Hello from New England!

[hampton]

I'm both new here and new to growing things in general. In the short amount of time I've been attempting to keep trees I've found it to be very therapeutic. As one might expect from that statement I've certainly been messing around too much and made a few grave errors right out of the gate.

My first tree is the pictured Chinese Elm. I repotted this right after purchase, from New England Bonsai Nursery in late July, not being aware that repotting mid-summer is exactly the wrong time to do so. That said I've seen some new growth so I'm hopeful I don't have any issues. I don't plan on doing too much to this, letting it grow out in the spring and taking it from there.

My next move was to purchase two nursery plants, the Juniper and Alberta Spruce. Again lacking in education I immediately repotted these, this time using soil from their original pots. In another bold move of ignorance I also pruned both plants fairly heavily. The juniper has seen some new growth since the incident and the spruce still has a green cambium layer on both trunks and branches. Hopefully they'll both survive, I'm particularly partial to the spruce.

It's just after this point I started to educate myself through what I imagine are some of the usual resources - this forum, Peter Chan, Bjorn, and various books. That's when I realized some of the grave mistakes and started to worry about my projects.

I do have a few questions if anyone has the inclination - I have three seedlings, a Coast Redwood, Cork Oak, and Japanese Maple. They have all taken and experienced significant amounts of new growth. Understanding they should be protected during the winter what is the best next step? Should I let them continue to grow for a few years as is or would light pruning promote more growth? Would they benefit more from being transplanted into the ground?

In any case I wanted to introduce myself and congratulate all of you on this wonderful community and the beautiful pieces of living artwork you create and maintain.

 

[leatherback]

Hi, welcome to the nuthouse!

If you edit your profile to add your location & US Climate zone, you will get more targeted answers.

I would say your redwood and maple should be fine in winer. Cork Oak is slightly frost resistant, but not much.
I would let them grow more. In ground speeds thickerning up, but with a downside that te tree will for a very long time look like something that was grown quickly.

 

[Dav4]

Assuming you live in MA, your maple and juniper would be fine for ground growing if desired, but the coast redwood is marginal in the ground there and the cork oak is an absolute no go anywhere outside through a typical zone 6-7 winter. Personally, I’d be focusing on what needs to be done to overwinter the oak and redwood this coming winter.

 

[Divide_by_zero]

Could you please update your profile with your location and zone information? It would help us in providing advice on issues such as winter protection, appropriate timing for styling, root pruning, etc.

Some general points in answer to your questions so far;

1. Understanding they should be protected during the winter what is the best next step?

Most trees, in my experience, benefit from some level of extended dormancy. That said, the trees you mentioned would all require shelter in a heated green house at a minimum or would be considered unintentional annuals where I live. If you are in a tropical location, on the other hand, you would need to provide cold storage to get them to slow down and reach proper dormancy.

2.Should I let them continue to grow for a few years as is or would light pruning promote more growth?

The answer to this is really based on the health of each tree, your design goals, desired size and many other factors. In general I limit hard pruning to the early spring to set direction for growth, shape and development for the growing season. I will also do some lighter pruning or pinching later in the season on select trees to maintain balance in vigor, promote back budding, increase ramification, address accidental damage, etc. Sometimes, i will also have to do some additional pruning in combination with other methods to remove diseased material before it can spread and kill the entire tree or spread to others nearby.

3.Would they benefit more from being transplanted into the ground?

If the tree is locally hardy and you wish to grow it on to increase vigor, size, trunk width or other aspects then by all means transplant it into a spot with appropriate conditions and let it go wild, or continue with judicious pruning as you see fit.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Welcome aboard! I can see you’ve a plethora of advice already, so I don’t want to muddle in the middle of this!

I’ll just add my welcome to you for now!

cheers
DSD sends

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[zanduh]

Welcome fellow New Englander!

 

[hampton]

Thank you for the warm welcome! I've updated my account with location information, I appreciate everyone who mentioned that.

And thank you for the responses. Understood about the over wintering, I'll start making preparations for sheltering the plants during that period.

 

[hinmo24t]

welcome to the forum
From north dartmouth here

 

[hampton]

Thank you! I'm located in Newton. Since you're from the general area, do you know of any groups or clubs in Eastern MA?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Welcome to the site! My son lives in Boston, so we are up in your neck of the woods rather frequently!

You asked specifically about your seedlings. Your Japanese maple should be hardy enough to sit outside all winter as long as you protect the roots/container from a hard freeze. The coast redwood and cork oak will want to go dormant and need some cold - but they will not do well left unprotected outside unless you have a mild winter. That doesn't mean bring them inside into a heated room, but rather consider an unheated garage, cold frame, etc, to give them a little protection while still giving them a winter dormancy.

When developing bonsai from small seedlings, your challenge will always be trying to get them to grow ASAP while keeping the characteristics that will make them great bonsai down the road. To grow them fastest, yes they would benefit from being planted in the ground and letting the roots run. However you can't let them grow too far/too fast, or the roots become unmanageable and the growth becomes coarse and hard to work with. Think of a flowing bonsai tree with nice trunk flare and taper versus your average landscape tree with a stovepipe straight trunk and you get my drift. So it is usually a sequence of "plant in ground" for a year or two and then "lift and prune". Repeat as necessary until you achieve your growth objectives.

 

[hampton]

Welcome to the site! My son lives in Boston, so we are up in your neck of the woods rather frequently!

You asked specifically about your seedlings. Your Japanese maple should be hardy enough to sit outside all winter as long as you protect the roots/container from a hard freeze. The coast redwood and cork oak will want to go dormant and need some cold - but they will not do well left unprotected outside unless you have a mild winter. That doesn't mean bring them inside into a heated room, but rather consider an unheated garage, cold frame, etc, to give them a little protection while still giving them a winter dormancy.

When developing bonsai from small seedlings, your challenge will always be trying to get them to grow ASAP while keeping the characteristics that will make them great bonsai down the road. To grow them fastest, yes they would benefit from being planted in the ground and letting the roots run. However you can't let them grow too far/too fast, or the roots become unmanageable and the growth becomes coarse and hard to work with. Think of a flowing bonsai tree with nice trunk flare and taper versus your average landscape tree with a stovepipe straight trunk and you get my drift. So it is usually a sequence of "plant in ground" for a year or two and then "lift and prune". Repeat as necessary until you achieve your growth objectives.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, it's really appreciated. I see from your location you're in the Charlotte area. That warms my heart, I grew up in Belmont/Gastonia and my folks still live there.

I'm working on construction plans new shed with a small greenhouse space that will hopefully work for overwintering. Maybe I'll post those plans to the off topic forum and see if anyone has any tips for greenhouse spaces.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, it's really appreciated. I see from your location you're in the Charlotte area. That warms my heart, I grew up in Belmont/Gastonia and my folks still live there.

I'm working on construction plans new shed with a small greenhouse space that will hopefully work for overwintering. Maybe I'll post those plans to the off topic forum and see if anyone has any tips for greenhouse spaces.

I have bounced around a lot, so I have a feel for different climates - from Chicago to LA to Charlotte. People are always looking for greenhouse suggestions, so start a new thread to discuss your ideas/thoughts/plans!