Ugh...the weather...again

[Paradox]

Well here we are in December. The forecast for the next few days is around 30 at night and 40s during the day.
BUT Friday and Saturday night is forecast for around 20, with highs on Saturday in the mid 30s.

Monday-Tuesday its back to mid to high 40s during the day and low to mid 30s at night.

WTF would you do?

Move the trees in? Leave them out? I am not going to move all of them in for 2 days then all back out..
Once they are in, they are in til spring. But I dont want to move them in too early. Mid-upper 40s isnt a big deal and the garage will be at least 50 so way too warm.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...2.57567956515902&site=all&smap=1#.WEdXs_krKUl

We finally got a good frost for the first time last week and had a good one this morning.

Ugh I hate the yo-yo weather we have here every fall and spring! I wish it would make up its freakin mind and stay cold if thats what it is supposed to be.

 

[Random User]

Having to deal with that (the yo-yo) would definatly cause me to focus on one or two good trees and leave the rest alone. This is one instance where I can see why someone would just go out and buy a couple good pre-bonsai and live vicariously through the Internet... Personally, I'd leave them out and if something didn't survive a reasonable cold snap, I'd scratch it off of my list.

 

[Paradox]

Having to deal with that (the yo-yo) would definatly cause me to focus on one or two good trees and leave the rest alone. This is one instance where I can see why someone would just go out and buy a couple good pre-bonsai and live vicariously through the Internet... Personally, I'd leave them out and if something didn't survive a reasonable cold snap, I'd scratch it off of my list.

Thanks. Thats kinda where I am leaning right now but would like other opinions so thats why I asked.

 

[vicn]

Unless you have a bunch of trees from the Southern zones, I would let them sit out until the forecast is for temps below 15° for several nights in a row.

 

[whfarro]

Ah feel your pain!

 

[Random User]

Have you ever seen those "pop-up" garbage cans?... the ones with the fabric side and bottom, and the wire frame... if you only had a tree or two that you were really concerned about, you might go get a couple of those and put it over a valued tree(s)... I know it sounds silly, but it's just a thought.

 

[Dav4]

So, down here just north of Atlanta, my trees stay out year round. Your forecast for the next few days is actually very similar to mine, fwiw. My yard still hasn't had a frost, and with temps predicted to fall into the low 20's, I spent some time today putting the more sensitive trees on the ground. Normally, such a brief cold snap into the low 20's wouldn't force me to move the trees like I did, but the absolute lack of cold weather this fall with the potential for such a sudden drop concerns me enough to want to protect the smaller trees. My larger trees will stay right where they are. For you, bigger trees and hardy evergreens like juniper and mugo should be fine on their benches...put the others on the ground for a day or two.

 

[Paradox]

Have you ever seen those "pop-up" garbage cans?... the ones with the fabric side and bottom, and the wire frame... if you only had a tree or two that you were really concerned about, you might go get a couple of those and put it over a valued tree(s)... I know it sounds silly, but it's just a thought.

There is about half a dozen that I might move inside for a couple of days. One is a mugo I repotted this past July and the others are either smaller trees in smaller pots (<4") or my satsuki azalea that was imported from Japan in 2015. Half a dozen or so I can deal with but I have somewhere around 50 trees right now.

I am not worried about my pines and junipers for those 2 days. I know the mugos, scots and JWP love cold.

 

[aml1014]

My Temps have been in the 20s at night and 40-60 in the day. my trees are tucked in the treehouse, but starting Thursday nights our lows will be back around 30 and the highs will still be very similar. I gotta start moving shit back to the benches!

Aaron

 

[Potawatomi13]

Well here we are in December. The forecast for the next few days is around 30 at night and 40s during the day.
BUT Friday and Saturday night is forecast for around 20, with highs on Saturday in the mid 30s.

Monday-Tuesday its back to mid to high 40s during the day and low to mid 30s at night.

WTF would you do?

Move the trees in? Leave them out? I am not going to move all of them in for 2 days then all back out..
Once they are in, they are in til spring. But I dont want to move them in too early. Mid-upper 40s isnt a big deal and the garage will be at least 50 so way too warm.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...2.57567956515902&site=all&smap=1#.WEdXs_krKUl

We finally got a good frost for the first time last week and had a good one this morning.

Ugh I hate the yo-yo weather we have here every fall and spring! I wish it would make up its freakin mind and stay cold if thats what it is supposed to be.

It is December. Spring WEATHER is now 4-5 months away. Just move all needing protection in now and leave in. Why vacillate? Dec. weather mostly all sucks anyway.

 

[Anthony]

cold rain ---------- luv it

 

[Paradox]

It is December. Spring WEATHER is now 4-5 months away. Just move all needing protection in now and leave in. Why vacillate? Dec. weather mostly all sucks anyway.

It's going to be almost 50 on Monday

 

[Random User]

It's currently -17 C with a gusting wind at 50kms/hr... that would give us a wind chill of around -40c... C and F meet at -40, so it's a bit chilly.

I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that a freshly caught 5 pound Walleye (or Pickerel, same thing) laying on the ice, would be frozen solid in about... ummmmm, an hour?... something like that... it would be impossible to filet until it was thawed out anyway,

I've worked in -40 with a 50 km "breeze" before... that provided enough of a chill (about -70 to -75C) that I had to suck on my bologna sandwichs for a few minutes before I could even take a smallish bite out of it. At that time we used to take cover in culverts to get out of the wind to enjoy our lunch... they were often drifted over on one end and we'd open the other enough to crawl in and then plug the hole "mostly" closed again behind us. I said mostly, because the CO will build up rapidly with a hand full of men confined in a smallish space, and it wouldn't be inconceivable that we could all die within a short timeframe.

