ground growing

[MrMiagtree]

Jade can be repotted any time if it is kept warm after. Repotting with minimal root reduction can be done almost any time.
Junipers are much slower to grow and develop. Looks like that one is no problem until Spring.

Agree that the pine has outgrown it's current pot. Even if it is not actually pot bound it will grow better with a larger pot. There's a couple of options I can suggest for the pine:

• Sit the current pot inside a larger pot and fill around with fresh potting soil. That should make it stable until Spring when you can repot properly.
• Do a full repot now and hope it's early enough for the new roots to get going before dormancy in your area.
• Do a light repot now, into a more stable pot then follow up with a proper repot this Spring or the one after.
• Cut the trunk now to reduce instability and to push some back buds down low, then repot in Spring or the following Spring. Pruning may slow trunk thickening but no low branches will make it extremely difficult to design a tree. In a couple of years your pine trunk will be long and bare unless you can get some low branches going soon. Much better to end up with a trunk that has options and potential, even if it takes a year or 2 longer.

Just be aware that the longer you wait to do a proper repot, the thicker and more tangled the roots will be. Early intervention makes it easier to rearrange any roots that need moving and trees seem to recover from radical root reduction much better when they are younger.

I was wondering about cutting it down a fair bit, but I'm concerned it may not backbid if I do it now. What would you think of a repot now, then cutting it back next year, around May or June?

 

[Shibui]

Pines will always bud from healthy needles - unless you really do something bad to them before or after pruning.
Time of year does not really matter, in as far as the tree actually producing new buds. Pruning late may mean you won't see buds until the following Spring but they will bud no matter when you prune.
Spring buds tend to be long and strong - great to put on growth but not always great for bonsai structure.
Summer buds are much shorter, usually with short needles - not so good to add bulk to your tree but great to add ramification to an advanced bonsai.

Time of year can influence the type of growth you'll get but won't affect whether it will bud or not.

 

[MrMiagtree]

Pines will always bud from healthy needles - unless you really do something bad to them before or after pruning.
Time of year does not really matter, in as far as the tree actually producing new buds. Pruning late may mean you won't see buds until the following Spring but they will bud no matter when you prune.
Spring buds tend to be long and strong - great to put on growth but not always great for bonsai structure.
Summer buds are much shorter, usually with short needles - not so good to add bulk to your tree but great to add ramification to an advanced bonsai.

Time of year can influence the type of growth you'll get but won't affect whether it will bud or not.

So now may be the better time to trim it down. I could get some good back budding with more vigor, whereas summer buds would be more desirable when the tree has the growth I want and I'm looking to shape it.