Moving trees out of grow bed in fall

[Maiden69]

Short story... wife decided to look for houses for a future move, turned into a "we may be moving out of the house in 2-3 weeks" kinda deal. Still waiting on the lenders paperwork to see if it is worth it, house will be smaller but the backyard will be almost 3 times the size we have now with mature tree (the salesman said pin oak, but I'm not sure), there is a cedar elm, but too close to the house so that will have to go.

My question is, almost all of my trees are in Root Pouch so I'm not too worry about the root system, except for my yoshino, because I notice there are a lot of escape roots. I think the bag was damaged at the bottom so the tap root probably escaped soon after transplanting. My biggest issue is with top growth, especially with my cherry, seiju elm, and my trident. I know that there are people that has done trunk chops in fall, and Ryan was talking briefly about it on the last forum Q&A, he said he don't favor them, but as long as you seal the cut well, the tree should not have mayor die back.

Thankfully, both cherry and trident trees are changing color now, which would be the perfect time for light pruning, but in the case of those trees, how much could be removed at this time? I ordered 3 and 5 gal nursery containers that will allow me to have at least 1" of soil (probably going to use perlite to save money and some weight) around the root pouch to try to save some of the escape roots. Seiju is still green, that one don't drop leaves until the tail end of fall to mid winter.

Do you guys think that I would be ok with a hard cut as long as I can provide some protection from hard freezes? We are trying to find a short term house to rent while the new one is built, as it would be chaos on an apartment with all the trees. I'll post pics later of both trees. I'm not too happy as I was planning on making a few air layers of the trident and seiju elm this spring.

 

[nuttiest]

You have to move twice to get the new house? This will be stressful on yourself, I would put the trees needs in last place for a while.
Putting the small stuff in deepots is helpful. Less soil, more depth, less storage space and are square so you can put a dozen in a cardboard box when the time comes.

 

[Maiden69]

You have to move twice to get the new house? This will be stressful on yourself, I would put the trees needs in last place for a while.
Putting the small stuff in deepots is helpful. Less soil, more depth, less storage space and are square so you can put a dozen in a cardboard box when the time comes.

Yes, we have to move out of our house to prep it for sale, in our experience if the house is unoccupied it sells way faster. Especially since the future buyers can see an empty canvas and imagine it with their stuff.

 

[Gabler]

Short story... wife decided to look for houses for a future move, turned into a "we may be moving out of the house in 2-3 weeks" kinda deal. Still waiting on the lenders paperwork to see if it is worth it, house will be smaller but the backyard will be almost 3 times the size we have now with mature tree (the salesman said pin oak, but I'm not sure), there is a cedar elm, but too close to the house so that will have to go.

My question is, almost all of my trees are in Root Pouch so I'm not too worry about the root system, except for my yoshino, because I notice there are a lot of escape roots. I think the bag was damaged at the bottom so the tap root probably escaped soon after transplanting. My biggest issue is with top growth, especially with my cherry, seiju elm, and my trident. I know that there are people that has done trunk chops in fall, and Ryan was talking briefly about it on the last forum Q&A, he said he don't favor them, but as long as you seal the cut well, the tree should not have mayor die back.

Thankfully, both cherry and trident trees are changing color now, which would be the perfect time for light pruning, but in the case of those trees, how much could be removed at this time? I ordered 3 and 5 gal nursery containers that will allow me to have at least 1" of soil (probably going to use perlite to save money and some weight) around the root pouch to try to save some of the escape roots. Seiju is still green, that one don't drop leaves until the tail end of fall to mid winter.

Do you guys think that I would be ok with a hard cut as long as I can provide some protection from hard freezes? We are trying to find a short term house to rent while the new one is built, as it would be chaos on an apartment with all the trees. I'll post pics later of both trees. I'm not too happy as I was planning on making a few air layers of the trident and seiju elm this spring.

You're waiting on pre-approval, and you think the new place will still be for sale when the bank gets back to you? Either you're living in a real estate fantasyland, or you should prepare for disappointment. My wife and I have been trying to buy a house since May, and as the interest rates go up, there are fewer and fewer options on the market that we can afford. We're outbid at every turn by investors paying cash or morons waiving contingencies.

Yes, we have to move out of our house to prep it for sale, in our experience if the house is unoccupied it sells way faster. Especially since the future buyers can see an empty canvas and imagine it with their stuff.

Don't worry about selling your current house. You'll have a dozen offers well above the asking price within an hour of listing it, possibly several days before listing it.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

You're waiting on pre-approval, and you think the new place will still be for sale when the bank gets back to you? Either you're living in a real estate fantasyland, or you should prepare for disappointment. My wife and I have been trying to buy a house since May, and as the interest rates go up, there are fewer and fewer options on the market that we can afford. We're outbid at every turn by investors paying cash or morons waiving contingencies.



