For those of you in Cold climates.

After practicing bonsai for 38 years I learned a new trick, at least for me, that makes it easier to put snow on my bonsai without

harming the plant and also looks natural and doesn't compact. I always have used a scoop shovel to get new fallen snow to put on my bonsai in the Winter

then used a smaller scoop to put snow on them but today we had a nice 8" of fluffy snow and I used a green, plastic lawn rake instead.

I works very good for this procedure.

Actually, it's great! the snow falls through the plastic lawn rake like newly fallen snow.


My bonsai spend the winter in a 10'x10' room made from 2x4s and covered with sheets of 2" Styrofoam. It has large shelves that I built around the perimeter
for the bonsai. There is also a small electric heater for very cold nights or days. The panels can be removed as needed in the Spring


It still gets down to -18Fº, -28Cº, at times (we've had a warming trend the past 30 yrs). We even went up 1/2 a Zone in the 2012 USAD Hardiness Zone Map
from Zone 4a to Zone 4b.

I try to keep the temperature at 28ºF, -2.2ºC during the Winter and it also can shortly extend the Spring Season, if the weather cooperates.

Since my bonsai must find winter quarters for the Winter, I find that adding fresh fallen snow is a way to insulate them, keep the humidity up when it we get a
very cold spell. Plus it looks cool. It looks so real.

Just passing it along.

Gary

Gary Swiech wrote:
It still gets down to -18Fº, -28Cº, at times (we've had a warming trend the past 30 yrs). We even went up 1/2 a Zone in the 2012 USAD Hardiness Zone Map

Now that is what I call freezing your * off! Which species survive those winters, besides pines and junipers? It would be really interesting for most of us termperates to see whether we are over-protective of our trees when we only hit -10 every once in a while and start worrying

Nice idea on the snow. As my trees stay outdoors most of winter (Except for crisp windy wintersdays with well-below freezin night-time and daytime around freezing, I do not really have to worry about how to get snow on the trees

In france, I use the same techique, snow on the pots for delaying growing , and lot of hot water , to have flowers for example on wysteria for the exhibition the d day.

With the Winter protection, I can grow Japanese white pine, Hornbeams (japonica, virginiana, turczaninowii), Japanese maple, deciduous holly, Hinoki cypress, Ginkgo, Trident maple,

Chinese elm, Shimpaku and Japanese juniper, Korean maple, European beech and my specialty is Zelkova's. I'm able grow anything from the temperate zone in Zone 4b.

With the protection! It get's really windy here too.

I have to watch the Trident maples so the roots don't get too cold or I might get a little die-back.

In 1992 or '93 it got down to -40Fº (-40ºC). I lost a whole row of Cornus mas "Golden Glory" outside roots and all, but like I said earlier, the average Winter temps
have been getting warmer.

I just like to keep them frozen and avoid as much temperature fluctuations and cold snaps down in double digits below 0ºF -17.8ºC.