Good grief, Colin! It's March! Plenty of warm weather ahead for your
juniper to recover from repotting. Summery weather is a good thing.
This is the time of year that any temperate plant can be
repotted. And evergreens, like junipers and pines, are usually last in
line to repot anyway, since they don't have to waste energy with new
leaves needing to harden off.
You just don't want to repot too late in the year when the tree
hasn't enough warm weather before dormancy to adapt to the disturbance
of repotting.
Alan Walker
http://bonsai-bci.com http://LCBSBonsai.org
-----Original Message-----
I made a mistake by not checking the roots of my shimpaku juniper this
winter. I checked it now, and it seems that it needed to be
repotted. I would go as far to say it is rootbound, but it could be in a
matter of time.
The rootball is full of healthy, fiberous roots, but not much soil seems
to be left for another whole year. It's too late to repot it, but I was
wondering if it would be safe to cut off a small section of the bottom,
and fill the remaining part of the container with soil, just so it can
last spring, summer, and fall without going rootbound. Would doing this
hurt the tree, considering its been like summer for the past week? It
seems like winter seems is over for sure. If i did cut some roots, and
added soil, would it help the tree last another year without running
into the problems with being root bound? Any suggestions are much
appreciated.
Thanks, Colin Horn San Francisco Bay Area, CA
==============
Is it really too late to repot in the SF area?
Anyway, being rootbound isn't fatal. You can safely leave it in
its rootbound condition for several years, you just need to make
CERTAIN it gets enough water, and fertilize it by immersion.
Easiest way to take care of a late discovery of too many roots,
of course, if to plop it into a larger pot for a year until you
feel it is OK to repot.
HOWEVER, I can't believe that mid March is too late in your
area.
It wouldn't be too late in MY area and I'm a heckuva lot warmer
than SF.
Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL

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