• TREE CALENDAR
  What your trees need from you this spring:
• Clean tools with WD40, which removes sap and lubricates moving parts. Clean pots before you place trees in them.
• Deciduous trees can be re-potted when the leaf buds start to swell and extend. It’s a short time frame, so if the buds
  start to open into leaves, its getting late. Place wire screens over the holes in the bottom of the pot and wire in place, so the soil doesn’t
  fall out when watering. Wire the tree firmly in the pot through the bottom holes to make sure the tree doesn’t move
  in the wind and break the newly forming roots.
• Conifers can be repotted when the buds start to move, and white tips are showing on the root ends, usually March through April.
• If root pruning, cut off the same amount of roots as foliage. Cut back any longer tap roots and dead areas. Trim roots to fit within
  the pot, leaving space around the edges for new growth. Any larger roots can be cut over the course of several years,
  the idea being to develop a network of small, hair-like feeder roots.
• Use a course soil mix of Hadite or Turface and pine bark pieces ( all materials screened to remove fine particles ).
  A mix of 4 parts Hadite to 1 part bark is good for conifers,  more bark for deciduous, and more than half bark for tropicals.
  Use a chopstick to gently poke in the soil and remove any air pockets.
• If you are wiring any branches, do so before repotting when the tree is more stable in existing pot.
• After repotting, soak tree in a shallow pan of water for 20 minutes and place in a protected, shady
  site on the ground for at least two weeks to recover. Don’t over water the tree, just make sure it is moist.
• Fertilize after a month or so when the tree has adjusted to the new pot.

REPOTTING DECIDUOUS TREES

4 Stages of Budding

1. Dormant bud stage – When the buds are tight on the branch, trees can be collected from the wild or lifted from the pot. Do not root prune or you will be cutting away stored energy.
2. Swelling buds – Coming out of dormancy, it’s o.k. to repot or root prune.
3. Extending buds – Best time to repot and root prune, a
short time frame.
4. Open buds – Usually at the top or on branch ends, it’s too late to prune or repot.

FERTILIZING

There are many schools of thought on fertilizing bonsai. The tree is in a confined space with little nutrients so fertilizing is a must. The trees are not fed during winter dormancy.  A liquid mix is easy to use, although many people use a solid product like Osmocote.  A balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer is a good choice for most of the growing season. The first number represents the amount of Nitrogen, which benefits the leaves. The second number is the amount of Phosphorus, benefiting the roots. Potassium is the last number, helping the flowers and fruit. A higher Nitrogen fertilizer, 25-15-15 will help the leaves in spring, while a higher Phosphorus fertilizer is beneficial in autumn for strong root development for the coming year.

The tree should be well watered before applying liquid fertilizer, or you run the risk of burning the roots. The amount and frequency of application is widely discussed, some people use half recommended strength every two weeks while other use 3 times the rate every 7-10 days.

Summer ***(Please read the info below about watering….one of the best ways to kill your trees is to over or under-water!)***
If you are going on vacation, either take your trees with you (my wife won’t let me), or find someone VERY reliable to take care of them. If you can, move them to a semi -shaded area
on the ground where the animals won’t get to them. Show your caretaker exactly how to water the trees (see below), especially if you are going away for a long period of time
during very hot weather.

During the growing season, your trees need proper watering, feeding, and disease and pest control.

FERTILIZING There are many schools of thought on fertilizing bonsai. The tree is in a confined space with little nutrients so fertilizing is a must.
The trees are not fed during winter dormancy.  A liquid mix is easy to use, although many people use a solid product like Osmocote, if you don’t mind
seeing the little pellets on the surface. The tree is fertilized every time it is watered. I use it on trees that are still training in pots on the ground.
A balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer is a good choice for most of the growing season. The first number represents the amount of nitrogen, which benefits the leaves.
The second number is the amount of phosphorus, benefiting the roots. Potassium is the last number, helping the flowers and fruit. A higher nitrogen fertilizer,
25-15-15 will help the leaves in spring, while a higher phosphorus fertilizer is beneficial in autumn for strong root development for the coming year.

The tree should be well watered before applying liquid fertilizer, or you run the risk of burning the roots. The amount and frequency of application is widely discussed,
as some people use half of the label’s recommended strength every two weeks while other use up to 3 times the rate every 10-14 days. The amount of fertilizer may depend
on what you are doing with the tree. Too much fertilizer may cause excessive growth which may not be the desired effect on refined trees. If the tree is in training and you
want to thicken up the trunk and branches, you may feed with a higher dose.

DISEASE AND PEST CONTROL  An effective spray for both disease and pests would be a spray designed fore rose care. It is mild enough to take care of
most problems you might find on bonsai. If possible, apply any controls on cloudy days or when the trees are shaded. I have killed several trees applying a strong
pest control in full sun. A strong spray of water will knock off aphids and any other insects that you can see.