Looking for a shade item.

[Mike Corazzi]

This year I got some commercial mix from Maruyama Bonsai in Sacramento.
It.....seems... ??.... to be pretty resistant to water retention. VERY FAST DRAINING.... but is it TOO fast?
The mix is supposedly akadama, pumice, and lava. And I have used it before with no concerns.

THIS YEAR'S dries out really fast. I am worried about our summer heat. Trying to think of a shade thing if it's needed. I have used light cloth over the soil before.
Where I live, awnings are so regulated and need committee reviews and other stuff that I would like to figure a way to get shade with some substitute for an awning.

Mulling over jerry rigging some sort of PVC contraption to hang shadecloth on. Or a wall mounted umbrella maybe. The rack isn't all that large. 10 feet max linear exposure.

One year I used too much lava in an elm and remedied that with digging into the substrate without too much root disturbance and spooning planting mix into the bad shit I originally used. I'm thinking that may be the best answer but I hate digging into the root area of more than one tree.

Any other ideas, votes or suggestions?

 

[TrevorLarsen]

I need to learn about shade cloth myself, but with the drying soil I would suggest a top dressing of sphagnum moss or akadama.

 

[Gabler]

Dissolve the HOA.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Mosquito mesh is light and cheap and can be tied, stapled, nailed or fixed to whatever.

 

[Gabler]

Let me know if you have any questions about the process of dissolving an HOA. I can't give legal advice outside the State of Delaware, but I can help point you in the direction of the information you're looking for.

 

[Maiden69]

How is your garden set up? I lived and I am moving into an HOA area, most of them will approve a pergola on the backyard with no questions asked. You could set it up with a shade cloth running on the inside. Another option is depending on the verbiage of the DCCRs, ours indicated that I didn't need to get approval for anything lower than 6', the height of our fence. I bought a tube greenhouse from Amazon and attached the shade cloth to it, as I just needed something temporary. In our new home I am going the "pergola" way and adding a retractable shade cloth running inside of the frame.

I just needed one side shaded to prevent the maples and quinces from getting too sunburned. The shade cloth is on the south side of the greenhouse going up to the 10 o/clock mark.

Another thing that helped me with some trees was to use sphagnum moss as a topper for the soil. That helped my ficus a lot while on full sun here in TX.

 

[vesper818]

On my balcony, I use a patio umbrella, and a canopy with metalic mesh shade cloth. Keeps everything pretty cool.

 

[penumbra]

I like the idea of a top dressing, at least in my climate. Even in the shade my plants dry rapidly when we have wind. We have had a lot of wind this spring. I am going to be using a lot of sphagnum moss this season. Probably won't need as much next year. I have found that in the first year of potting, the water goes pretty much straight through the mix. In subsequent years as particles break down the drainage is more manageable.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I have thought about putting shade cloth over my collected moss, while leaving the trees in the sun. I think the sun dries out the moss too fast. Does anything think this would be a waste of time and shade cloth?

 

[Tieball]

Surprise the HOA and construct something that swaggers like it was built on Gilligan's Island.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

On my balcony, I use a patio umbrella, and a canopy with metalic mesh shade cloth. Keeps everything pretty cool.

Any pix? Especially the...canopy...
and ....metallic mesh shadecloth. ?????
I am also considering moving the patio table with umbrella closer to the rack. It might work.
Still think I will have to water more this summer.
The mystery is why this soil that I have used for years is so cranky this year. It looks the same as in the past.

 

[Mr. Watanabe]

This year I got some commercial mix from Maruyama Bonsai in Sacramento.
It.....seems... ??.... to be pretty resistant to water retention. VERY FAST DRAINING.... but is it TOO fast?
The mix is supposedly akadama, pumice, and lava. And I have used it before with no concerns.

THIS YEAR'S dries out really fast. I am worried about our summer heat. Trying to think of a shade thing if it's needed. I have used light cloth over the soil before.
Where I live, awnings are so regulated and need committee reviews and other stuff that I would like to figure a way to get shade with some substitute for an awning.

Mulling over jerry rigging some sort of PVC contraption to hang shadecloth on. Or a wall mounted umbrella maybe. The rack isn't all that large. 10 feet max linear exposure.

One year I used too much lava in an elm and remedied that with digging into the substrate without too much root disturbance and spooning planting mix into the bad shit I originally used. I'm thinking that may be the best answer but I hate digging into the root area of more than one tree.

Any other ideas, votes or suggestions?

I bought a Trident from them early this year and it was doing well until two weeks ago when I went out of town for a week and wasn’t able to monitor the tree during the warm spell when it got to over 70 degrees for a few days.

You’re right about their soil mix not retaining a lot of water. Also, Maruyama’s environment is a lot different than my backyard or your area. Maruyama has 1) a shaded area, 2) a lot of plants and trees in the area to help provide humidity and 3) many of their smaller and younger trees are sitting on tubs of wet/moist lava rock and 4) they are probably watering at least twice a day. This enables the trees survive in 90+ degree Sacramento summer weather.

