What, when where???
Posted: October 28th, 2012, 9:46 pm
Hi All, Not sure I really want to put my hand up for this but here goes. Looking at my trees the last couple of days I was thinking about what needs to be done and when? You know kind of getting a plan together to keep on top of things. I have some trees that I want to start reducing the root ball on, some are growing the branches out while others I want to airlayer off or graft branches/roots on to.
Been looking through books and on the net and there is so much info. But hard to sort out what applies to us here in vic. ie. what time of year do I root prune my Juni's, pines, lepto ect.. When is it best to trunk chop.
I know there is heaps (endless) of info out there
about this but it gets confusing 
reading so much from all over the country/world. I was reading a book the other night and it went through the process of putting a tree into a bonsai put. It basically said "take your tree and cut the roots back so it fits into the bonsai pot". That's ok if it's the right time of year and not to many are cut off but it never mentioned this. So for the beginner it gets confussing . I know the old timers (in bonsai age not real age) get sick of repeating themselves over and over 
.
So here's my idea. Using the wealth of knowledge on here putting together a calender of what when and a litlle bit of how. This would be a big long term project. I would do it for each tree we grow (grouping obvious trees).
Something like this.
Junipers
January
Explain the things to do in Jan. Brief explanation given where needed.
February
Explain things to do in Feb.
An example would be…
June (or what ever month it should be)
Root prune junipers now. To get into bonsai pot reduce by a third this season and a third next season till it fits, or whatever the process is to root prune Juniper to get into a bonsai pot. (I don’t actually know. I have a couple of Junipers in large grow pots (renting so can’t plant in the ground, but I have no idea when to root prune them and how do I reduce the root ball to get into a bonsai pot without killing the tree.
This is not going into detail of how to root prune (that info is already out there. More about when and how much.
Another one would be
September (or what ever month it is)
This is the month junipers really start growing so keep an eye on the wired branches so it doesn’t cut in.
Info could be for trees in bonsai pots already or trees in training.
Basically I would pick a tree and everyone could give their input into what to do when. This is not so much how to do it but more when to do it. I would do it for trees in Vic first and then it could be adapted for each of the other states. I know NSW can do somethings earlier cause it warms up earlier.
This is really aimed at newbies to bonsai but may be of help to all. Plus a good chance to swap knowledge from the many experienced growers as there is sometimes different ideas. If there was some real different ideas on timing to do certain things both could be included with a warning to try carefully to see which suits your style.
This would be a big long term project and would need input from the more experienced growers other wise I don’t think it would be worth doing.
So would the more experienced growers be willing to share their time and knowledge and do the newbies to bonsai think this would help???
If this info is already available somewhere that I have not found yet please point me in the right direction and I'll save a heap of time.
If people think this is worth doing I will start a new post with a tree named and some headings for the months and people can offer their advice. Then I will start a new one for the next tree. Obviously some trees will be grouped like a lot of deciduous trees but some may need something different at a certain time.
Basically this will be a month by month planner for each tree and people can add their thoughts for care etc.. As I said this is not a how to but more a when to. I’m not going to say how to wire your Acer palmatum but when is the best time or when is best to bend branches, trunk chop.
As I said this would be a big project and would need everyone’s help, is it worth it.
This will be done as public access info and could be added to the wiki so when a newbie says I bought a black pine but have no idea what to do we can point them to this info. Let me know what you think….
Josh
Been looking through books and on the net and there is so much info. But hard to sort out what applies to us here in vic. ie. what time of year do I root prune my Juni's, pines, lepto ect.. When is it best to trunk chop.
I know there is heaps (endless) of info out there
about this but it gets confusing reading so much from all over the country/world. I was reading a book the other night and it went through the process of putting a tree into a bonsai put. It basically said "take your tree and cut the roots back so it fits into the bonsai pot". That's ok if it's the right time of year and not to many are cut off but it never mentioned this. So for the beginner it gets confussing . I know the old timers (in bonsai age not real age) get sick of repeating themselves over and over . So here's my idea. Using the wealth of knowledge on here putting together a calender of what when and a litlle bit of how. This would be a big long term project. I would do it for each tree we grow (grouping obvious trees).
Something like this.
Junipers
January
Explain the things to do in Jan. Brief explanation given where needed.
February
Explain things to do in Feb.
An example would be…
June (or what ever month it should be)
Root prune junipers now. To get into bonsai pot reduce by a third this season and a third next season till it fits, or whatever the process is to root prune Juniper to get into a bonsai pot. (I don’t actually know. I have a couple of Junipers in large grow pots (renting so can’t plant in the ground, but I have no idea when to root prune them and how do I reduce the root ball to get into a bonsai pot without killing the tree.
This is not going into detail of how to root prune (that info is already out there. More about when and how much.
Another one would be
September (or what ever month it is)
This is the month junipers really start growing so keep an eye on the wired branches so it doesn’t cut in.
Info could be for trees in bonsai pots already or trees in training.
Basically I would pick a tree and everyone could give their input into what to do when. This is not so much how to do it but more when to do it. I would do it for trees in Vic first and then it could be adapted for each of the other states. I know NSW can do somethings earlier cause it warms up earlier.
This is really aimed at newbies to bonsai but may be of help to all. Plus a good chance to swap knowledge from the many experienced growers as there is sometimes different ideas. If there was some real different ideas on timing to do certain things both could be included with a warning to try carefully to see which suits your style.
This would be a big long term project and would need input from the more experienced growers other wise I don’t think it would be worth doing.
So would the more experienced growers be willing to share their time and knowledge and do the newbies to bonsai think this would help???
If this info is already available somewhere that I have not found yet please point me in the right direction and I'll save a heap of time.
If people think this is worth doing I will start a new post with a tree named and some headings for the months and people can offer their advice. Then I will start a new one for the next tree. Obviously some trees will be grouped like a lot of deciduous trees but some may need something different at a certain time.
Basically this will be a month by month planner for each tree and people can add their thoughts for care etc.. As I said this is not a how to but more a when to. I’m not going to say how to wire your Acer palmatum but when is the best time or when is best to bend branches, trunk chop.
As I said this would be a big project and would need everyone’s help, is it worth it.
This will be done as public access info and could be added to the wiki so when a newbie says I bought a black pine but have no idea what to do we can point them to this info. Let me know what you think….
Josh
The Wiki is good but I too cannot find anything such as a time line on specific trees , There are a few books around that do this but by the time you go thru all your books it is too late.
