Hi guys, I live in Los Angeles by the beach, and have some junipers and Hinoki I was planning to repot this year but now it looks like I may be gone for most of March, which is probably when they’d start to push new growth.
I know Jonas at bonsai tonight said he often repots his pines in late Jan/ early Feb up in the Bay Area. But not sure about junipers and hinokis’s…
Am I stuck with these trees in the pots they’re in for a whole other year or do you guys think it’s safe to repot a little earlier, like late Feb?
They’re all going from nursery soil/containers into pond baskets/grow boxes with pumice and pine bark fines mixes. So some root trimming will be done but I’ll be erring on the side of caution.
Curious what you guys think.
1 Like
To m in the central valley and most things are ready to repot here
I am in S. Orange County with coastal influence as well. I repot my junipers based on timing of the heat. Depending on the root reduction you are doing from nursery stock and how fast the heat ramps up here, they might need some shade/misting during recovery. I would go with the late February repot and then watch your watering and sun exposure. You definitely don’t want them too wet if we get some rain. And you don’t want them baking in any mid/late day sun. Sometimes March might be late for junipers and sometimes it’s still too early. Last year we were wet, cold and cloudy so I actually did a repot on a juniper beginning of April as it started to warm up.
Good luck, share pictures 
Danielle
I am based in Santa Monica and I usually have had better success running my juniper repotting earlier than later fwiw, sometimes as early as late Dec/early Jan while still mostly dormant. Otherwise, right around now could be good before our typical ‘early Springs’ kick in around here despite what Punxsutawney Phil says for a majority of folks elsewhere in the states. Keep in mind it is a La Niña year which means drier winters+ for us here.
Most of my trees are all mame/shohin with some chumono and as well most still in development phases or starting refinement. If I wasn’t still catching up on pine repotting, I’d probably have already started some of my junipers that need some root work this year. Unfortunately, I can’t advise on hinoki.
May the repotting gods be with you!
1 Like