This is why I have a love/hate relationship with winter. The tree is dormant and needs virtually no care..so I hate it...but, since the tree is bare you can see where it needs work, so I kind of love it.
So this is my life for the next 4 months...looking at bare trees.

tonight in my club they were very happily chopping away at trees like this; these guys have a cukmuyltive experienbce of several thousands of years and must know it is ok to do so now..

leatherback wrote:

tonight in my club they were very happily chopping away at trees like this; these guys have a cukmuyltive experienbce of several thousands of years and must know it is ok to do so now..

Now is the time to prune off unwanted branches also pruning evergreens now helps reduce sap loss. I do have a spruce that is going to get a hard prune in a few weeks.

Your tree looks so cold and lonely...kinda makes you want to wrap it in a blanky. When did you last prune this one, Lance? Is that where you will be leaving it over the winter? No burying over covering? Just curious...I thought that's what had to be done to all outdoor trees.

What tree is it Pinkham? Very nice trunk, it could be a very good tree in the future!

Yuri,
This tree is a limelight hydrangea. I chopped it down last spring from over 2 feet tall to about 6 inches. now I need to work on the branching. hopefully the scars will heal quickly.
Leslie,
I don't cover my trees with mulch in winter. I put my evergreens in a mini green house to shelter them from wind that would dry out the needles. My other trees are on a cart beside them They are all in the corner of my yard, beside a shed.
Covering them is a good idea when you have trees in small bonsai pots. I only have one tree in a bonsai pot(white pine) and it is native to maine, so it's used to the climate so it doesn't get covered.
I will have to mulch a few trees next year because I have a few trees that are going in to small pots this spring (privet and this hydrangea).
this is how they all are spending the winter...
The back of the mini greenhouse is open for air circulation. OH yeah, My willow cuttings and an unidentified tree are in my unheated garage.
I already can't wait for spring.....

Wow! That is your limelight Hydrangea???...it has come a long way, baby!!! Good work, Lance! Thanks for the photo of all your plants lined up in a row...that's gotta make you proud! I would luv to see a photo of these when they have snow on them.

Leslie,
I will post pictures of my trees in winter. I took some last year too. the brood was smaller then.
For some reason, I obsessively document every bonsai thing I do. I like to look back and see what I have done.. I post here, I have a blog, and I write everything down in a book.
So I'll have pictures...haha

Great, Lance! I'm looking forward to seeing those photos.

I write everything in a book as well...except for when I water them and, I'm thinking maybe I should make up a chart or something in my book of when each plant needs watering. I do keep track of the feedings tho.

Do you document each watering? If so, what is your method?

hey lance havent herd from ya in a while good to have ya back
ill have to agree with the L/H feelings about winter. my trees are usually burried by snow now not to be seen till april ( no snow yet here broke a 135 year old record) tropicals are the answer to the insanity
as for the documentation thing your not strange,i have taken about 600 pics in the last 1-1/2 years of my trees. never was a writer tho
oh yeah one more thing. never surround your overwinter trees in mulch it retains too much water.i have used packing pnuts( they ended up blowing around in spring )and now i use pine needles and pack 'em in there.then ill lightly cover the branches .... SPRING HERE YET !!!