JT’s Tree Tips
March 2021
Watering
This is not two years ago. The best we have to hope for is a couple of mist storms. Maybe! That means that water quality is going to be dismal right out of the tap. I have collected only a small amount from my diverter and will have to ration the pure rain water to the most needy trees. Some folks have gone to RO (Reverse Osmosis) water for clean water. The down side of this method, is that you save less than half of the water this way so be sure to run the waste water to your your landscape plants. The upside is that the clean water you get will improve the growth of your trees quite a bit.
Transplanting
Everything is popping and we only have a short window open to transplant beeches, hornbeams, boxwoods, and conifers. Be careful with aftercare if the leaves are showing on your deciduous trees. Hopefully the cold snaps are over and we won’t have that to deal with frost damage.
Time to start on your elongating species like conifers. But don’t bare-root conifers. You could lose them. If there is any field soil it must be removed but if it is solid throughout, do half of it this year and the other half next year. The half you do this year will be able to support the tree when you do the other half in a year or two.
If any tree has a good solid root mass with radial roots and free of field soil, don’t bare root it. Just cut back the exterior and bottom roots that have started to run and clean the surface in a slant down from the trunk to the outside edge of the root mass. Be sure to cover this with new soil at the end.
Be sure to secure all trees in the pot with tie-down wires. If the tree is wobbly it will not develop lateral roots but will try to put down one or more tap roots again — not what we want.
Broadleaf evergreens such as boxwoods and azaleas as well as junipers, and pines are repotted in February and early March. Be careful as this has been a warm winter and everything is moving. Needle juniper is an exception - that can wait till May.
At this point, return your transplanted trees to a sunny location unless you have done major root work. The angle of the Sun is relatively low yet and it will warm and stimulate the roots and get them going faster. Rotate your trees every couple of weeks or at least monthly for well rounded growth. Do watch out for late frosts. The weatherman always has a curveball in his bag of tricks.
Styling, fertilizing, and fungicides
Photo by Jack Christiansen
You can be styling and wiring your conifers. Big bends are OK until about the end of March. Then you run the risk of detaching the cambium from the sapwood.
Don’t fertilize yet except for trees you want to fatten and young material in a pre-bonsai state. Not on mature trees you are refining.
Remember to continue your monthly fungal treatments, alternating different fungicides like copper, Mancozeb, Zerotol, Clearys, Daconil, etc. You need to mix it up for all those nasty fungi. 🌳
