Hardiness of Boxwoods

I have reduced a 3 gallon (8" tall, 12" wide) potted boxwood (16" bush diameter) to a 6.5" tree with a dozen leaves, with a 4" round rootball.

It looks great. It seems healthy.

Last Budding Tree

It is a birch. I transplanted it into the garden last winter. The bottom branches are budding out, on the top branches the buds are just swollen.

Maples and Steer Manure

The manager of The Hillside Cannor Nurser told me that maples top dressed with steer manure are less likely to develop several maple blights. The most frequent maple blight averted is whatever causes twigs to blacken and die back.
I was thinking of screening some dried steer manure and replacing a portion of the bark in my soil mix with this. It may not be worth it, if I take proper care of my bonsai.
However, my garden stock could benefit from this - and it certainly wouldn't hurt them.

SRING!

Pretty much all the deciduous trees have swollen buds, or the leaves have already come out.

Some trees which are slow at breaking their buds this year are the smooth bark elms, hackberry, hedge maple, and dwarf dawn redwood.

For most trees, root growth comes later then bud break, but not by much. Some exceptions are yew, boxwood, some pines, and wisteria.

Keep an eye out for aphids. Use leaf friendly bug sprays; lime sulphur will cause problems with leaves.

Snow After Repotting

My maples and larches have started to break their buds. As per bonsai literature, when this happens we repot the trees. However, Victoria's weather is so mild that the buds break before winter actually ends. Hence the "I've already repotted some things, yet it is time for the last sub-zero cold snap."
It is all about aftercare.
I bring my plants right up against the house, where the radiant temperatures of the house will keep the repotted plant a few degrees warmer then outside is in general. Others put their repotted plants in an unheated garage or shed. Still others have a greenhouse to leave the plants in. One could put their trees into a deep pit, where the ground will insulate them.
The only other solution is to wait until after the early March Victoria cold snap. Most of us know it is coming. And the trees whose buds have broken aren't going to be growing very fast when the temperatures are so low. So if the tree doesn't bud out too early, it is ok to wait.

Maple Seedlings!

I usually pick up a handfull of seeds from a japanese maple I know that seeds regularly in fall, and I throw them into a 'soiled' flat to come up in springtime.
I happened to find that many seedlings come up under the tree the next spring. I collected many of these in a ziplock bag, with a wet paper towel in it, and transported these new trees home.
Well, it is ziplock bag time for the next month! I saw the first crop of seedlings break their shell on Feb 25.
I will wait another week for my first harvest.
1) I had better have time to pot them up fast!
2) I have to have soil too - something I am low on right now.
3) if I wait to long, the seedlings will lose growing time this year.
Let me elaborate on point 3. Seedlings (in general) grow only from the energy they have stored within them. They do not need any nutrients or anything from the environment. After the first quick burst the plants begin to utilize their environment to generate more energy and structures. If the seedling is disturbed during the first flush of growth, it will quickly recover and re-establish itself.
So damaging the maple seedlings roots by pulling it out of the ground, and then storing the plant in a plastic bag with 200 of its brethren for a couple hours while I finish my errands; won't harm the seedlings a bit - if I do it to the seedlings first couple of weeks of their life.

5 degrees or 15?

Some bonsai literature claims that tree roots don't grow when a tree is dormant. Trees go dormant when temperatures get below 15 degrees. Other bonsai literature claims tree roots grow until the temperature lowers to 5 degrees, and resumes at the same temperature in the spring.
Someone in the bonsai club suggested that it probably depends on the species. Therefore, this year I am keeping a list of which tree's roots are active at repotting time, and which are not.

On a related note, bonsai literature tends to assume that new root tips are sensitive to breakage, freezing, and chemical burn from fertilizers. But some other literature suggests that new roots, new root tips and roots in general are as hardy as they need to be. Hence cuttings, seedlings and newly repotted trees can all be fertilized normally.

Who Knows?

Tree Knocked Down

My Craig Cousins Dawn Redwood was knocked down by a strong wind on friday. I found the poor thing on saturday. Most of the soil had been knocked of the roots. The plant requires immediate replanting. The buds are not swelling or popping, so it may be a bad time for repotting right now. But, I have to repot.

I thought I had done a good job of reveling the roots. I was wrong. The plant was an informal upright when I left the workshop. The roots were quite one sided, but impressive none the less. Now it has fantastic radial roots. Now it is a slanting style, and I do mean 45 degree angle.

Anyway, repotting should not be a problem. This is mostly because we live in Victoria with its lack of winter; the other part is aftercare - mist the tree and try not to rot the healing roots with too much water, nor dry them out with too little.