Don't worry about selling your current house. You'll have a dozen offers well above the asking price within an hour of listing it, possibly several days before listing it.

Don't rely on that lasting a whole lot longer.

Housing market facing a shift as local sales continue dip

The housing market is reaching a point where it could soon turn from a seller’s to a buyer’s market and one local real estate leader blames Washington gridlock on the inflation driving high mortgage rates.

www.daytondailynews.com

Interest rates on loans are in real flux right now. Just heard yesterday on a car talk radio program that pickup truck sales have taken a nose dive, too.
Be wary.

 

[Maiden69]

You're waiting on pre-approval, and you think the new place will still be for sale when the bank gets back to you? Either you're living in a real estate fantasyland, or you should prepare for disappointment. My wife and I have been trying to buy a house since May, and as the interest rates go up, there are fewer and fewer options on the market that we can afford. We're outbid at every turn by investors paying cash or morons waiving contingencies.

Well both me and my wife are disabled veterans so we have a guaranteed VA loan, we are building a house, the lot has already been awarded to us and the builder is on-board with waiting for the lender. The only reason we are waiting is to see where we are standing with the budget so we can add the options we want. As of right now we are sitting at 6.5 guaranteed with VA through Navy Federal, and the lender said they will beat them if we finance through them. Sucks because we will be moving out of a 2.2% home, but... the place we are moving is a more secluded, and in a gated community. Not a guarantee of safety, but at least there will be way less traffic than now, as we live in the main road into the community and some of the people there think it is a highway road or a race track.

I understand your pain, if you are buying in the used market, its been stupid since the pandemic started. We have 3 good friends that are realtors, and they agree that right now investors are crashing the housing market. Thankfully, one of them works directly with the builder we are working with right now.

Don't worry about selling your current house. You'll have a dozen offers well above the asking price within an hour of listing it, possibly several days before listing it.

Agreed, we sold two houses at the end of 2019, one of them before even hitting the market, the other one had 5 offers in the first week. We chose to sell to one of the families instead of the other 3 investors. This one we are not will sell to the highest bidder, as we are also working on eliminating all our debt in preparation of possible full retirement in 10 years.

 

[jradics]

Well both me and my wife are disabled veterans so we have a guaranteed VA loan, we are building a house, the lot has already been awarded to us and the builder is on-board with waiting for the lender. The only reason we are waiting is to see where we are standing with the budget so we can add the options we want. As of right now we are sitting at 6.5 guaranteed with VA through Navy Federal, and the lender said they will beat them if we finance through them. Sucks because we will be moving out of a 2.2% home, but... the place we are moving is a more secluded, and in a gated community. Not a guarantee of safety, but at least there will be way less traffic than now, as we live in the main road into the community and some of the people there think it is a highway road or a race track.

I understand your pain, if you are buying in the used market, its been stupid since the pandemic started. We have 3 good friends that are realtors, and they agree that right now investors are crashing the housing market. Thankfully, one of them works directly with the builder we are working with right now.


Agreed, we sold two houses at the end of 2019, one of them before even hitting the market, the other one had 5 offers in the first week. We chose to sell to one of the families instead of the other 3 investors. This one we are not will sell to the highest bidder, as we are also working on eliminating all our debt in preparation of possible full retirement in 10 years.

I recently bought a house and the sellers made the deal with me to avoid helping the 5 investors who were also bidding.

 

[Maiden69]

Don't rely on that lasting a whole lot longer.

Housing market facing a shift as local sales continue dip

The housing market is reaching a point where it could soon turn from a seller’s to a buyer’s market and one local real estate leader blames Washington gridlock on the inflation driving high mortgage rates.

www.daytondailynews.com

Interest rates on loans are in real flux right now. Just heard yesterday on a car talk radio program that pickup truck sales have taken a nose dive, too.
Be wary.

Yes, this is why we are doing it now instead of waiting another 2 years.

 

[Gabler]

Well both me and my wife are disabled veterans so we have a guaranteed VA loan, we are building a house, the lot has already been awarded to us and the builder is on-board with waiting for the lender. The only reason we are waiting is to see where we are standing with the budget so we can add the options we want. As of right now we are sitting at 6.5 guaranteed with VA through Navy Federal, and the lender said they will beat them if we finance through them. Sucks because we will be moving out of a 2.2% home, but... the place we are moving is a more secluded, and in a gated community. Not a guarantee of safety, but at least there will be way less traffic than now, as we live in the main road into the community and some of the people there think it is a highway road or a race track.

I understand your pain, if you are buying in the used market, its been stupid since the pandemic started. We have 3 good friends that are realtors, and they agree that right now investors are crashing the housing market. Thankfully, one of them works directly with the builder we are working with right now.


