Grey Owl (Juniperus virginiana) Wintering Zone 4b/4a

[Minnesota Madman]

Hello to the community. I've read a bunch, but this is my first post. Lurker alert!

I bought a Grey Owl juniper this spring at the MBS spring auction. The info card indicated this tree needs winter protection. On Monrovia's site, it is listed as zone 4-9, which sounds to me like it will survive frost, likely some freezing, maybe even some deep freeze conditions. That's when it's in the ground though. Anybody else out there in the zone 4 or colder have advice on wintering sorta-hardy trees in a bonsai pot? I have a couple unheated porches and a garage that can be fashioned into a storage unit, but I would like to get some input on the requirements for insulating, ventilation, sunlight and the like. I've seen some people talking about building an insulated storage closet in the corner of their garage, no light, limited air flow... Is a zone 4-9 gonna be okay with chilling in the unheated garage without any other protection?

Thanks up front for any advice. I will go back to listening.

DanO

 

[davetree]

I am in zone 4, in St Paul. If you have an unheated garage that you keep between 25-40 degrees you will be fine. You don’t need light at these temps.

 

[sparklemotion]

Hi Dan, welcome!

Are you in the Twin Cities? The best place to get your questions answered is at an MBS general meeting (1st Tuesday of the month), or a Bonsai Basics class (3rd Tuesday).

The Sept 17 Basics class is has cold frame designs on the agenda. There are also some good threads here. Example: Cold Frame in Northern MN.

A picture of the tree and the pot might help to give advice re:how much winter protection it needs. I would lean towards at least a pink foam insulated box, as opposed to just letting it hang out in the garage. I am also pro-lighting in the cold frame for evergreens (there's some controversy, but lights aren't that expensive). One good tip that I got from an MBS member is to set up the light on a timer so that it turns on overnight. The tree doesn't care that the rhythm is off, and the light acts as a heater to keep things a little warmer when the outside air is at the coldest.

Extra bonus: if you still have the card from the auction, if you get me the number from the top corner, I can tell you who sold it and you can ask them how they handled the winter.

Hope to see you next Tuesday. I'll be at the library table at Gloria Dei.

 

[Minnesota Madman]

Hi Dan, welcome!

Are you in the Twin Cities? The best place to get your questions answered is at an MBS general meeting (1st Tuesday of the month), or a Bonsai Basics class (3rd Tuesday).

The Sept 17 Basics class is has cold frame designs on the agenda. There are also some good threads here. Example: Cold Frame in Northern MN.

A picture of the tree and the pot might help to give advice re:how much winter protection it needs. I would lean towards at least a pink foam insulated box, as opposed to just letting it hang out in the garage. I am also pro-lighting in the cold frame for evergreens (there's some controversy, but lights aren't that expensive). One good tip that I got from an MBS member is to set up the light on a timer so that it turns on overnight. The tree doesn't care that the rhythm is off, and the light acts as a heater to keep things a little warmer when the outside air is at the coldest.

Extra bonus: if you still have the card from the auction, if you get me the number from the top corner, I can tell you who sold it and you can ask them how they handled the winter.

Hope to see you next Tuesday. I'll be at the library table at Gloria Dei.

Sue was trying to recruit me while I was at the auction, and it sounds great, but I'm too far from St Paul to attend meetings regularly. Joining and attending is surely on my mind, but I have kids and a full time 6am job and it's just too hard to get away and make the 1.5 hour drive on a Tuesday night. I might join just to attend the September 17th class though.

The # on the card is 87-5 and it actually states winter indoors, but I sort of dismissed that and assumed it just meant in a garage/winter protection - indoors doesn't make sense for a juniper. He had this tree for nearly a decade, so he did something right! The tree is pictured on my profile. I really appreciate anything you can come up with from 87-5.

I've been leaning toward dedicating a small corner of the garage to an insulated area with some airflow and at a minimum, exposure to daylight. I never thought about the light/heat thing. That's great advice! Winters can be bitter cold here and I always worry about the potted trees.

 

[Minnesota Madman]

Sue was trying to recruit me while I was at the auction, and it sounds great, but I'm too far from St Paul to attend meetings regularly. Joining and attending is surely on my mind, but I have kids and a full time 6am job and it's just too hard to get away and make the 1.5 hour drive on a Tuesday night. I might join just to attend the September 17th class though.

The # on the card is 87-5 and it actually states winter indoors, but I sort of dismissed that and assumed it just meant in a garage/winter protection - indoors doesn't make sense for a juniper. He had this tree for nearly a decade, so he did something right! The tree is pictured on my profile. I really appreciate anything you can come up with from 87-5.

I've been leaning toward dedicating a small corner of the garage to an insulated area with some airflow and at a minimum, exposure to daylight. I never thought about the light/heat thing. That's great advice! Winters can be bitter cold here and I always worry about the potted trees.

Also, online works so much better for me. I fall apart in face to face situations. I'm great at conversations, but I forget to get my questions answered in person. Here, I don't forget.

 

[sparklemotion]

Also, online works so much better for me. I fall apart in face to face situations. I'm great at conversations, but I forget to get my questions answered in person. Here, I don't forget.

Online can be good, but the nice thing about talking to people in person is the wealth of actual, local knowledge. But if you're 90 minutes away, weekday meetings won't really work out.

Take a look at Bonsai Concepts though -- it's taught by Sue and her husband Dale, and meets on Saturday afternoons every other month.

 

[Minnesota Madman]

Just a quick update: I've had 50% loss overwintering trees under the benches, or on the benches due to curious rabbits, intense sun reflecting off the nearby garage wall, winter winds, exceedingly cold temperatures et cetera. I've had much better success throwing the bench and trees in the garage over the winter. This year, I have settled on setting up small shelves or benches in my lightly insulated fishhouse. I really like the lights at night idea mentioned here, so I will get some more daylight spectrum lights on a timer and set it up in the fishhouse. Without building a shelter (which I can't afford), this is the very best I can give my trees this winter and I'm feeling pretty good about that!