Would it work as intended?

[Ja_De]

I have 10 or 12 small Eastern Red Cedar trees in the early stages of development as bonsai. Four are in containers approximately single quart size, the trees four to five inches in height. The attached picture of a single tree is of one being trained ROR style. The others are in a shoe box sized Styrofoam container together. They all are collected from the environment.

In a hypothetical situation in which no one was able to care for them over the winter i.e. watering as needed and general safeguarding would the following be a viable substitute?
After making one, perhaps two inch in diameter holes in the bottom of the containers they would be buried "planted" in the ground. The containers would be placed in holes of sufficient depth as to have an inch layer of pea stone below them, ensuring drainage. This would be done in a location protected from full strength winds yet with full sunlight between the hours of 11am and 2pm. Naturally occurring precipitation hopefully would be sufficient. Those trees in the box would be separated, each in its own container.

Would this work to see the trees through winter?

 

[Mike Westervelt]

They should be perfectly fine under those conditions

 

[Orion_metalhead]

You're in 7b. ERC probably need no more serious winter protection than putting the trees on the ground and mulching them over, granted they have decent drainage.

 

[ponderingsage]

You're in 7b. ERC probably need no more serious winter protection than putting the trees on the ground and mulching them over, granted they have decent drainage.

That is what I do, and l leave them be until spring.

 

[Ja_De]

You're in 7b. ERC probably need no more serious winter protection than putting the trees on the ground and mulching them over, granted they have decent drainage.

Greetings. Thanks for your response/ input. When mulching the trees, to what depth would you cover the trees? A bit higher than the soil line in the container or more?

I think I'll mulch the trees loosely with l oat straw, with the trees set up on cribbing providing a half inch air space under the containers. A windbreak protecting the trees from the prevailing winds will be made using a second straw bale.

I realized that what you suggested was in essence what was happening where I collected most of the ERC's from. Bonsai being a mimicking of natural processes... I had not an epiphany but an " effen genius" moment, thanks again.