AusBonsai

It is now mid winter and (finally) cold enough for the deciduous trees to have dropped leaves so it is time to start digging the trees in the grow beds at Shibui Bonsai.

These trees have been in the bed for just one year. When I started growing trees in the ground I would often leave them for several years in hopes of achieving faster growth in the shortest time. The problem is that they tend to grow relatively few but very thick roots which not only makes it extremely difficult to dig the tree but also does not produce the sort of mouth watering nebari we associate with maple bonsai.
Now I've moved to digging most deciduous species every winter then pruning both the top and the roots. If the tree needs to grow more it goes back into the bed for another 12 months. There does not seem to be much reduction in growth doing this and, if there is, it is more than made up for in improved nebari, time saved in digging and far better trunks with good taper and fewer scars.
Here are some of these trees before and after pruning.

Neil Its damn cold at my place atm and pouring rain . You must be keen been out there today however they are maybe predicting snow to 600m tomorrow

These photos from last week Matthew. Not actually pouring here - scattered showers. It stops raining long enough for me to go outside then starts again. Every time I head inside to get dry it stops raining again Not complaining about the precipitation mind you, It's July and last week those grow beds were actually quite dry This week nice, gentle soaking rain 4-10 mm per day so it is all soaking into the ground

I think the soil will be just a bit too wet to shake off the roots today anyway. I'll just stick to doing a bit of pruning under the shelter - cold but not too wet.

Hi Neil should i dig mine up and root prune and chop or is it still okay to leave for another month or more?

Fine to leave them up until the new buds start. I begin digging now because there's 5 more rows to get through before I'm finished and, even then, still need to get the rows prepared and new trees planted before spring.
For those who have Chinese elms and Chinese quinces in the ground that just will not drop leaves I found that it does not matter. They transplant just as well any time over winter with or without leaves. I usually leave the pines and junipers until last to give them the best chance of recovering quickly in spring. Any natives are dug later in spring - October/November when the weather is warmer. All those times seem to work for me here in COOL climate. Those in warmer parts may need to make allowances.