These tips relate to the Waikato. You may find that in your area you may need to follow these tips earlier or later in the year.
Check that any wire on your trees is not biting in, this includes any ties you have pulling branches down. If there are signs that it is starting to mark the branch then remove it.
You can start to feed your trees towards the end of February when the mid-day maximum temperature drops to around 20 degrees.
Deciduous trees are dormant at the moment so you can carry out moderate pruning.
You can repot hardy species such as Junipers and Ligustrum (Privets).
Repotting can be done of hardy trees
Use a low Nitrogen (Orchid) feed for your trees and stop feeding deciduous trees when the leaves start to change colour as they are no longer using food.
Clean up leaf litter from the soil surface to prevent insect and fungus buildup.
At the end of the month you can spray deciduous trees whose leaves have fallen off.
DO NOT carry out heavy pruning on Pines or deciduous trees.
Now is the best time to wire your trees. This will allow the branches to set in their new positions over the winter and early spring without too much thickening of the branches causing the wire to bite in.
Keep fallen leaves tidied up and away from your trees and benches to help keep away those nasty earwigs and other pests.
Spray to prevent fungal infection and you can also treat your trees with Lime Sulphur to keep the lichen down.
Make sure that your trees do not get too wet with the heavy rain. Small trees especially are prone to to root rot due to too much water
Pohutukawa and Jade trees will need protecting from the frost so keep an eye on the weather forecasts.
Check that the drainage holes and mesh have not become clogged, this can lead to root rot.
Tilt flat trays so excess water can drain out of one end.
Now is the time to needle prune Pines and Cedars.
If you have Lichen on your trees and want to remove it, spray with low strength lime sulphur
If you have liverwort on your trees, especially Mame / Shohin, kill it off by spraying with near vinegar.
There are still Frosts about, so keep an eye on water needs as believe it or not, trees can dry right out.
Deciduous trees can now be pruned hard back for major shaping.
June is a good time to wire evergreen trees that will still grow enough to set by spring, like Pines and Junipers in the Waikato.
If your into it, June is the time to do a clean up spray for fungi spoors and insects over wintering in the pots or on the trees themselves.
If you are anti spraying this is the time to clean up the leaves and litter left after Autumn, on, around, and under your trees and shelves, as this lessens the places for nasties to live over winter. If your shelves are made of wood, this will also help reduce rot, and may prolong the life of your shelves.
Now is the time to repot your Pines and other conifers. Don't forget to give them a bit of protection if severe frosts are forecast.
Time to prepare the things you need to start re-potting soon.
In the Waikato, mid to late July is the time to re-pot Cedars. Keep a close eye on the Cedars you want to re-pot, as the optimum time is just a matter of days. The optimum time is as the buds on the top of the tree and at the tips of the branches start to swell, up to the point when the buds show a little green. Once the buds open its too late and very risky to re-pot Cedar Bonsai in our region.
July is also a good time to lift trees that have been wrenched earlier for potential Bonsai, or collect trees from the wild or grown in the open ground.
Last chance to repot your conifers, Cedars are just about at the end of their repotting time. Keep an eye on your deciduous trees and repot when the buds start to swell.
There may still be some late frosts so don't put your Jade trees outside yet.
You should be well underway with your repotting. You should have finished your Cedars and Pines. Junipers are OK as are all deciduous varieties, until the buds start to break, flowering varieties are best potted after flowering. Protect any newly potted trees from the odd late frost.
You can start to feed your trees - except those you have repotted (wait for around six weeks after repotting before feeding). If you are not sure on what sort of feed to give your trees (low nitrogen, balanced or high nitrogen), then use a sprinkling of blood and bone, remembering to water it in.
Use your favourite method to control Aphids as they start to appear now.
With the holidays approaching be sure to check your trees are watered well. Make sure that batteries in automatic watering systems are charged and nozzles are clear in drip systems.
Many trees will benefit from a complete submersion of the pot into a bowl or bucket of water. Don't leave them in for too long, only until all of the bubbles stop.
Spray for mealy bugs & aphids, etc. Use pyrethrum & Conqueror. Make it a varied regime as the little bugs can get immune/resistant to regular use of a particular chemical.