Back Operation - What do I do About my Trees?

Cumbria is a fair way north. How cold can you expect it to get?
Unless it gets really cold there i would not go overboard with protection. In many cases people are too conservative and then you have problems reacclimating the trees to proper growing conditions next spring.
you have not mentioned which pines you have. There are plenty of growers repotting pines after mid summer now but that gives time for roots to grow before real cold sets in. Over here I can root prune my JBP from mid winter with no problem. JBP seems to be a little active all winter for us and seems to respond to winter fertilisation. I'd expect Scots pine to be even more resilient so probably repotting now will be better than leaving them.
 
Thanks folks.

I can leave quite a few as is and just wait till next year but I’ve got some maples that I started prepping last year for thread grafts - branches have been wired into place and are ready to go - I think the branches will be too thick next year? I was wondering, if I do these now, what type of aftercare would they need?

Thanks again,

Andy


Andy, I would go ahead and do your thread grafts now. Make sure you cover both ends with cut paste (the putty). Also keep them protected until spring. This means no extremes of weather.


All the best to you and wish you a quick recovery!
 
Thanks again everybody for your feedback.

Thanks Mach - I think I’ll crack on and get them done then. And thanks for your kind words.
 
The only other query is around the pines that I have that aren’t draining well and I had planned to repot this spring. Would these be safe to do now - if I give them protection?

Ideally you'd do the pines later in the year BUT given your situation I don't think there'd be a problem doing them now - just don't remove too much root. The other possibility with pines is to use the late summer repotting window, though if your concern is transitioning to a better draining substrate then sooner might be better than later.

FWIW I thread-grafted an english elm a couple of weeks ago. I'll keep it frost free until April. I'd happily do the same with maples.
 
Hello everyone!

Thank you for all your kind words - much appreciated! I saw the surgeon yesterday and he has added me to his waiting list to have spinal surgery! I’m very relieved :-) And it’s not going to be until July so I’ll have chance to do my spring work! I might have to bring the summer work forward a tad but there won’t be a lot of that anyway.

Thanks again for your messages - and also for the tips that I asked for help on!

Andy
 
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