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Timing for fall pruning when the weather is still warm

October 20, 2020 by Jonas Dupuich

As I walked through the garden yesterday, I didn’t see many signs of fall.

Here, for example, is a chojubai I repotted in August producing new shoots above and new roots below.

Chojubai

New growth on dwarf Japanese flowering quince

A beautyberry in the garden has put on several inches of growth in the last month and more buds are on the way.

Beautyberry

New shoot on beautyberry

With few exceptions, most of the trees in my garden are actively growing. The main signs that we’re closing in on the end of the growing season can be found on deciduous trees that weren’t completely defoliated in spring.

As you can see on the Korean hornbeam below, the leaves that emerged in February are yellowing while the leaves that developed after partial defoliation in June are still green.

Hornbeam foliage

Yellow and green leaves on Korean hornbeam

Likewise, new needles on decandled black pines are still elongating.

Black pine

Decandled Japanese black pine

The coast live oaks in the garden are also enjoying the late heat. The 52″ long shoot on the tree below has been growing one inch per day in recent weeks.

Coast live oak

New shoot on coast live oak

Even relatively slow-growing species like sekka hinoki have grown up to two-to-three inches in the last month, and many of the azaleas in the garden are putting on a flush of fall growth.

Sekka hinoki

Sekka hinoki

Satsuki azalea

New leaves on an exposed root satsuki azalea ‘Saiko’

My plan is to hold off on pruning until I see signs from the trees that they’re preparing for winter. On deciduous trees, I’ll wait until most of the leaves show fall color. On satsuki azaleas, coast live oaks, and pines, I’ll wait until the new growth hardens off. And for species that don’t reliably go dormant where I live, I’ll prune near the end of December and remove any remaining leaves.

In the meantime, I’ll be working on junipers and on pines that haven’t been decandled.

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A collection of broadleaf evergreen and deciduous bonsai (plus a few conifers) has recently become available. You can browse the collection at the Client Sales Trees page. (Local pick-up only.)

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Filed Under: Bonsai Care Tagged With: Pruning

Previous Post: « Advice wanted: how to overwinter bonsai in cold climates
Next Post: What to do if your trees think it’s spring »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Steven Warburton says

    October 20, 2020 at 6:11 am

    Hey Jonas! Thanks for the post and the helpful photos. I was wondering recently at what stage you’d remove leaves from deciduous trees. For instance I have some Japanese hornbeams that colored up fairly early but the leaves tenaciously cling on and resist a light pull. I wouldn’t want to damage any buds. And alternately I have some Japanese Maples and Tridents that haven’t colored at all. We’re getting somewhat close to dormant time here in New England…

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 20, 2020 at 3:51 pm

      I usually remove leaves when most of the foliage shows color. It’s common for this to be different times for different trees. And as for how to protect the buds when you remove the leaves, you can either try to pluck the leaves carefully or use scissors and cut them away. I do both approaches depending on how easily the leaves come off.

  2. David Campbell says

    October 20, 2020 at 10:30 am

    Thanks for this post Jonas. I have been struggling with this problem and you have given wise counsel. It has been a very warm fall here in Santa Rosa.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 20, 2020 at 3:49 pm

      Thanks, David! Despite the lack of cool weather, trees seem to be doing well this year so I’m happy about that.

  3. Michael Szabo says

    October 29, 2020 at 4:21 pm

    Just found out about your blog from GroBonsai. I’m in Kensington in East Bay. I saw the Coast Live Oak and knew you had to be close by. I have those popping up all over my yard!

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 29, 2020 at 4:25 pm

      Ha, that sounds about right – they’re really growing around here these days!

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