Key words to look for to know if a pot is able to withstand winter outdoors

[Vance Wood]

I'd like to say skill, but I'd be lying. Its a physical challenge, and I never shy away from a challenge (but often regret it afterwards). Seriously, there is nothing magical about what I do. Leverage and balance coupled with willpower, a strong back and a weak mind is all it takes. Calculated stupidity? My wife says I'm crazy.

My daily dose of dumb. I was planning to repot this but decided to sell it instead; packed and shipped yesterday. 38" tall from the soil, 13" base, 100% awkward weight...

I realize it is none of my business and if I didn't care I would probably say nothing, but---I do care so here goes. When I worked, I worked with a man that did a lot of stuff solo that he should not have done. I made mention to him, understanding that he was coming up on the big five Oh, that he should start trying to look out for himself and stop acting like he was still in his twenties. Well to make a long story short he blew out his back and now has to deal with the results of a couple of back surgeries.

Another good friend of mine was climbing into a tree and took a very small fall, landed the wrong way on one leg and ended with a compound fracture, pins and maybe additional surgery because he is allergic to the titanium pins in his leg. I don't know how old you are but there is one thing for sure I guarantee you are not Merlin the Magician,, who youthens, you my friend are getting older on a daily basis and one day that will make a claim on your life. Blow out your back or a shoulder cuff and you can guarantee at least a year of not doing much in the way of bonsai for probably close to a year.

 

[GrimLore]

My wife says I'm crazy.

Ha! Same at this end! I got the hydraulic cart to help a bit but I toss my lower back muscles anyways. She has "sternly" said "you better design your work area better here" as we moved last November. She really only refers to me as crazy when I use a cross cut hand saw to do monster root reductions(as I am saying just hold it tight there) but she grins when she sees the end results. It is all good and I manage.

Grimmy

 

[Vance Wood]

Ha! Same at this end! I got the hydraulic cart to help a bit but I toss my lower back muscles anyways. She has "sternly" said "you better design your work area better here" as we moved last November. She really only refers to me as crazy when I use a cross cut hand saw to do monster root reductions(as I am saying just hold it tight there) but she grins when she sees the end results. It is all good and I manage.

Grimmy

Well maybe, if you don't start trying to make easier ways for you to do stuff, she might be proved right and you might be looking at therapy following surgery. I suffered a rotator cuff injury a few years ago and it put a serious damper on my options. Believe me it is not a fun thing to have happen. I had to sleep almost sitting up for eight months because I could not stand the pain of laying down from any position. After this kind of injury, even though the modern techniques of dealing with this injury have drastically improved, the recovery takes a lot of time and therapy. After that I think I can say with certainty that you are not going to be doing any cross cut hand sawing monster root reductions any more for--- more than five minutes at a time.

 

[Don Blackmond]

I realize it is none of my business and if I didn't care I would probably say nothing, but---I do care so here goes. When I worked, I worked with a man that did a lot of stuff solo that he should not have done. I made mention to him, understanding that he was coming up on the big five Oh, that he should start trying to look out for himself and stop acting like he was still in his twenties. Well to make a long story short he blew out his back and now has to deal with the results of a couple of back surgeries.

Another good friend of mine was climbing into a tree and took a very small fall, landed the wrong way on one leg and ended with a compound fracture, pins and maybe additional surgery because he is allergic to the titanium pins in his leg. I don't know how old you are but there is one thing for sure I guarantee you are not Merlin the Magician,, who youthens, you my friend are getting older on a daily basis and one day that will make a claim on your life. Blow out your back or a shoulder cuff and you can guarantee at least a year of not doing much in the way of bonsai for probably close to a year.

I have a couple good years left, but have had a few hiccups along the way....