Winterizing??

[GGB]

Nigel saunders is the man, I love his youtube channel. I just set my trees on the ground by a fence and they do great. Doesn't get as cold here though. use native trees it'll help too, they're obviously doing okay in that crazy climate.
I'm not speaking out of experience here but I'd imagine letting a tree get used to in indoor climate then throwing it outside would be way more harsh than "sink or swim" method of just seeing how it did outdoors to begin with

Edit - some folks have trouble with mice when they place their trees on the ground, I guess they eat bark. I live in the city so we have rats, I think they just eat french fries and pizza

 

[miker]

About 3 years ago when I started bonsai it was in early spring. Got 1 tree, then 2, and then by August I had a good 12 trees. Super excited about the hobby I didn't think about winter. I live in South New Jersey. Growing season is about from early April to September. So when August hit I did a lot of searching the web for "how to" for overwintering Bonsai. Came across all types of things, but what I finally settled on doing what I learned from a local bonsai guy who owns a nursery around my area is the "tote and mulch method...

What you do is buy a big plastic storage tote from a local department store near you. Make sure is big enough obviously for you tree or trees to fit into. So what I did was buy the tote darker color the better, drill or poke some small holes at the bottom for drainage for the very few waterings you do, place a thick layer of mulch down(regular garden mulch will do) place potted bonsai on top of the mulch, then place the remaining mulch in to the tote covering the pot, I make sure to cover the pot and at lease 2-3inches of mulch above the bonsai soil. He idea is to protect the roots from freezing. So when all finished you only see the bonsai tree sticking up out of the mulch. The pot and roots are under the mulch. Looks like the bonsai is planted in the mulch. The mulch works as insulation. Just place the tote somewheres that protected from strong winds. If a bad snow storm come you can just place the lid of the tote on top to cover it from the elements. On really cold nights I would put the lid on and grab a big old blanket I have and cover it like. Some say Bonsai's don't need like when dormant. But I still like to give them some sun and the fresh air. Been doing this for 3 winters now and I haven't loss 1 bonsai yet.

The above is exactly what I do, though I use wooden crates, and I will probably have to make sure I have 10 of the crates for the upcoming winter. Any snow that falls actually insulates the trees really well from extremely cold temperatures so I not only don't cover my cold frame boxes, but I carefully mound fluffy snow on top to add a few days of insulation. This worked really well last winter, even on stuff from warm temperate/subtropical climates, like Pinus clausa, Torreya taxifolia and Acer buergerianum formosanum.

 

[M. Frary]

- some folks have trouble with mice when they place their trees on the ground, I guess they eat bark

I've seen the ravages first hand.
They were voles and it wasn't pretty.
Damned V.C.!

 

[Mimstrel]

I'm most worried about local critters eating my plants. Last night I went out to water my (non-bonsai) mini roses and found that somebunny had eaten one of them and left only one twig with a couple of leaves. The squirrels used to get my strawberries, the groundhogs eat my asiatic lillies, and the deer are the reason I have to pay for fresh tomatoes.

I learned a slightly different mulching method from my dad, basically instead of paying for mulch, he wraps his outdoor pots in dried leaves that he rakes up in the fall. We don't quite hit Alberta temps, but I've seen -40F windchill every couple of years. Dad's plants always seem to survive just fine