Winter IS coming, start preparing

I guess I was being mindlessly geo-centric and surprised so many people were startled by cold temps for their trees not realizing how warm and suddenly cold it has struck there out in the eastern US, here in the Northern Midwest, even if it creeps up, we have had plenty of frost and freezing weather. I was surprised to hear that Bill V just has put his best trees away just the other day.
This "front loaded" winter cold has happened before. It was either last Nov. or the one before when we got extreme cold for a week (like under 20 at night) in the middle of the month. That kind of early cold is a killer since it had been a relatively warm Oct. I had to bring everything in for a week. Not fun.
 
We had night time temps in the 20's last weekend. Unfortunately, I was sick and forgot to move my trees into the shed, so the soil froze. We will see in the spring how bad the damage was. Most of the trees are local species that I dug up from my yard, but I have a couple chinese elms as well. They were all bunched together on the ground, but I have taken some extra precautions for now. I am planning in building a bonsai bench (like @jeremy_norbury) that I will winter my hardy trees under. Before building the bench, I excavated the area and placed my trees in it, and covered them with mulched leaves and pine needles.20171112_152919.jpg 20171112_154155.jpg 20171112_160103.jpg
 
so the soil froze
I don't put mine away until they are frozen solid. The day before I put them away I watered them good. It got down to 10 degrees most of the night. I know they were frozen solid because the substrate was heaving up on the surface.
I then put them under the straw to insulate them to keep them frozen.
 
We had night time temps in the 20's last weekend. Unfortunately, I was sick and forgot to move my trees into the shed, so the soil froze. We will see in the spring how bad the damage was. Most of the trees are local species that I dug up from my yard, but I have a couple chinese elms as well. They were all bunched together on the ground, but I have taken some extra precautions for now. I am planning in building a bonsai bench (like @jeremy_norbury) that I will winter my hardy trees under. Before building the bench, I excavated the area and placed my trees in it, and covered them with mulched leaves and pine needles.View attachment 167126 View attachment 167127 View attachment 167131
Soil freezes...even in my cold greenhouse. I water once a week...and if at that time the soil is frozen...I check back sooner to see if it thaws. It's natural for them to go through that cycle. But there are kill zone temps. So that is why depending on material some offer more protection depending on location/climate. I wouldn't overly worry. I used to keep my greenhouse at 27F until I got one who is slightly more cold tender. So we now keep it at 30F not much of a difference but keeps them dormant. Back during arctic spell a couple winters ago...my area got into the high teens. Didn't lose a single tree. (But now offer a secondary source of heat for if we have that weather again.)
 
Thanks @M. Frary and @Cadillactaste, my only real concern about the roots freezing is that temps dropped so quickly. The elm leaves haven't even changed color yet.

The trees will likely also come in and out of their current home a couple times as I find some brick to line the edges with (more permanent than the wood there now), put some landscape cloth down, and build the bench over it. By then it will lokely be December and they should be ready for the winter.
 
Thanks @M. Frary and @Cadillactaste, my only real concern about the roots freezing is that temps dropped so quickly. The elm leaves haven't even changed color yet.

The trees will likely also come in and out of their current home a couple times as I find some brick to line the edges with (more permanent than the wood there now), put some landscape cloth down, and build the bench over it. By then it will lokely be December and they should be ready for the winter.

Judy is dealing with many of her trees not changing color yet as well if not mistaken she commented here on it. It's been a warm fall. I don't winter outdoors...so no advice there. Good luck to you.
 
Thanks @M. Frary and @Cadillactaste, my only real concern about the roots freezing is that temps dropped so quickly. The elm leaves haven't even changed color yet.

The trees will likely also come in and out of their current home a couple times as I find some brick to line the edges with (more permanent than the wood there now), put some landscape cloth down, and build the bench over it. By then it will lokely be December and they should be ready for the winter.
My elms and hawthorn were still green.
 
Here's hopin for a huge ski season! Been awhile for us in the east to have a solid snow year.

It's off to a great start! Super base, good coverage already. Still a few more weeks till the hill opens but half the town is up there hiking it nowadays. image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg
 
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