Page 100 - Tài liệu Ebook cây cảnh Bonsai Basics

102 BO -SAl CALENDAR

MID- TO LATE WINTER

below -SOC (23°F), all trees at risk from
freezing should be protected or brought
indoors. ff the trees are kept indoors
during the winter, take steps to ensure
that the ambient temperature does not
exceed soc (41 OF). All plants must be
sprayed with water regularly. Their root
balls can be protected by putting the
trees side by side in a large box and
covering their root balls with peat, mak-
ing sure that they are well drained to
reduce the risk of fungal diseases. If it
snows, you must remove any snow from
the branches at once, to prevent them
being broken or deformed, thereby can-
celling out the benefits of wiring.
Take particular care to protect bonsai
trees kept close beside your ho use from
the risk of snow falling from the roof
during a thaw and causing them damage.
The branches have lost their lea,•es. Use this On the other hand, watch that the trees
opportunity to examine the bark: do not receive too much winter sun,
which can stimulate early buds which
could then be damaged by late frosts.
The first severe cold spells are likely in Premature budding can also upset the
mid-winter and with them the danger of sap circulation, as the roots are still in
frost. Their effects will depend on the very cold soiL Fertilizers should not be
force and direction of the wind and the used during the winter while plants are
nature of one's trees. dormant. Manure would either be com-
The wet and dry thermometer shown pletely ineffective during this dormant
on page 14 can provide a fairly accurate period, or even harmful during a sudden
frost forecast, though keeping informed bout of warm weather, giving rise to
via the media, particularly television, premature budding.
probably provides a more reliable fore- Watering should only be done when
cast as the satellite charts can be strictly necessary as waterlogged soil
followed. freezes easily.
Bonsai trees kept outdoors should not Winter is a good time for preventive
be watered when it is severely cold as a treatment against fungal diseases and
moist root ball can freeze as soon as the pests whose eggs and larvae spend the
temperature drops below ooc (32oF). winter under the bark.
The small amount of compost in the It is also a good time to choose a
bonsai tray, as in the illustration, puts deciduous tree, since, bare of leaves, its
trees at risk from frost that would not be shape is clear and defects easy to spot.
if grown normally. But this does not Late winter is a good time to prune all
mean that a bonsai will always die if it is plants which must be shaped before they
slightly frozen. make new growth. However, do not
However, if the temperature drops touch spring flowering shrubs.