It was much more convenient to find cover in the culverts (etc) to have lunch because undressing and dressing would not only cause us to sweat, but our clothing would begin to thaw out (and the imbedded snow would begin to melt) then when you went doors again, you'd really freeze!

For as crazy as it might sound, I wouldn't live anywhere else. I can go to Vancouver for Christmas or a ski trip and not worry about the health of the trees... and, I don't have to worry about getting Zika from a mosquito bite for another 5-ish months.

 

[GrimLore]

It's going to be almost 50 on Monday

My Wife has always brought in her tropicals when the nights are a consistent 45ish or lower. I let some of mine like Serissa see a few nights of low to mid 30's and the bougainvillea. Everything else I have been growing stays out and even the Bald Cypress and Willow are staying in water. Hell, there is a tiny Elm out there is a 1/2 inch deep saucer that will stay right on the shelf all Winter. I don't shuffle the tropicals in and out. Once in they stay in and appear to be just fine.

Grimmy

 

[Paradox]

My Wife has always brought in her tropicals when the nights are a consistent 45ish or lower. I let some of mine like Serissa see a few nights of low to mid 30's and the bougainvillea. Everything else I have been growing stays out and even the Bald Cypress and Willow are staying in water. Hell, there is a tiny Elm out there is a 1/2 inch deep saucer that will stay right on the shelf all Winter. I don't shuffle the tropicals in and out. Once in they stay in and appear to be just fine.

Grimmy

My trops were bought in permanently for the winter overy a month ago.

I'm going to bring in 6 to 12 of the more delicate trees. I might put the deciduous down on the deck up against the house with a bench just to block the wind for a couple of days. The rest will stay where they are until it will be cold enough consistently to bring them into the garage or coldframe.

 

[Paradox]

It's currently -17 C with a gusting wind at 50kms/hr... that would give us a wind chill of around -40c... C and F meet at -40, so it's a bit chilly.

I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that a freshly caught 5 pound Walleye (or Pickerel, same thing) laying on the ice, would be frozen solid in about... ummmmm, an hour?... something like that... it would be impossible to filet until it was thawed out anyway,

I've worked in -40 with a 50 km "breeze" before... that provided enough of a chill (about -70 to -75C) that I had to suck on my bologna sandwichs for a few minutes before I could even take a smallish bite out of it. At that time we used to take cover in culverts to get out of the wind to enjoy our lunch... they were often drifted over on one end and we'd open the other enough to crawl in and then plug the hole "mostly" closed again behind us. I said mostly, because the CO will build up rapidly with a hand full of men confined in a smallish space, and it wouldn't be inconceivable that we could all die within a short timeframe.

It was much more convenient to find cover in the culverts (etc) to have lunch because undressing and dressing would not only cause us to sweat, but our clothing would begin to thaw out (and the imbedded snow would begin to melt) then when you went doors again, you'd really freeze!

For as crazy as it might sound, I wouldn't live anywhere else. I can go to Vancouver for Christmas or a ski trip and not worry about the health of the trees... and, I don't have to worry about getting Zika from a mosquito bite for another 5-ish months.

I've been outside working on January and had my lunch start to freeze inside my lunch cooler.

 

[Random User]

"I've been outside working on January and had my lunch start to freeze inside my lunch cooler."

... it can turn a banana into a popsicle, and makes them difficult to peel...

 

[GrimLore]

The rest will stay where they are until it will be cold enough consistently to bring them into the garage or coldframe.

I grew 5 types of Juniper, Mugo, Bald Cypress, Elms, Oaks, Maples, several fruit trees, Cotoneaster, Rhododendron, Quince, and more out there to test and they will all stay as potted with little to no protection. There is a fence so I know the wind is slowed by it as they stay upright but that is it. The only pain to it for me is when and if they need water. Dragging out the Haws and filling it inside can be a pain. I have mulched in tiny seedlings before at the old place but honest they would have done fine with wind protection only... Our nights are going to dip into the 20's for a good week minimum so they will get water today and not need anything for a couple of weeks minimum.
I have always found that if a plant can grow in our zone it can take a LOT once established and acclimated for a year if it came from a warmer climate.

Grimmy

 

[Random User]

"I have always found that if a plant can grow in our zone it can take a LOT once established and acclimated for a year if it came from a warmer climate."

It's the same with people... I see immigrants with parkas on in September the first year, and by the spring of the next they are walking around at +6 C in T-shirts like the rest of us. Provided that you are willing to acclimate, the winters don't have to be something that you loath.

 

[wireme]

My yard still hasn't had a frost, and with temps predicted to fall into the low 20's, I

Yeah, that's getting dangerous without a precious frost alright.

You've probably seen me mention it before but I lost nearly all of my trees in fall of 2010 when a sudden hard freeze showed up before enough previous cold had hardened things off. It was a bit extreme in my case, down to -13f in October.
I met another well respected bnutter this summer who told me he had similar losses a year or two ago in late fall, I don't know the temps in his case but they were mostly native cold hardy trees that hadn't hardened to their potential yet when an early hard freeze appeared.