Mattbonsai

Hi all, as you may of seen in another thread I've just gained some new trees, 2 Acer pal's, a Metasequoia and an Acer Platanoides.

The trees were, let's say, 'well rooted' and they didn't have pots, the only pot's I could get hold of were too big for the rootball so there is a lot of air around it.

Now, my question is, will I need to protect the rootballs over the winter until I can work them and get them into a correctly sized pot, if so, to what extent.

-Matt-

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shrimpy

Hi Matt
Any extreme temps you get over the winter could damage the roots or even kill the trees

The cheapest way is to wrap the roots with either jute sacking or black polythene (making sure the polythene has good drainage holes)

Where you work do they sell or use PB bags I find these much better than plastic pots because you can fold them to the shape you want.

I have heard of people putting the bag the tree is potted into inside a bigger bag with a layer of course metal between the two bags to protect the roots from freezing damage.

Shrimpy

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Mattbonsai

We have those bags at work, but we use them for trees too big for the Hillier handles pots, so they would be much too big, I might see if I can find some Hillier handles hanging around and put some compost around the root balls to fill the gaps.

Would this be sufficient?

-Matt-

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bonsaikc

Matt, before going to heroic measures, how cold does it get in winter in your part of the U.K.? Also, where will the trees be kept?

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Mattbonsai

I'm not entirely sure how cold it will get, it will be warmer than where I normally live, but it will be no lower than -10 c, They will be left in the open, untill I can get them home, home where they will be put in the shed for the winter.

-Matt-

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bonsaidad

This winter i am trying out something new to keep the frost and cold out of the roots.
My daughter had a carpet fitted recently, and over spent on the underlay, but this new style of underlay is not rubber, and material, but a black foam about three eights of an inch thick.
this will allow the water to go through, but still remain a good insulation.
I intend to raise the pots of the ground by at least six inches to keep them out of the wet.



Best regards BD Paul

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