped off. I suppose the trunk and some of the bigger main branches could do with some needles removed.
Do you think this would hurt the tree? The branches I want to remove are smaller than a pencil lead, just wispy little twigs.
 

f1pt4

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Kind of a odd question but are there any species that can be worked this time of year in a cold climate? I've been having tree tending urges really bad the last couple weeks and would love to be able to do something before the snow comes.

Normally I would have tended trees all spring/summer but I had some health issues this year (nothing life threatening) and between being sick and recovering from two surgeries, I did barely anything to my trees. I managed some repotting and minor trimming early spring then things went to hell in a handbasket.

Poor trees got just enough water to survive and fertilizer a couple times. Surprisingly, everything did well except a maple I root trimmed too much.

What I'd really like to do is deal with the blue spruce I pulled (yes, pulled) this spring. Its very, very thick and has a ton of teeny tiny branches that need snipped off. I suppose the trunk and some of the bigger main branches could do with some needles removed.
Do you think this would hurt the tree? The branches I want to remove are smaller than a pencil lead, just wispy little twigs.

Our club just had a juniper workshop yesterday. So I guess junipers can be worked!

Last year about this same time we had a shimpaku juniper workshop. I participated.

My shimpaku grew very vigorously this year.

So I'm thinking... junipers.
 

Paradox

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Yes junipers can be worked but you want to be careful how much foliage you remove because they rely on their foliage to survive the winter. I would say you dont want to remove more than 15-20% of the foliage this time of year. That might be conservative but thats how I usually do things. Major pruning for them is done in the spring when they are growing vigorously.
Junipers can also be wired now.

Pines can be needle plucked and wired in the fall. You can select which buds will grow for next year if there are multiples on the terminals
 

GailC

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Hmm, I do have a juniper I repotted early spring. Its really grown well and could do with some wire and a little trim. I'll take a look at my mugo, see if it needs any tending but I'm afraid I might have did it wrong a couple months ago. Painkillers and bonsai do not mix, I completely bare rooted it and cut off all the new growth because it was looking leggy. Seemed like a good idea at the time:( luckily it survived my love lol.

Any opinion on the spruce? I didn't thin the new growth at all, there is a lot that needs trimmed, its a bit of a mess.
 

Paradox

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If you did extensive work on the mugo, which it sounds like you did, I would not do anything else to it this year. It needs to recover.

Not sure on spruce. You can do some things but I dont have a good handle on them yet. Ive only recently got one and I am still learning about them.
 

GailC

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Yeah, I abused the mugo just a tad. I didn't have to remove many roots though, just got it out of the nursery dirt and into a proper bonsai pot. Not sure what I was thinking when I cut the tips off.

I'll thin the spruce out a bit and see how it handles it.
 

Stan Kengai

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. . . Poor trees got just enough water to survive and fertilizer a couple times. Surprisingly, everything did well except a maple I root trimmed too much.

My climate differs too much for me to give advice on what you can get away with this time of year.

However, it seems like you've learned a valuable lesson this year. Most people new to the hobby provide too much "care" for their plants. I did for probably my first 5 years in. But you have seen how little care it takes for plants to thrive.
 

Velodog2

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I do most styling work on conifers this time of year. Even removing foliage within reason is not much cause for worry. I sometimes repot also but not often as I prefer spring, and never if other work has been done also.

The primary driver for styling now is the belief that the cambium is more tightly bound to the under layers than in spring, and therefore less likely to separate.

Several years ago I did complete primary styling on five total shrubs of foemina junipers removing over fifty percent of foliage and many branches, plus complete wiring, and they all sailed through winter as on a luxury yacht ... spruce, pines, etc are also all welcome on board.
 

Anthony

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When the trees sleep ------------------ go and study design
Use the dormant months for education
Snake Plesskin
 

just.wing.it

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When the trees sleep ------------------ go and study design
Use the dormant months for education
Snake Plesskin
Yeah. I plan to re read a few of my bonsai books this winter...

But I also plan to do wiring and minor deadwood work on several conifers; taxus and juniper.
 

Anthony

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@just.wing.it ,

a UK biology book for 15 to 16 year olds says ------------ Bonsai , where the
tree is tortured and underfed.

Want to see in 100 years our sensitivities are ---------- no cutting of trees.
Save the Whales er I mean the trees.

I plan to water/weed and enjoy Christmas, we transplant from Jan.2nd.
until around mid February and then again in April/May.
So the weekends are booked.

Will be teaching the new club members that October until January is for
education, blackboard stuff.
No repotting or excessive pruning.
Good Day
Anthony
 
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