Hey all- I am kind of new to this, but this spring I got a White Ash seedling from my Dad's house in Ohio- brought it to Philadelphia, and it is doing great on my roof deck. It is now about 9 inches tall, and has a trunk that is developing very well-
about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. Leaves are coming in great, from all directions so it looks nice and bushy. What I am wondering is 1) do I need to bring this inside for the winter, or leave it out- 2) should I repot it now or in the spring 3) should I prune now or in the spring? And 4) do I continue to fertilize through the winter or no? Thanks in advance for any information.
Samantha in South Philly
White Ash Bonsai
Leave it out. Bury the container or otherwise protect roots from temperatures below 20* F. (unheated garage is a good second choice, but your plant will leaf out too early if you chose this option) and from dessication. The plant needs a cold rest (dormancy).
Repot in spring - immediately before buds move, or at onset of budswell.
Prune after leaf abscission & before budswell.
No need to fertilize dormant plants & excess N in the soil of dormant plants could encourage rot issues.
Al
I put my hardy Bonsai in the cellarway which is cold and dark from mid Dec till April. Theyu're out now even with the cold weather we're having because it's no colder than the hatch was getting and they all seemed to have survived. Waiting for them to leaf out....
I need to prune it soon- over the winter on extremely cold nights I put it in my enclosed porch (unheated but never goes below freezing according to my thermometer). For a long time now it has been out though, as we haven't had real cold weather. The other day I went out on the deck, and noticed it's pot had split, and where a shard fell off you can see all the root structure, and it is bound! But the roots seem nice and healthy.
The buds haven't started to swell though, so I have at least a few days to learn more about pruning- this will be my first time, as this white ash is my first attempt at a bonsai. It was 'born' last spring, and now has a really nice trunk structure with character. I was surprised at how well the trunk formed!
Any recommendations for a website or book that has good pruning instructions? I've read about it, but I'm still nervous about doing it.
Hope everyones' bonsai wintered well, and heres to another season of tiny leaves :-)
Samantha
Here in Indiana, we can't even move FIREWOOD from place to place because of the danger of the Emerald Ash Borer. I hope you have a healthy sapling there and didn't bring anything bad home with you. Eventually conservationists think all the Ash trees in this country will be dead from this pest that has no known killers.
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/pest_al/eab/eab04.htm
ScotDeerie- Hopefully its healthy! Dad's trees are seemingly in good health (near Dayton Ohio) and don't have any of that upper limb death that the link you sent spoke of. I'll keep my eyes open for those funky lookin' green bugs this summer- the link said they're easy to see. Thats a shame about Ashes- they're a pretty tree, and Dad's provides some great shade. When I was a kid, I'll always remember piling up the leaves from the two ashes in the front yard and jumping in them :-) Wow that was a long time ago!
Samantha
Everything I overwintered in the hatchway are doing very well. I brought them out the end of March and then we has snow and a cold snap but they are doing beautifully. Doesn't look like I lost a thing!!!
My Ash is doing good as well- I left it out on the deck most all winter, and it seemed fine, other than the roots busting out the pot it was in lol- raring to go I guess! I brought it into the enclosed porch/laundry room twice I think- we only hit the teens a few times here though.
I'm going to prune it in the next few days, at least by the end of the week, as the buds should be coming any time now. The Ginkgo I have out there is just now showing some tiny tips that will become buds, and there is a new one that I got from Dad's- but its an unknown as I can't identify the bark- something very dark, almost a reddish brown and smooth. We'll see what gives when the leaves pop out.
This winter I did cover the ash with a blanket a few times when it went really far down in temp- seems like it worked quite well. I saved the enclosed porch for only the coldest of nights. We had a really mild winter in Philly.
Samantha