Hi all! New here! I've recently bought a dwarf white spruce... now, I'm totally confused with when to repot/ prune/wire. It's nursery stock, I've tidied it up, it's August here in UK. Is now a good time to repot or shall I prune first or shall I leave it totally alone until late winter?!
When to repot/prune
- Thread starter Mike2134
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Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Leave it until late winter for wiring, although early winter should be fine too.
The best time to repot would be early spring.
The best time to repot would be early spring.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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Around here we wire and prune August 15 thru early Sept, no later than Sept 15, but our winters are much more extreme than UK winters. (Chicago-Milwaukee area) Pruning now gives time for dormant buds to activate in preparation to grow in following spring. After August 15 is late enough that pruning does not start a round of new growth that will be too tender to survive winter. Because your UK winters are much more mild than our winters, pruning can happen pretty much anytime autumn through late winter.
Wiring is easiest late summer, thru late winter. Timing is not critical. Late winter wiring is fine as @Wires_Guy_wires suggests
Repotting is best in late winter, very early spring.
Try not to repot and do heavy pruning in the same year. For a spruce I really like, its older and well on its way, I do no pruning 12 months before repotting, and no pruning 12 months after repotting. I try to go 5 to 10 years between repotting if possible. My media is mostly pumice, with a small amount of fir bark and akadama mixed in.
Younger in training spruces can be repotted more often, but they really don't benefit from root disturbance, so try to plan your repotting so that you don't have to do it often.
Wiring is easiest late summer, thru late winter. Timing is not critical. Late winter wiring is fine as @Wires_Guy_wires suggests
Repotting is best in late winter, very early spring.
Try not to repot and do heavy pruning in the same year. For a spruce I really like, its older and well on its way, I do no pruning 12 months before repotting, and no pruning 12 months after repotting. I try to go 5 to 10 years between repotting if possible. My media is mostly pumice, with a small amount of fir bark and akadama mixed in.
Younger in training spruces can be repotted more often, but they really don't benefit from root disturbance, so try to plan your repotting so that you don't have to do it often.
Hey thanks for the advice! Think I'll prune this year and repot year after... as I've read spruce don't respond well to two stress events within the same year. I've tidied it right up now, lopped off the apex as I've got another apex looking branch which I'll be using to get that nice tapered look... the old apex, I'll jin it ... thanks again for the advice!
Yeah man, I've got to be patient with this spruce... I've tidied it up, I'm going to wire it up within the next couple of months and jin the old apex after wiring
never had a spruce before, I'm used to JBP/LARCH/ELM/YEW- which ha e always seemed to have a happy go lucky attitude toward my skill level... been 15 years though, so here we go! Thanks for the advice
