Styling in the Winter

I'm interested in finding out what peoples experiences have been in trying to wire tree during the winter. Any species any amount of wiring. Same with pruning. I know what the rules are but...

I do big cuts, hard pruning, and most all of my wiring in the winter. I should say that I keep my trees that I work in a cold greenhouse, between 26 and 40 degrees for air temp, and between 32 and 40 for root temps. I've never experienced any problems with this. And it's a great time to do the work, I have the time,(no yard or garden work! ) and the wiring is easy. Some, like Japanese Maple, Hackberry, I'll leave till late in winter.

What rules....???

JudyB wrote:What rules....???

The ones made to be broken. What I notice is that trees in nature take a beating in the winter, wind, breakage, snow loads, etc. Yet bonsai are to be left alone in the winter. Perhaps this is because if one were to have a very prcious tree they would not want to risk loss by winter styling. I'm also thinking in terms of pre-bonsai. How well will they hold up to trunk shaping and branch placement during the winter?

Twisted Trees wrote:

JudyB wrote:What rules....???

The ones made to be broken. What I notice is that trees in nature take a beating in the winter, wind, breakage, snow loads, etc. Yet bonsai are to be left alone in the winter. Perhaps this is because if one were to have a very prcious tree they would not want to risk loss by winter styling. I'm also thinking in terms of pre-bonsai. How well will they hold up to trunk shaping and branch placement during the winter?

trees in nature also die a lot...and loose branches a lot...

for me, this question revelves more around species, climate, and how drastic the work is...as a general rule, i try to avoid winter work (although my lack of patience gets the best of me at times)...some species it doesnt matter as much as others of course, but im not really sure winter is the optimal time for anything in my opinion, and in some cases can be down right hazardous...i mean, in my climate, i could probably transplant all through the winter if i really wanted to...but then you have to ask the question...why? what could i gain between now and spring? the answer is almost always nothing...the "rules" arent something we as humans came up with...mother nature did...i tend to look at a season in stages...spring-time to wake up and get ready for work...summer-time to grow (there is also a lunch break in there usually)...fall-time to pack it in for the day and get ready to relax...winter-time to rest and hopefully get a good night sleep...

basically, i try to find the best time to do something as much as possible as opposed to an acceptable time to do something...sometimes you kinda dont have a choice though...and sometimes the acceptable time for one species is actually the best time for another...so, would i transplant something in summer? sure...a mugho pine for example...but i wouldnt do that with an acer...would i wire a juniper in winter? sure, if it wasnt anything major, and i somehow missed fall...would i prune a birch in winter?...not unless it called my mother a dirty name and i felt the need to teach it a lesson...same with acer...maybe its just me, but the only thing i have ever got from wiring an acer in winter is dieback, so for me, the time to transplant acer is spring, and the time to do any kind of major branch work is fall, right after the leaves start dropping...honestly, im not even sure acer's like to be wired at all but thats a different thread...

just my opinion...

its all about one thing.....Aftercare.........if you have a healthy tree and can offer proper protection and
aftercare you can do virtually any styling in the winter. wiring causes lots of small damaged areas along the branches so keeping the tree protected from freezing is an important part of its recovery. the milder your climate the easier it is to do heavier work on a tree, or be prepared to offer underheat, rain protection and insulation

i happily wire all my deciduous in winter - its an easy time to see the structure - then i remove the wires after first pruning or defoliation. With the conifers i've wired virtually all my pines and junipers in winter but the more drastic the work the more protection after is needed.

cheers Marcus

I find this info to be worth reading; its a good standard of what to do when you want to wire or work on your bonsai in full snowy wintertimes. Source: http://dannybonsaicenterginkgo.skynetblogs.be/
That comes straight from Ginkgo Bonsai (Danny Use), the famous predecessor of the Noelanders Trophy. The Ginkgo Awards was thé event befor Noelanders:

Trees under the snow look beautiful. Snow is a good protection especially around and over the pot. The snow keeps the humidity better around the froozen rootball. Snow can do a lot of dammage though on wired trees, they can distroy the shape of the younger wired branches. It is better that your trees are in a glasshouse for the moment and I mean with a "glasshouse" glass all around and a glass roof. The most important thing is a very high humidity. Try to avoid heating systems or if you have a heating system try to keep your temperature between -3°C & +5°C. In this kind of weather you better do not touch your trees at all. If you want to work on a tree prepare the tree for the big shock, you can lift the tree out of his froozen situation, bring him for 24hrs at 0°C, a day later bring him over on a positive temperature, wait another 24hrs to start working on the tree. A froozen tree for the moment means that not only the rootball is froozen but also the sap inside the tree. With conifers also the needles are froozen, if you remove the snow from it you can have dammage in spring. If you bring f.ex. a Pine inside do not remove the snow, give the snow the time to disappear on a natural way. Those are the most imortant things you have to consider during frost periodes.

PREPARE YOUR TREE ALWAYS FOR ACCLIMATISATION WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO.