Specialty Gardening: Trees in Containers - a Discussion, 1 by DiggerDee

DiggerDee wrote:
Hi Al. I know this is an old thread, but I've been toying with the idea of asking you this question all winter, and when I found this thread tonight I thought it might be a good way to ask.

I am not referring to bonsai here, so maybe it is a bit off-topic, but here goes.

I have a salix Hakuro Nishiki grafted so it is in tree form. I originally stuck it in a pot until I figured out what to do with it. Well, about five years later it's still in a pot and we really love it on our patio.

I plan on repotting it into a larger pot. My question is two-fold. One, I realized after I bought it that this plant is a water hog, and I guess really should not be in a pot. But I want it to be in a pot!

So, would you recommend a pot WITHOUT drainage holes for this? (I have a friend who has one planted in a garden that has standing water many months of the year and it is thriving, so I know you can't overwater it.)

Secondly, what is the best medium to pot this in?

And I guess thirdly - to combine the two questions, would there be a different medium for a pot with holes and a pot without?

Okay, sorry, just thought of another question - should I root prune when repotting? I have never root-pruned in my life, so I'm kinda hoping you say not to bother, lol....

You can kind of see the tree on the right of this photo. It is directly behind the MG-covered fence (I mention this because someone once thought it was farther away, next to the door, and thought it was a huge tree! It is abour 7 or 8 feet tall in the pot).

Thank you for any help you can give me (and thanks for all the help you've given me in the past just by answering other people!)

Dee