Winterizing Maples

[BILBO76]

I have A few Japanese maples and a trident maple. I know this has been discused many times before. So I have a plan to put them in an unheated garage when temperatures drop. My question, is it better for the tree to bring them out of the garage on less windy warmer days? Anybody with experience in 6b?

 

[Dan W.]

Once they are dormant there's really no need to.

In spring though, you will need to bring them out as much as possible as the buds start opening. Some wind and as much sun as possible will toughen the new leaves to hopefully last through summer, as well as to keep leaves smaller and nodes shorter. They just can't freeze at that point, which is why we call it the "bonsai two step"/ "shuffle" etc.. lol.

 

[BILBO76]

Thanks Dan!

 

[Dav4]

Your biggest issue will likely be keeping your maples dormant until good growing weather returns next spring. Once chilling requirements are met, it only takes a few consecutive warmer days... over 40 F... for your trees to break dormancy and start growing. Your goal is going to be keeping the temps in the garage below 40 F consistently into March or later. Imo, the ideal overwintering temperature for temperate bonsai in an enclosure is upper 20's to mid 30's... the soil can freeze solid and stay that way for a long time with no issues. Anyway, once the trees start growing, they lose all winter hardiness and can be badly damaged or even killed by freezing weather, and they need light!

 

[snowman04]

I keep my trees in the garage over the winter and it does not get below 40* much. I do watch the watering and they get 12 hours of light daily. I have a couple maples and elms but mostly pines, cypress and junipers...

 

[Paradox]

I used to keep my trees in my attached garage over the winter but I found it didn't stay cold enough all winter. Had lots of problems with trees coming out of dormancy too soon.

I built a cold frame on the north side of my house and it has been one of the best things I've done for my bonsai

 

[Lorax7]

I keep my Japanese maples outside on the ground on the north side of either the house or the garage, packed in close together with my other bonsai, and with a bit of mulch in the between spaces and on the soil surface. I’m in 5b and have been doing this for 6 years now and it has worked for me.

 

[Scorpius]

Keep the root zone above 20 degrees and you're golden.

 

[BILBO76]

Thanks to all, I will definately rethink my unheated garage plan. I have a gravel bed on the north side up against the house. Maybe bed them in there and build a small poly tunnel to put over them on the few weeks of extreme weather we get.

 

[Maiden69]

Thanks to all, I will definately rethink my unheated garage plan. I have a gravel bed on the north side up against the house. Maybe bed them in there and build a small poly tunnel to put over them on the few weeks of extreme weather we get.

Yes, one thing I keep hearing about maples is that they need protection from extreme winds, cold or hot. A poly over head with some sort of wind breaker would definitely help. Keep in mind that on a warmer day temps will rise quickly if the poly gets any sunlight.

 

[dbonsaiw]

I personally didn't like keeping my trees in the raj. Watering was difficult and I ended up with mold. There's no air flow etc. I end up worrying about less things with the trees in the great outdoors under mulch. For the bonsai shuffle in the spring (for the trees that start waking up) I keep the trees on dollies that I can wheel in and out of the raj easily depending on temps and watering needs.

 

[Nybonsai12]

I've tried a bunch of different routes with wintering trees. I mulched them into the ground and found that heavy snows while providing good insulation, would occasionally snap branches, so i scrapped that.

Keeping in the ground also opened up the door to animals which love to chew on any deciduous branching around, tridents, J. Maples, Ume, wisteria etc..

Fed up with that i started doing the constant rotation in and out of the unheated garage carefully keeping an eye on temps. i generally try to keep them out on the benches as much as possible, but if it's going to be especially frigid, in the unheated garage they go. It's a lot of two stepping, but i haven't lost trees and avoid the damage from snow and animals.

 

[roberthu]

I used to keep my trees in my attached garage over the winter but I found it didn't stay cold enough all winter. Had lots of problems with trees coming out of dormancy too soon.

I built a cold frame on the north side of my house and it has been one of the best things I've done for my bonsai

This is what I was going to suggest. Attached garage can be surprisingly warm during winter. I still remember when I was in Indiana, outside temp was -15F while the garage stayed above freezing the entire time.

 

[czaczaja]

You definitely don't want to fiddle with them once they sleep for the winter to avoid temperature rising and dropping which can result in waking up prematurely. Best bet is to maybe build a cold frame around the gravel bed. Protect from wind but still allow proper dormancy.