Would this old wheelbarrow work as an outdoor pot?

[taylerhill]

I have this old wheelbarrow that I am planning on planting something in this spring. I had an idea to put a Juniper bonsai in it, but then my brother thought that since the juniper would be planted above ground it might freeze in the winter (we are in Colorado and winter temps get below zero sometimes). The wheels are broken on it so it would be difficult to move it into the garage once it was full of dirt and plants. Do you think the juniper would freeze in this?

 

[Dav4]

Do you think the juniper would freeze in this?View attachment 65322

In CO, absolutely. Anything not planted in the landscape would need protection in your location, I suspect.

 

[taylerhill]

Darn ok. I'm glad my brother thought of this! It never even crossed my mind. Maybe I could find a way to fix the wheels so I could wheel it into the garage when it freezes at night. Usually in the daytime it gets above freezing so I could bring it back out in the daytime.

 

[Dav4]

Darn ok. I'm glad my brother thought of this! It never even crossed my mind. Maybe I could find a way to fix the wheels so I could wheel it into the garage when it freezes at night. Usually in the daytime it gets above freezing so I could bring it back out in the daytime.

The best thing to do as far as overwintering temperate, cold hardy species like juniper is to place the tree in a place out of the wind and sun where the soil will freeze, but temps stay in the 20's F...and leave it there through the winter until spring. The next best thing is to mulch the tree, which is hopefully cold hardy in your climate, outside in a protected area. Again, the goal is to keep the tree relatively protected but dormant until spring.

 

[milehigh_7]

Over the course of my bonsai experience I have not had opportunity due to work, family and finances to attend classes and the like so I have received most of my education from finding good information in books and the right people online. There is a bunch that you need to learn about pots, soil, watering, wintering, pruning and a so much more.

Maybe some of the more knowledgeable folk will jump in with some additional resources for you.

I am going to recommend you do a lot of reading before you go much further. Here is a page of articles that is a great place to start. Read them all:

https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/articles.htm