Wintering Bonsai

N8Diablo21

-Dr Bonsai I presume

I am a beginner and have 4 bonsai in my posession.

-2 Japanese cedars (one 8 years old the second from the
same tree but grafted)
-1 Juniper
-1 unknonwn tree I think it may be a beech or japanese holly

I live in Syracuse, NY (central NY) and the winters there are pretty harsh... up here we have lake effect snow storms and cold winds. I have done a lot of reading and asking questions about wintering my bonsai. I have read that by protecting them w/ a tarp under my bench will suffice (I am currently keeping them on my screened in porch) or that a cold frame may be in the calling. Yet I have been told that keeping them inside for the harsh winter would be ok... but I am severely hestiant to do that but I do not want the root balls to freeze or bye-bye trees.

Will I have to put these guys in the ground and repot in the spring or would covering the pots w/ a layer of insulation suffice?

So in summary the main dilemma is that I have been been presented w/ many options RE: wintering. I know there is no full proof option... however I am hoping that you can shed some light on creditable option that will give my trees the best chance for surviving the winter. Thank you very much for your help.

-Nathan Snyder

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Dr.Bonsai

Hi Nate,

It sounds like you have the beginnings of a nice collection. Bill Valavanis at the International Bonsai Arboretum in Rochester, NY, (www.internationalbonsai.com) might be your best local source for winter information on these trees.

I would defer completely to Bill's expertise on this topic. I have to confess that winterization is probably my weakest bonsai topic, as we simply don't have *real* winter here near San Francisco. It gets cold and it rains a lot, that's about it. We had about 2 inches of snow almost 20 years ago in the South bay, and a bad freeze that lasted almost two weeks about a decade back. Lots of folks were completely unprepared for this and lost trees and pots.

The weather board on this forum has a link to a USDA site or The US National Arboretum that will give you typical minimum temperatures in your area, and the published literature will provide some indication of a particular species hardiness, but in general the hardiness of bonsai may be 1-2 zones *less* than that of garden plantings, because the roots are relatively unprotected and the trees are much smaller.

Cryptomeria, for example is supposed to be a Zone 4 plant that could tolerate -30 to -20F. As a bonsai, you might see significantly less temperature tolerance. Perhaps zone 5 hardiness.

I believe from conversations with Bill that he does use a poly tunnel to winter some of his trees. These are usually white poly to reflect light and avoid excessive daily temperature rise. Junipers are generally quite hardy. You can expect some color change in winter, especially with the Cryptomeria. This is normal.

Best regards, and please do share with us what you learn.

Happy Growing!

Dr. Bonsai