Wintering a juniper in USDA zone 4a-4b ( London Ontario, Canada)

[Pedro]

Hello!

So i've had my bonsai for about 4 months now and its a juniper but im not sure the species and i was wondering how i would go about wintering it or if thats even possible in my zone.

 

[Pedro]

Okay I used my school books to find out it is a Procumbens Nana Juniper and its hardy in my zone. I'll just follow the steps to keep it alive for the first winter! I'mma put it outside tomorrow morning and maybe mulch? when should mulching be done?

 

[Pedro]

canadaplants.ca also i just wanted to share my schools website with everyone. Its great to ID plants!

 

[JudyB]

Hi Pedro,
I think that you could mulch anytime you want now that the temps are going down. Just be careful that you leave a bit of space around the trunk so you can keep an eye on any critter munching that may go on. You could also bury the pot into the ground, that will keep it protected. Thanks for the link. Welcome to the forum!

 

[monza]

Has it been inside for a while? Is it freezing outside yet? If so you might want to slowly start getting it used to the cold as a extra precaution? More then likely it'll be fine.
Make sure you keep it watered well in the winter. Most of my tree deaths has been caused by under watering in the winter and they dry up. I learned the lesson the hard way, good luck, welcome.

 

[Dav4]

Make sure you keep it watered well in the winter. Most of my tree deaths has been caused by under watering in the winter and they dry up. I learned the lesson the hard way, good luck, welcome.

Don't water when the soil/mulch is frozen...the tree can't use the water then and it will likely do more harm then good. From December through March, I would only apply snow to the mulch surface of the trees frozen on the floor of my garage floor...the trees I wintered outside would got watered in when the mulch was applied and that was usually enough.

 

[monza]

Yes my wording of well watered is not the best. Better to say don't let it dry out. So dry and cold up here moisture is sucked out of the pots.