Repotting Boxwood

BonifaceVIII

I was recently told that my boxwood's soil is not very good for bonsai. Is there anything I should know about repotting in the winter? Should I wait till spring?

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FredL

Boniface, Spring is the best time for repotting, but the answer to your question also depends on your climate, the condition of your tree and how bad your current soil is.

In SE Texas, climatic effects are muted compared to, say, Wisconsin, and you are much better able to perform repotting in your so-called "Winter" than people in most of the US. At the same time, you are already pretty close to early Spring where you are. I guess, if it were my tree, unless it was in a pretty bad, soil-induced situation, I'd probably hold off until late February. If it looked to me like a critical situation, I'd repot immediately, but be a little more conservative in how I'd treat the rootball. If I felt I could wait till Spring, I'd be very actively pruning the roots to the form I wanted them and pretty much bare-root the tree before repotting it. I did this with a boxwood of mine last Spring and it responded magnificantly. There could not be a more dramatic contrast between it and another very similar tree that I left in poor soil in an identical pot.

Do you have a pretty good handle on how to mix "Bonsai Soil"? There are lots of different mixes that will work just fine, but even more that won't work at all.

Best of Luck, Fred