MARCH : Once buds begin to swell, it’s time for potting and repotting providing you protect them from high winds and late frosts. Young trees need repotting more often than the older ones, lift trees from the pots and remove all soil where you can and trim the roots as necessary. When you report is often advisable to raise the tree about a quarter of an inch higher than the previous year, and gently scrape away the soil from around the trunk, by doing this you can gradually expose the root and make a more interesting bonsai, if the root system on show is what you would like to see more off
Older trees that you have decided not to repot can benefit by carefully removing the top half inch of soil, avoid damaging the surface roots and replace it with new soil mix or even just replace the half inch or so around the edges of the pot. This practice will remove the weed seeds that may have settled and any pests that have over wintered and generally give your bonsai a fresh look to start this season. If the weather is any good then on a nice day it’s time to clean and sterilise your display area.
We are meeting on the Tuesday 14th and Sunday 26th March 2017 for more details see our online diary : Diary Dates