winter is here

[Matthew]

Hey guys just a quick thread on my first winter in NE victoria. This is the heavist frost so far but plenty more to come. Apperantly -4 this monday night with severe frost in my area hope all my bonsai and my garden ive spent 3 months getting into shape cope. On the upside i have about 500 daffodils, irises, and various other bulbs up

frost 5 june.JPG

frost 5 june second pic.JPG

my poor grass.JPG

[alpineart]

Hey guys just a quick thread on my first winter in NE victoria. This is the heavist frost so far but plenty more to come. Apperantly -4 this monday night with severe frost in my area hope all my bonsai and my garden ive spent 3 months getting into shape cope. On the upside i have about 500 daffodils, irises, and various other bulbs up

frost 5 june.JPG

frost 5 june second pic.JPG

my poor grass.JPG

Hi Noah , thats a wee frost , wait til you get ice an inch thick and your Bonsai soil is frozen solid , then you have a real frost . My first winter up here in a southerly position was down to -5 on a regular basis so i moved across to the other side of town ,now with a northerly aspect the fog prevents the extreme frost however i have had ice 20mm thick on a fish pond .Good luck in the Winter.Cheers Alpine

[Matthew]

Hey guys just a quick thread on my first winter in NE victoria. This is the heavist frost so far but plenty more to come. Apperantly -4 this monday night with severe frost in my area hope all my bonsai and my garden ive spent 3 months getting into shape cope. On the upside i have about 500 daffodils, irises, and various other bulbs up

frost 5 june.JPG

frost 5 june second pic.JPG

my poor grass.JPG

Hi Noah , thats a wee frost , wait til you get ice an inch thick and your Bonsai soil is frozen solid , then you have a real frost . My first winter up here in a southerly position was down to -5 on a regular basis so i moved across to the other side of town ,now with a northerly aspect the fog prevents the extreme frost however i have had ice 20mm thick on a fish pond .Good luck in the Winter.Cheers Alpine

How did the bonsai cope with frozen soil? my understanding was if the soil froze ie roots than the tree was pretty much a gonna maybe i missed something........ you might clear it up for me and yes my neighbour said it hasent gotten heavy at all yet

[Glenda]

guys just a quick thread on my first winter in NE victoria. This is the heavist frost so far but plenty more to come. Apperantly -4 this monday night with severe frost in my area hope all my bonsai and my garden ive spent 3 months getting into shape cope. On the upside i have about 500 daffodils, irises, and various other bulbs up .....

Bit of a change from Rockhampton, Noah. How are you and Mrs Noah coping with the cold?

Glenda

[Greth]

Must be a shock to the system after moving from Queensland! The bulbs will really be a cheery godsend when the constant grey days settle in. Mine are up now, but a little later than usual. I usually have flowers by about the 2nd-3rd week of June. I note the date each year. In my old garden they started in late May, this one is quite a bit later. First roses have started this week.

[alpineart]

Hi Noah yes pretty much cactus not bonsai after an extreme frost .I used to cover the pots with mulch however the curl grubs got in and done as much damage as the frost . Now i try to keep the soil on the dry side so it wont freeze .

Currently setting up 30% shade cloth covers over the area's that cop the frost ..My pergola is my winter warm spot for the figs and other fragile trees .Clean straw over the pots and a shade cloth mat to keep the birds away will help .No doubt i will lose a few .Cheers Alpine

[Amanda]

Frost must be a bit of a challenge, from one extreme to another. Hope everything acclimatises OK.

[Matthew]

I have most the bonsai pretty much covered over im my display area but not fully sealed so a heavy frost would get in. Ill just make sure i keep the soil dry on expected nights. Yes the GF is not liking it at all. Never seen someone able to put so many clothes on and still move around ok i was pretty cold this morning at 7 am un covering bonsai at 1 degree . like the trees i will acclimatise i guess in time. The figs and boug are no worries the hothouse is kept at a steady 9 degrees at night. Lucky trees they are

[kcpoole]

Going by what they say on the US and europena forums, the freezing is not the problem so long as they freeze and then stay that way, The damage is done when it thaws and refreezes again repeatedly
They aslo mulch, but use Snow for it instead

Keeps the soil on the dry side and mulch if you can. They put the pots on the ground so that they get the warmth from the surrounding soil.

Ken

[Leigh Taafe]

Hi Noah,

Remember when I had the nursery at Pialligo? Near the airport? We would often get frozen soil out there during winter. Never lost a tree as a result of it. There was the occasional day when it would not thaw either.

[Matthew]

Leigh i do remember. I didnt think you could protect such a large area of trees and it was quite flat and exposed at the nursery. Seems that some people have loset trees with cold temps and others havent had a issue . Ill just keep my fingers crossed and go from there . Thanks to all those who commented

[Mojo Moyogi]

Bonsai are ok if soil is frozen solid, but you must protect frozen trees from the wind. If you keep your trees just damp, with overhead shadecloth and mesh benches, your trees will be pretty safe through the winter. You will aclimatise and learn to appreciate the beauty of winter. It helps if you hold your breath when you go outside

Cheers,
Mojo

[craigw60]

Hi Noah, winter is here at last, I love it my favorite season. My garden has been thickly mulched with leaves, the leaf drop was phenomenal this year due I suspect to the cool wet summer we had. The deciduous bonsai have mostly dropped and I can see the results of all my hard work over summer. Soon I will be able to dig my field grown trees and see how their nebari is developing. The bulbs in the garden are barely surfacing but cyclamen coum has started flowering. We get almost no frost here as we live right on the ridge and it tends to settle in more low lying areas.
Craig

[Matthew]

Ok im calling it offical winter is here -4.1 at my house last night and 6.5 ALL day im freezing and need to toughen up i think , my hands were cold trying to wire some bonsai and gloves just dont work with bonsai trees. I might be freezing but my highland cattle seem to not mind at all . I need there coat

a frosty morning.JPG

[craigw60]

Hi Noah I was out at 7.30 this morning pruning espalier apples for a client took a while for my fingers to start working. I don't know what the mercury reached here but it was a two sweater day for sure.
Craig