Adding a shade cloth will help. You can also have you pot sit on a tub of wet lava rock or pumice. Spagnum moss or bark mulch to cover the top soil will also help. These are the things I can think of other than repotting in more organic soil.

 

[Weta]

I have thought about putting shade cloth over my collected moss, while leaving the trees in the sun. I think the sun dries out the moss too fast. Does anything think this would be a waste of time and shade cloth?

I've found with my moss anything up on stands struggle during summer, low to the ground or even in a dip helps with night time moisture.
Looking at my lawn this Autumn I'm gonna get a bumper harvest of moss, first summer I've been here where there wasn't major die off, very very mild summer.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

I bought a Trident from them early this year and it was doing well until two weeks ago when I went out of town for a week and wasn’t able to monitor the tree during the warm spell when it got to over 70 degrees for a few days.

You’re right about their soil mix not retaining a lot of water. Also, Maruyama’s environment is a lot different than my backyard or your area. Maruyama has 1) a shaded area, 2) a lot of plants and trees in the area to help provide humidity and 3) many of their smaller and younger trees are sitting on tubs of wet/moist lava rock and 4) they are probably watering at least twice a day. This enables the trees survive in 90+ degree Sacramento summer weather.

Adding a shade cloth will help. You can also have you pot sit on a tub of wet lava rock or pumice. Spagnum moss or bark mulch to cover the top soil will also help. These are the things I can think of other than repotting in more organic soil.

Wasn't thinking of a repot. What I did with the elm was shallowly dig out some substrate and spoon in some potting soil to create more moisture.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

I need to learn about shade cloth myself, but with the drying soil I would suggest a top dressing of sphagnum moss or akadama.

It seems to be the akadama compound in the mix that dries out.
Last time I used sphagnum was for an air layer in a plastic wrap.
It was stringy and was hard to get wet. For the air layer i used a hypodermic to inject water into the wrap.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

I like the idea of a top dressing, at least in my climate. Even in the shade my plants dry rapidly when we have wind. We have had a lot of wind this spring. I am going to be using a lot of sphagnum moss this season. Probably won't need as much next year. I have found that in the first year of potting, the water goes pretty much straight through the mix. In subsequent years as particles break down the drainage is more manageable.

By "top dressing" do you mean the very small rocky stuff they use temporarily for shows?
I got some that I never used but it didn't look like it would break down....ever.

 

[nuttiest]

I like plumeria for shading because you have several months of no leaves or small leaves when you want the full sun. They are easy to dig up when you don't need anymore. Otherwise maybe sunflowers for a temp screen. I can't see the HOA being bothered by plants, maybe a tree is a solution.

 

[Mr. Watanabe]

Wasn't thinking of a repot. What I did with the elm was shallowly dig out some substrate and spoon in some potting soil to create more moisture.

if you repot right now, I would try keep the rootball as intact as possible and don't cut the roots.

 

[99 Mile Creek]

Let me know if you have any questions about the process of dissolving an HOA. I can't give legal advice outside the State of Delaware, but I can help point you in the direction of the information you're looking for.

I'd be interested. We cannot get rid of our HOA due to the language in the bylaws they had in fine print -- made it seem as if it was reverting back to us after development was finished in our neighborhood...but we need a majority vote. But not just a majority vote; it must be 80% residents to vote in order to overturn the HOA. If only 79% of the residents vote, it's automatically cast out.

This year I got some commercial mix from Maruyama Bonsai in Sacramento.
It.....seems... ??.... to be pretty resistant to water retention. VERY FAST DRAINING.... but is it TOO fast?
The mix is supposedly akadama, pumice, and lava. And I have used it before with no concerns.

THIS YEAR'S dries out really fast. I am worried about our summer heat. Trying to think of a shade thing if it's needed. I have used light cloth over the soil before.
Where I live, awnings are so regulated and need committee reviews and other stuff that I would like to figure a way to get shade with some substitute for an awning.

Mulling over jerry rigging some sort of PVC contraption to hang shadecloth on. Or a wall mounted umbrella maybe. The rack isn't all that large. 10 feet max linear exposure.

One year I used too much lava in an elm and remedied that with digging into the substrate without too much root disturbance and spooning planting mix into the bad shit I originally used. I'm thinking that may be the best answer but I hate digging into the root area of more than one tree.

Any other ideas, votes or suggestions?

I'm currently dealing with HOA. I finally came to terms to just submit the fee for approval...it's all they want anyway. Just make sure you have a professional-looking diagram. I'm looking into a 40% shade rectangle to pull over my bonsai too. I was worried about substrate at first, but after reading "Modern Bonsai Practice: 501" -- "Roots don't grow in soil or substrate. Roots grow in air spaces. Air spaces are more for letting air in than water out." I'm more comfortable with it now.
Paired with some shade, I'd get an auto misting system that can double as a "vacation" watering system. Good luck.

 

[JudyB]

If you build a pergola with slats closer together, that will create a sun/shade area with no additional shade cloth. As the sun moves you'll get dappled sun moving across the area. You could also do a misting system in the pergola as well, for additional moisture. And it can be an attractive addition to your yard.