It's late October and I'm seeing many different bonsai looking pretty ratty, including Chinese elms, Chinese peppers, black olives, Brazilian rain trees, privets and some ficus. There is nothing wrong with any of these trees, but they present a problem for me because I hate to ship a tree that will come out of the box looking bare. People don't react well to that. Even the remaining leaves look dull and about to drop. Many of them are about to drop. So what's the problem? Fall. Consider the Chinese elm. It can be grown as a deciduous tree, which drops all it's leaves in the fall or, if the conditions are carefully controlled to minimize the changes in available light,...
It's time to bring our trees inside -I've forgotten to bring plants in on time before and paid the price. Not just with a mini jade that basically turned into mush before my eyes when hit with a sudden (although light) frost. I've seen my beloved cymbidium orchids covered in snow and that was not a pretty sight.
Sooner or later you'll need to repot your Bonsai, usually because its grown too many roots for the pot its in and the tree's health is suffering. It's an easy thing to put off and I'm just as guilty as the next person and maybe more so since I truly know better. I lost a maple because it should have been repotted last year. I'm still not sure if my Japanese Black Pine (which I grew from seed) is going to forgive me for doing this year what I should have done two years ago. I'll know in the spring. If you have bought a bonsai from me, with a few exceptions your tree should be fine for about two years, but since...
If you're wondering why I haven't shipped your bonsai, I hope this little explanation has helps you understand some of the issues around shipping bonsai trees in Canada in the winter.
Regardless how your juniper has fared though the winter, until now, check it and be prepared to change your watering and/or take some steps to up the local humidity. Over the winter your tree hasn't done much of anything. The air has been cooler. The sun has been insipid. But that has changed, and the immediate result is that your tree needs more water now than it did in December or January.
