ArcaMax

Q: I have been cleaning up my flower beds, and I noticed that there are dozens of small trees sprouting up everywhere. I think they are redbud trees from the neighbor's tree. They range from a couple of inches to a couple of feet tall. I am thinking of digging up as many as I can and using some for bonsai and some to give away or sell at a neighborhood plant sale in the spring. Do you think this is worth the effort? How should I store them for the winter? Should I just wait until spring?

A: I think it is a great idea. Here is what I would consider. First, make sure they really are a valuable tree and not just a weed. There are many plants in both categories. There are not many special varieties of redbud trees. For instance, if they are crabapple trees that are grown for specific flower colors, then it may not be worth the effort because the seedlings may not have the same color as the mother tree. So, be sure they are redbuds.

Second, we are going into a dormant period for many trees and shrubs, so transplanting now is better than waiting until spring. During the winter, the trees may be eaten by animals. Winter weather may kill many of the small trees because they don't have enough roots to survive drying winds. Many tree species have thousands of baby trees during the first year, but most do not survive the first winter. The weather next spring may make it hard to dig the plants up, and it may be hard to find the trees next spring when they don't have any leaves. Digging them up when they are just leafing out in the spring may kill them.

Dig them up and drop them into a bucket of water. Expect that you won't get all of the roots on the bigger trees. In a shady location, sort all the trees into groups by size. Toss out any with deformed or damaged trunks. The small ones can be planted in flats or pots. At this point, you can plant several in each pot and then sort the ones that survive in the spring, when you will be planting them into bonsai pots or pots for sale.

Because redbud trees are native to cold winter areas, you will need to place the potted trees into a location that is safe from mice or other animals and that will experience the cold of winter. The biggest problem is going to be keeping the soil in the pots from drying out.

After the leaves have fallen off the trees, water the pots and then place them in plastic bags. The bags can go into a refrigerator if you have a spare one. Outdoors, you don't have to put the pots in bags. Either way, they can go in a protected spot and then be covered with a foot or more of leaves. The leaves will protect them from cold, from drying out and from large mammals, but not small ones. Covering the pots with wire screens may be necessary to keep out small mammals.

As the weather warms up in the spring, you can start uncovering the pots. If you have the space, you can bring them in a few weeks early to get them off to an early start.

A grove of redbud trees in a large, wide pot will make a really nice bonsai forest. In the future, the redbud forest or any other redbud bonsai will need to have the winter treatment repeated each winter. Otherwise, the redbud tree will not go into dormancy and will not flower in the spring.

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Email questions to Jeff Rugg at info@greenerview.com. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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