Lars Grimm
Chumono
Hi All,
It's fair to say that this year has been rough on my bonsai journey. Like many of you, I struggle to come up with a winter setup. In North Carolina we don't get consistently cold weather but we do get swings in the low teens followed by relatively warm weather. It's not uncommon to have trees leaf out only to have hard freezes. This results in either the bonsai shuffle in and out of shed or some type of modifiable setup. In years past, I would put my trees on the ground and mulch around them. This worked well but I would have terrible fungal problems because of all the moisture. Plus, I would have to put all my shohin in the shed which filled up a lot of space. Last year, I built a small pvc framed greenhouse for my bonsai. I thought it was a great setup, but I lost three trees for the first time ever. My mistake was that it was too hard to access and thus I couldn't adequately check for water. I think some of my trees dried out and just never leafed out this Spring.
This year, I committed to a much better setup. I wanted an arrangement that would allow adequate protection, did not rely on the bonsai shuffle to the shed, and would let me inspect my trees easily throughout the winter. I have a pergola that covers half my trees that I built and have modified several years ago. You can see the progression here. It's really nice and provides a great space to view and work on my trees.
I decided to adapt the pergola to create a popup greenhouse. I added some simple 2x4s to provide support and a clean lip to the pergola edges. Then, I used 3 mil plastic sheeting typically used for painting from Home Depot. A 10 x 100 ft box cost me about $60. I laid the sheeting over the pergola and then attached it to the frame with screws and washers over some duct tape for reinforcement. I then installed simple zippers to the front and back. This allows me to leave the sides open when it is warm, provides easy access to the space, but it can be closed to seal it in. The zippers are 7 feet long, but I wish they were a couple feet higher. There is adequate space to put all of my trees. I also put some left over pink insulation boards and some simple 1x2s crosswise along the top to provide support. This also gives a slight slope to the roof to prevent rain/snow build up. If it gets really cold, I can always leave a small space heater in there to provide a little extra warmth. Right now I just loop the 'doors' over the pergola braces, but I'll probably come up with something a little easier. All told, I spent about $100 in materials and about 5-6 hours of labor.
I hope this works better and can provide others with some inspiration.
Lars
It's fair to say that this year has been rough on my bonsai journey. Like many of you, I struggle to come up with a winter setup. In North Carolina we don't get consistently cold weather but we do get swings in the low teens followed by relatively warm weather. It's not uncommon to have trees leaf out only to have hard freezes. This results in either the bonsai shuffle in and out of shed or some type of modifiable setup. In years past, I would put my trees on the ground and mulch around them. This worked well but I would have terrible fungal problems because of all the moisture. Plus, I would have to put all my shohin in the shed which filled up a lot of space. Last year, I built a small pvc framed greenhouse for my bonsai. I thought it was a great setup, but I lost three trees for the first time ever. My mistake was that it was too hard to access and thus I couldn't adequately check for water. I think some of my trees dried out and just never leafed out this Spring.
This year, I committed to a much better setup. I wanted an arrangement that would allow adequate protection, did not rely on the bonsai shuffle to the shed, and would let me inspect my trees easily throughout the winter. I have a pergola that covers half my trees that I built and have modified several years ago. You can see the progression here. It's really nice and provides a great space to view and work on my trees.
I decided to adapt the pergola to create a popup greenhouse. I added some simple 2x4s to provide support and a clean lip to the pergola edges. Then, I used 3 mil plastic sheeting typically used for painting from Home Depot. A 10 x 100 ft box cost me about $60. I laid the sheeting over the pergola and then attached it to the frame with screws and washers over some duct tape for reinforcement. I then installed simple zippers to the front and back. This allows me to leave the sides open when it is warm, provides easy access to the space, but it can be closed to seal it in. The zippers are 7 feet long, but I wish they were a couple feet higher. There is adequate space to put all of my trees. I also put some left over pink insulation boards and some simple 1x2s crosswise along the top to provide support. This also gives a slight slope to the roof to prevent rain/snow build up. If it gets really cold, I can always leave a small space heater in there to provide a little extra warmth. Right now I just loop the 'doors' over the pergola braces, but I'll probably come up with something a little easier. All told, I spent about $100 in materials and about 5-6 hours of labor.
I hope this works better and can provide others with some inspiration.
Lars