Agreed, we sold two houses at the end of 2019, one of them before even hitting the market, the other one had 5 offers in the first week. We chose to sell to one of the families instead of the other 3 investors. This one we are not will sell to the highest bidder, as we are also working on eliminating all our debt in preparation of possible full retirement in 10 years.

Glad to hear you have it all worked out. We decided to look into buying an unimproved lot and building a brand new home, but it's significantly more expensive to build a new house than to renovate an existing home. Too many special interests have gotten their hands on the building codes, and it's driven up costs.

 

[Gabler]

Anyway, sorry to derail the thread. I'd chop the trees higher than you ultimately want them, and then chop them back further at the very end of winter, just before sap starts moving.

 

[BobbyLane]

How much top growth is safe to remove, hard to say without seeing the trees.
Can depend on what you're eventually trying to achieve, how much is a manageable amount for your move. Instincts, as in I removed a fair amount from this recently dug pommy, but nothing from the recently repotted maple.
If you can't get the trident in the car as is, I'd have no problem removing just enough, and compensate for potential dieback, if at all that happens. We can't see what the roots are like or how well the tree grew previously, only you know that, therefore your instincts should give you a good indication.

 

[crab apple]

I sold my old house recently and moved into the one I was building, when I sold my house there was an option for me to rent it back for a month or two, didn't seem to bother the buyers any. Sold the house, got the money and got to stay in it as a renter for awhile, worked out OK.

 

[Maiden69]

unimproved lot and building a brand new home

Yes, lots right now are out of proportion... especially unimproved in decent locations.

How much top growth is safe to remove, hard to say without seeing the trees.
Can depend on what you're eventually trying to achieve,

I'll post newer pics later today, but the trident is almost 10' tall, and the cherry is around 5' tall, 5-6' wide. The pics below are from August 2023. Definitely don't fit in a car, I plan on getting a rental truck to move them all at once. We are still looking for rental places, it would be great if we can find one that can accommodate for the trees so I don't have to cut them back.

More pics of my above ground trees in the thread below.

Above ground bed growing

Well, finally had a chance to clear a small area next to my bench for a small 5x3 above ground bed. I used the corner blocks that Lowes sell with 2x6 pressure treated lumber that I had left over from the bench. I will probably buy more lumber to raise it a little more to cover the entire bag...

www.bonsainut.com

Trident sticking out in the center. That is a 7' high greenhouse structure for size.

I sold my old house recently and moved into the one I was building, when I sold my house there was an option for me to rent it back for a month or two, didn't seem to bother the buyers any. Sold the house, got the money and got to stay in it as a renter for awhile, worked out OK.

This would work if the house is bought by an investor. Would be amazing if it would happen because I would be able to replant all the trees the proper way into big pots preparing them for the move.

 

[BobbyLane]

Thats a lot of course, field growth in there, id have absolutely no problem cutting enough back so it fits in the car. I think there is nothing to be afraid about

 

[Maiden69]

Thats a lot of course, field growth in there, id have absolutely no problem cutting enough back so it fits in the car. I think there is nothing to be afraid about

Thanks, here are some pics I just took now.











A JBP that I was going to train for Niwaki... maybe for the new house now.

 

[Gabler]

Texas is a big place. Is your neck of the woods warm and coastal? High, dry, and cold? Something else entirely?

 

[BobbyLane]

That's a big strong tree, I definitely wouldn't be afraid that it would die back to the point that it didn't suit your bonsai plans anymore, after a slight reduction of the course growth purely to get it manageable.

 

[Maiden69]

Texas is a big place. Is your neck of the woods warm and coastal? High, dry, and cold? Something else entirely?

Central Texas, definitely not coastal or dry. Humid, hot, but the weather has been unpredictable the last 3 years, especially the winter with freak ice storms.

This site is very accurate, except for the "hot weather", this was the it was 5 years ago. Now we get plenty of 100 degree days, not as much as San Antonio as we are slightly higher. This year was absurd.

Boerne, TX Climate

Boerne, TX has a subtropical climate, with hot summers and mild winters. August is the hottest month of the year, with an average high temperature of 95°F (35°C). Winters are mild, with an average low temperature of 45°F (7°C). Precipitation falls evenly throughout the year, totaling around 32...

www.bestplaces.net

This chart shows the days over 100 degrees here.

 

[jradics]

Thanks, here are some pics I just took now.

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A JBP that I was going to train for Niwaki... maybe for the new house now.

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The plants will have to be cut back eventually, so do it now. maybe ask if a fellow nutter close to your area could hold them for a few months.

 

[Maiden69]

The plants will have to be cut back eventually, so do it now. maybe ask if a fellow nutter close to your area could hold them for a few months.

I've been contemplating this. I'll try to go to the San Antonio Bonsai Club meeting and see if anyone is close to me. As far as cut back, yes, you are right. But this is not the optimal time to do it, and I was planning on propagating the trident and cherry branches instead of chopping them for the forest nymphs.