Lorax7 Shore Pine #1 progression

Lorax7

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After being burned out losing home and nursery 13 months ago they have had no nursery until they can rebuild/replant☹️.
Sorry to hear that. I’ve gotten a few trees from there and thought their prices were reasonable and they did a good job of packing and shipping them. In addition to the shore pine, I also have a coastal redwood and a giant sequoia from them that I’m developing as bonsai.
 

Brad in GR

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Any protection for Shore pine with our Michigan winters? Been curious about this species. Nice start.
 

Lorax7

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Any protection for Shore pine with our Michigan winters? Been curious about this species. Nice start.
I’m not doing anything special for it. Just put the pot on the ground and mulched it in. It’s on the north side of the garage along with my other temperate species. That said, this is my first winter with it, so whether or not this is adequate protection remains to be seen. I do the same for my JBP and that has been just fine for a few years now, so I’m thinking the shore pine should also be ok.
 

August44

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I’m not doing anything special for it. Just put the pot on the ground and mulched it in. It’s on the north side of the garage along with my other temperate species. That said, this is my first winter with it, so whether or not this is adequate protection remains to be seen. I do the same for my JBP and that has been just fine for a few years now, so I’m thinking the shore pine should also be ok.
How cold does it get up there most winters?
 

Lorax7

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How cold does it get up there most winters?
That’s a hard question to answer. Our climate has changed significantly and it’s not clear exactly what is typical anymore. Historically, we used to get several days of sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures, but we also used to get a ton of snow. In recent years, the temperatures have often been higher (but not always) and the amount of snow has often been much less (but not always).

My general approach for wintering bonsai has been to put them on the ground, mulch them in, and go out and shovel extra snow onto the trees whenever we get the first significant snowfall.
 

Lorax7

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It would not be a surprise if these and Coast Pine all succumb to brutal arctic🥶Winter your location.
The coastal redwood should be just fine. It’s indoors this year. Had it outside last year and it had a rough time but survived. Decided to bring it in this year.

Sequoia is still outside. It made it through last winter just fine.
 

Lorax7

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Actually, now that I think a little more about it. I guess I misspoke when I said this was my first winter with it. I bought it in the same order with the coastal redwood and the sequoia in 2019, so I guess I already overwintered it twice and had just forgotten all about it.
 
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August44

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Personally, I would not chance losing trees to your weather. Saying that they made it last year or the year before makes little to no difference if this year or next year is way colder. Living in Michigan, I would say you are running on the edge with what at least what the Shore Pines can handle. Why take chances? This is not a contest. I would protect.
 

Lorax7

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Personally, I would not chance losing trees to your weather. Saying that they made it last year or the year before makes little to no difference if this year or next year is way colder. Living in Michigan, I would say you are running on the edge with what at least what the Shore Pines can handle. Why take chances? This is not a contest. I would protect.
It gets some wind protection just from the way I arrange my trees. I have them all huddled together with the pots as close to one another as the branches above will allow. The reality is that this is the level of protection that I can give it. There’s no room for trees in the garage and there’s no room to put more trees indoors under lights without expanding my lighting setup (which isn’t feasible without calling in an electrician to add more outlets in the basement). It’s a young, inexpensive tree, so there’s plenty of time for me to find out if it can handle Michigan winters before it reaches a level of development where it would be a devastating loss if it didn’t make it.
 

Brad in GR

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I’m in 6a here in Michigan, and we do tend to get one or two nights per year below 0 degrees F.

Has certainly been more mild overall the last 2-3 years though.

Average low during January, our coldest month, is 19 degrees F.

FB90A1E6-83A5-49D3-85C4-294833B6EFFD.jpeg
 
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