Burying pots for winter

007

Well, winter is FAST approaching here in my area and I have plans to bury one of my larger tree's in the garden over the winter. Its a large laceleaf maple that is currently in a mica pot.

My thoughts were to just dig a hole big enough for the pot, place something (don't know what yet) in the bottom to keep the drainage flowing from the pot, and replace the dirt to cover the pot and go a little way's up the trunk.

Is there anything else to it? Can I wrap the pot in burlap to try and keep bugs out and make it easier in the spring to get the "extra" dirt off?

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Ian_Homer

Hi 007,

Yes, wrapping in burlap is an ideal way of giving extra protection, whilst stopping any clogging of the drainage holes. You can even insulate more by putting the pot on some "timber" supports, which then means it is not in direct contact with the frozen ground.

Here is a quick sketch that may be useful, but I guess we have never had as "hard" a winter as you are likely to get


Regards,
Ian.

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Will_Heath

These links may help...

Will_Heath

Here's a couple more scetches to throw in.

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rockm

The thing is, if the pot is in a hole in the ground, it doesn't really make that much difference if the drainage holes are clear. You have essentially placed the bonsai pot within another soil pot that won't drian or will drain much more slowly than the bonsai soil. That means, the hole will tend to collect water, not drain it and this could lead to root damage.

You might do better by placing the pot in a larger covered "cold pit". A cold pit is a better alternative, as it provides more room for water to drain away--a cold pit is generally dug a foot or more into the ground and is five, six eight or ten times or more larger than the hole you would make for a specific pot. I cover mine wit a loose plastic lean to covering to shed water, it's loose to allow some air circulation on warmer days.

By the way, with mulch, or wrapping in burlap, you are not trying to trap heat per se, although the ground is warmer than the air, you are really trying to moderate temperature swings.

Ian_Homer

007,

Wrap burlap too much and it will hinder water ingress to the pot and give little drainage from it. It has little insulation value, but it is ideal at keeping the temporary soil fill away from your pot.

Once wrapped (I would say once only) and resting on two strips of timber and a mulch, you then get a slight air layer under the pot caused by the tensioned burlap and feet. This gives a little insulation and certainly good drainage capacity out of the pot, away and into the surrounding soil.

As rocm says, think of some overhead protection in cases of extreme downpours, but generally if the ground is frozed solid, water will not penetrate down to far anyway.

Hope I don't need such protection this year - although we are overdue a cold one !

Regards,
Ian.

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007

Thanks for the help everyone. I think that I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do . . . I'll post some pictures when I get around to doing it in about a month or so.

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Dale Cochoy

007,
As usual, Rockm's advice is absolutely correct ( Gosh I'm gaining a lot of respect for your obvious background knowledge )
In Detroit Michigan you DO NOT want to put a tree in the ground in winter, in it's pot, covered by soil. If so, you'll be asking next spring on Bonsaitalk, " My maple has tiny leaves that keep turning brown and won't get any bigger, I pick bark and it's brown underneath, what's wrong" The answer, root rot! If you store trees that way in zone 4-5 winters you got it!
They will sit sopping wet all fall, winter and spring.
A very well accepted method for your area is to use a large hole in the ground, maybe 4 ft. deep, gravel bottom, covered top as Meislik, Wikle, Dean ( forgot last name right now, blanked out! ) and several others do.
Jerry, got any pics of your "Hole" for him? Jerry had a pretty nice one, cement block, drainage, etc. Depth held temp pretty constant.
Or, I have had great succes with touchier plants by using styrofoam boxes, holes in bottom, some mulch in bottom, set pot/tree in, backfill mulch over pot. I've never lost a "touchy in Ohio" tree since I started doing this.
Here's a quick pic I took a couple years ago as I was putting stuff away. Note the styro boxes. Good for Satsuki az, Bald Cypress, Trident, etc. in Ohio.
Dale

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Dale Cochoy
Wild Things Bonsai Studio
Yakimono no Kokoro Bonsai Pottery
Hartville, Ohio

rockm

Dale,

Thanks. The set up you have looks alot better than my hole in the ground. By the way, I would question your need to use that styrofoam with your BC. Mine is left outside unprotected--other than three or four inches of mulch--all winter. Has never had a problem. I'm in Zone 7, but BC can be found in Zone 6 along the east coast--up to Delaware.

BC is hardier farther North than most people give it credit for. The reason it isn't more successful in the North naturally has been attributed to the ice that forms on the surface of wetlands. Ice covering can girdle saplings...at least that's one explanation I've seen.