What to do when spring comes.

[HAMMER-SCHLAGEN]

I wanted some advice on how to get things going in spring.

First of all, I have a yoshino cherry that is my only living tree. This will be its second winter in Minneapolis I lost all other trees to winter/frost neglect. I have the cherry in a protected area for the winter now covered in mulch and snow.

I received the cherry as a small sapling from an international bonsai order. It came in a black plastic nursery style pot about 1qt size. I have tried not to play with the tree a lot but I have had to repot 2 times when it blew over and broke its pot. I had it in a terra cotta pot about half gallon size and now it's in a coffe can for winter. The 2 repots were mainly slip potted to not disturb it too much.

A coffee can was just temporary obviously

I need to repot it now and I plan to do I think in spring from what I read and Wondering what kind of pot to use (some kind of bonsai pot or a gallon plastic container of some sort) should I clean out the roots and put it in new soil? I like the napa 8822 idea for every tree, simple and easy.

At the last "slip pot repair" I changed the planting angle some and wired a little. I guy wired the trunk a little and some smaller branches for control. It has a low branch on the trunk I guess you could call a "sacrificial" I have not cut it.

I have also gotten some seeds for starting (pic, mostly some cold hardy species for my area) and some chemicals to try. (White pine, she oak, crape myrtle, western hemlock). Any advice on how to start. I've read about stratification, do you use small cell starting trays?

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Your cherry should be repotted in spring, early spring. Right now it should be in cold storage, garage, shed or some place cooler than 40 F. Probably above 23 F since roots were disturbed recently.

On the cherry, if diameter of trunk is less than 1 or 2 inches, it is not ready for bonsai training, it needs to grow out. You might have to let it get as tall as 6 feet to get a trunk over an inch diameter at 4 inches above the roots. Even very small bonsai spend a few years at a large size in order to develop the trunk.

I would repot the cherry to a larger nursery pot, or a tray, like an Anderson flat, a 15 x 15 x 5 inch tray with a mesh bottom for drainage. Wire shape, or curves into the lowest few inches of your trunk, then let it grow for a number of years. Don't worry about branches, none you have now will be part of the finished tree. You have time to read up.

Seeds - the hardies I would plant in flats or cell trays or whatever. Soak seed 24 hours before planting. Then immediately put the trays outside, so they can stratify naturally. They will sprout at the right time for Minnesota in spring. The sub tropicals, like crepe myrtle, can be stratified in the refrigerator, if they need it.

Understand that from seed to first bonsai styling may be 5 to 25 years from now, spruce & pines being the slowest.

That said I start some seed every year. I enjoy the process.