Every year I try to wrap a blog post around the snarly issue of protecting our trees from cold. This year we’ll try a new approach, and take it in a few bite sized chunks, in a couple of blog posts.

Firstly, we need to bear in mind that the top of a tree or shrub is much more cold hardy than the roots. When we read about the ‘cold hardiness’ of a plant in a garden book, that designation is assuming the darn thing is the ground, where it’s supposed to be. The designation takes no heed of silly bonsaiists who will put it up on a bench. Roots are much more tender than their tops!

A lot of people don’t know this, apparently even a few snow sculptures…

Nextly… on the ground is a good first place to put a bonsai in cold weather, generally when it is dropping…