where are you.. big city name ...

location defines when the right time is ...

what do you do with them for winter ... ??

what will you use in the pots??? ... do you have any experience with doing this??? .. what media have you used before.. trees dont necessarily want nor need a high peat high water retention media ...

why cant they go in the ground ...???

how bad are the roots circling ....???

ken

Regarding the pots themselves. I would rethink them. Trying to get a plant out of a container that narrows at the top is very difficult. You might end up having to break the pot to get the plant out.

The stewartia needs a bigger replacement pot than that one.

THANK YOU ALL!

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

Embothrium

I'm in New York City, which is now a "humid subtropical" climate zone. Both trees have been in the pots you see for over three years. The Stewartia pot has been too small for that whole time (I'm embarrassed to say) and it is seriously pot bound. It should have pruned before, and yet it looks to me to be doing OK. The last couple of weeks the edges of some top leaves have darkened and dried, but it flowered as usual.

I know about the problem with narrow pot tops, but thanks for emphasizing it! The Stewartia ceramic pot has already been cut up (with a diamond grinder blade) to allow removal, and I hope to re-assemble it after removing the tree. I will consider lining the new Stewartia pot with foam, which will add an insulating layer, and then the pot interior will drop straight down from the lip, allowing future removal. As for the Japanese Umbrella tree and pot, it looks to my uneducated eye like it has been doing pretty well in way too little dirt, so I am going to hope that the significantly larger amount of dirt in the new pot will keep it healthy for a long time.

Planting in the ground just isn't practical. We have small row house yard, and some upcoming work on the house will likely invade any place where the trees could go. No, I haven't done any transplanting like this before, but with a technical theater and film background I am confident that I can arrange to gently lift and lower the trees.

As for the Stewartia pot size - I hear you! But is it not true that with appropriate pruning of the Stewartia and its roots, it could be healthy? My hope is to NOT allow it to grow to whatever its full size would be - we have three others planted in the ground that are "off the leash" and growing tall! I hope to continue to use it as a "decorative" patio tree - it sits in a 8'x12' space: low walls on two sides, house wall on one side open to the south, on a concrete pad.

So - recommendations for sources for information about tree and root pruning? And how would you describe the appropriate soil, if not "high peat high water retention media"?

"recommendations for sources for information about tree and root pruning?"

The Bonsai forum. You're root pruning to restrict size after all.

"And how would you describe the appropriate soil, if not "high peat high water retention media"?"

I would describe it as "Fast draining."

think of media.. as a water management system ... retaining only the water needed.. and then shedding all excess according to the plant in said media ...

hi peat media.. is like a sponge ... its what a lot of houseplants like ... refer to any plants from a florist ... usually always sopping wet ..

trees like a sip of water.. then full complete drainage.. no standing nor a lot of retained water ...

many tree peeps take a good peat media.. like a promix.. and mix it with minichunks ... to increase drainage.. allowing water to flow thru ..

also.. roots need air. almost as much as water ... so chunks of bark add air to the media ..

sine you will be needing so much.. you ought to look into AL gritty mix ... which i usually caution involves making much more than most peeps need .. but you will need it.. so ill see if i can find al and refer him here ...

you just arent going to find the root pruning tutorials you want. though im sure you could spend a few years reading up on it..

perhaps a call to your COUNTY extension office.. can get you a referral to a local master gardener ... or often.. upscale nurseries will do it.. usually if you buy the bigger pot form them.. but its too late for that.. and besides.. taking the trees elsewhere is probably not going to happen ...

ken

i tried to get al's attention at the link just above this one at the houseplant forum..

without rereading this one.. i think you might enjoy this one,. or not..

if he hasnt replied to my request in a few days.. you can try him at this one ...

ken

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1490818/good-growing-practices-an-overview-for-beginners#n=266

well there you go.. he refers you to his own posts from 11 years ago ...

ken

Although related to the pruning tolerant camellias there's a convention that stewartias should not be pruned much. I used to live across the street from a natural habit one that had been in place for some time; new owners had it topped and sheared at one point. While this did not kill the tree it certainly killed its beauty.

Often, I feel like the internet is a disease, rotting the roots of civilization. But this - being able to access the experience and advice of you folks, is fantastic! Thank you cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky) ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 Embothrium and especially tapla . My father's family was from Japan, so I am especially pleased that you offer insights from Bonsai! There's a lot for this (aging) beginner to learn, and you have given me a great start.

Stewartias in good health back-bud profusely when pruned hard. I rub off the buds in places I don't need/want branches and allow the others to grow with directional pruning and mechanical guidance. If anything, the back-budding will offer abundant opportunities to improve the tree's eye appeal. Pruning is an essential part of maintaining trees in containers as it's impractical to allow a containerized tree to get so large it requires a crew to move/repot it and a tall ladder to prune it.

"Topped and sheared" says it all. We're talking about selective pruning. The tree is already well out of bounds, so the only way to get it to fill in is to prune and pinch judiciously.

Here is a young stewartia in the first stages of training as a bonsai. It looks messy because there are 3 sacrifice branches, the only job of which is to thicken the lower trunk, which makes the tree look older than it is. When it gets to the point where the trunk is as thick as I think it should be, I'll start working on the ramification, increasing the number of smaller branches and leaves. What you see so far and what will come as the tree ages can ONLY be achieved through judicious pruning and pinching.

@bk_backyard - You asked in your PM about root pruning. Here are a couple of sequences that give you an idea of what can be done.

Japanese maple ^^^

Step 1

Still not done ^^^

Finished ^^^ Notice the wire tourniquet at the base of the tree. The original roots were too ugly to work with, so I drilled holes where the roots occur now, added rooting hormone and the tourniquet, and layered the plant off of it's seedling roots.

Roots are now radiating horizontally away from the trunk and evenly spaced.

Below, is a rootbound boxwood

First step ^^^

Soil removed, roots combed out ^^^

Done ^^^ ready for potting

These examples are more aggressive than you'll need to be. Whereas I removed up to 90% of the plant's root mass, you'll normally remove somewhere between half to 2/3, concentrating on removing the thickest roots not attached to the base of the trunk and problem roots (encircling, girdling, crossing, j-hooked, or roots growing straight up/ down/ back towards the center of the root mass). This frees up space in the soil mass which can then be occupied by the fine roots that do all the plant's heavy lifting.

After you look the links over and do some reading, you might have questions. I'll be around somewhere ..... and thanks for the kind words.

Al