Has spring started already?

[paul smedley]

Hello out there.

I am in a bit of a conundrum. In many places there are those that say to stick rigidly to the seasons and not maintain out of those seasons. There are also some that say “listen to your tree”.
It seems that as there has not been a real winter a large amount of my trees think spring has come on and there in lies the issue.
Do I not touch anything yet or listen and start working? I do not have bonsai but small trees wanting to become bonsai starters. Elms, maples, figs are all starting to throw out an extraordinary amount of leaf so so I just start work or leave them a while longer? Many have already started to work on bonsai by the looks of it as they are sturdy and awesome looking but I only have wee ones.
Thanks in advance for your great knowledge.
Oh, and I am in Melbourne.

[TimS]

Im in Melbourne too, firmly subscribe to the listen to your trees side.

Already done virtually all my repotting as I've seen buds on all maples swelling, a few plums are already in leaf now so I did them 2 weeks ago,

One garden tree Ume didn't go dormant so I defoliated the tree to enjoy the flowers, another garden tree Ume is only now starting to flower having been bare for months. Just been an unusually warm winter and some trees are reacting to it earlier than others

[melbrackstone]

It's 30° here in Brisbane at 2:00pm. Yeah, no wonder the trees are confuzzled!

My Celtis leafed out two weeks ago, the Japanese apricot never lost any leaves, and the peach and apple have been flowering for a couple of weeks.

[Trimmy]

Yesterday felt very spring-like in Melbourne. Today feels like winter again. I hope we have a proper spring this year. Last year was just a continuation of winter.

I'm a newbie but I like the idea of listening to your trees. If they're growing, they can recover from work surely. The ones that are sleeping in will be left alone by me.

[KIRKY]

In answer to your question start repotting now. Once the buds start to thicken or shows a hint of green on deciduous trees they are ready to repot. If leaf has already burst out do them first. Seasons are just days on a calendar. Watch your trees and go from there.
Fyi people with a lot of trees tend to start earlier for two reasons most have more experience than newbies and know what to look for. The second reason with a lot of trees you have very little time to get them done.
I’m in Melbourne too
Cheers
Kirky

[shibui]

Definitely look at the trees and not your calendar. Calendar is a human construct and none of my trees can read or knows the date. Trees respond to the season as it occurs so work with them.
I start repotting hardy species like maples from mid winter. They do not care about bud swell so repotting any time from leaf drop through to leaves open is OK.
Some growers repot conifers first, in late winter but I find it more convenient to do them after I finish the deciduous and it is mid spring by then when maple leaves are open. The trees seem to survive in both cases which leads me to believe that the conifer repot window is much wider than previously believed.
Natives and tropicals seem to recover much better when repotted in warmer weather so I leave those until late spring and on into summer.

There is also an increasing number of experienced growers successfully repotting late summer now so that opens another window of opportunity for those keep to work outside accepted conventions.

[Daluke]

If you ask a tree what the season is it won’t answer.

There’s also climatic differences given geographical distances. Someone in high altitude place may be cooler than elsewhere.

Look for repotting signs in your tree like bud swelling, elongating candles, fresh roots, changes in bark colour to say that things are happening and it’s time to start repotting.

We also tend to repot too frequently so if you miss the window and you have a good watering and feeding regime not doing so can be used as a way to limit growth.

[paul smedley]

Thanks to everyone that has made a reply.

It is the kind of knowledge that you give that is missed from a lot of books etc. The value of “lived experience” cannot be overstated and getting it imparted is special so thanks again.
Work will commence immediately, or a bit later for natives!
You are all awesome and hi to the Melbournites.

Cheers

[Daluke]

Be careful of frosty nights. Warmer days are here but I start work early and do nightshift and it’s freezing (figuratively).

[KIRKY]

Daluke, frost won’t make any difference to the trees if they’re repotted or not. If leaf is already out it may get frost burn whether it is repotted or not.
Cheers
Kirky

[shibui]

Daluke, frost won’t make any difference to the trees if they’re repotted or not. If leaf is already out it may get frost burn whether it is repotted or not. Cheers

Absolutely agree with this. Most of our fear of frost comes from Northern hemisphere experience where temps get down to -30C. Only tropicals are going to be worried by temps close to freezing. I root prune hundreds of trees every winter, starting from June. It gets a good deal cooler up here than anywhere around Melbourne and I have never seen any problem associated with frost and repotted trees. Only saw frost burnt leaves once when we had a late frost down to -5 after the maple leaves had opened but they all sprouted again a few weeks later.
Worry more about winter wet in Australia than winter cold.

[Daluke]

For the sake of moving a few repotted trees under a larger one for a couple of days it’s a phobia I’m happy to live with.

[treeman]

Daluke, frost won’t make any difference to the trees if they’re repotted or not.
Cheers
Kirky

Repotted trees are more vulnerable than established ones. If a frost damages a recently root pruned tree it will more difficult for it to repair/regrow. Repotted trees should be protected from extremes for a month. Luckily, extremes are very rare in Melbourne so it is unlikely you need to do anything.
Especially this year.

[Akhi]

“ extremes are very rare in Melbourne”
Made my day that phrase, but in all seriousness, I would suggest you take extra bit of precaution and give it just that little bit of cover if you do repot now.

[dansai]

It is also worth noting that a lot of these guidelines were developed in places that get much colder and longer winters than any where in Australia other than the High alpine areas. We have a much longer growing season and milder winters generally and so the things that can set trees back don't seem to occur here to the same extent. Ands as has been mentioned, many trees have a much wider window to work on them than generally assumed.

A few things to be aware of that seem to hold up to "accepted wisdom";

- deciduous that have just fully leafed out may suffer if they get repotted as they have used stored energy to produce the leaves and a repot on top of that is a big shock
- Junipers shouldn't be wired and bent heavily in spring as the cambium can split from the sapwood very easily
- don't do major restyling and repotting in one go - some trees can handle it at some times of the year but as a newbie just avoid doing it

I like shibui tend to repot my Natives from mid spring through early summer, or autumn. It doesn't seem to matter if they are pushing growth or not, but I wouldn't do them if there is a lot of new soft growth