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Keeping bonsai from drying out in summer

June 1, 2012 by Jonas Dupuich

About two months ago, I removed most of the Spring growth from my root-over-rock trident maple (see “Refining Trident Maple” for details).

After cutback

Trident maple – 4/1/12

Mild weather has produced moderate growth since then. The tree is again full and a few shoots are beginning to elongate beyond the general silhouette.

Trident maple

Trident maple – 5/25/12

To keep the branches from swelling, I’m removing vigorous shoots whenever I see them. The longest shoot on the tree is pictured below.

Elongated shoot

Vigorous shoot

Shoot removed

Vigorous shoot removed

Most of the shoots I removed were much smaller.

New growth

Small shoot

From past experience, I’ve found that this trident is often the first tree in the garden to dry out. To help the tree cope in warm weather, I filled a plastic saucer with pebbles that will provide a home for the maple through the summer.

Water tray

Saucer with rocks and water

Maple on water tray

The pot nestled into the rocks

This technique is great for providing trees and accents with extra water when they need it. I keep most pots on top of the rocks to prevent them from staying too wet. Wisteria, on the other hand, like more water. For wisteria, I add fewer rocks to the saucer so the trees can get more water. Although saucers are no replacement for good watering habits, I find they help most when I’m not around to water as often as I’d like.

✕

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Filed Under: Bonsai Care Tagged With: Trident Maple, Watering

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Daniel Dolan says

    June 1, 2012 at 5:12 am

    Dear Jonas:

    Very important topic………I am having a little trouble visualizing how the roots of this fine tree which are at least another 1/8″ away from the top of the lava rock surface owing to the thickness of the pot get any water at all………..especially after the top 1/16″ of water evaporates from this tray and from the top rocks themselves.

    My large wisteria in a 16″ diameter pot sits in a tray with 2″ of water such that the bottom soil in the pot is submerged at least 1″. The trunk of my tree is 3″ and the crown when untrimmed is 3′-0″.a lot of foliage to water.

    Best regards,

    D/D
    Chicago

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      June 2, 2012 at 9:19 am

      Hi Daniel – If a porous pot comes in contact with moisture in the tray, it can draw upon this moisture to help keep a tree cool. The lower in the tray one nestles the tree, the easier the tree can grab the water.

  2. Andrew says

    June 7, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    This subject is going to be spoken of more as time passes.
    Water saving is upon us all, well, some of us anyway.

    Your technique seems to do the trick with the Bonsai showing.
    As stated in a previous comment – Porous containers might be the answer
    Your photo’s are very clear.
    Thanks for sharing

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