Can trees live long, healthy lives in a pot?
I live in San Francisco and I’m fortunate enough to have a little yard. When I purchased the house, it was nicely landscaped. I have three little dogs that have killed practically everything in it. I want to have plants and maybe a couple of trees, so I thought keeping them in oversized pots away from the dogs would solve the problem, but will trees and other plants fair well in such containers?
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Do some research on Bonzai trees. They come from (Japan? China?) a country that had similar problems (lack of space), so they were bred as a way to have trees in a little amount of space.
I know next to nothing about how to grow them, so I can’t give you much advice on that. But I know it has something to do with cutting the taproot to keep them small. Then, of course, you can bend them to grow in any form you desire. It’s more of an art.
Bonzai is fun but small and better for indoors. Trees in pots get root-bound and need to be transplanted to bigger pots (which become brutal to lift). Since you have a little yard, why not put in a few trees and shrubs and fence them until they are big enough to withstand dog pee and poop. Container gardening works well w. flowers and herbs, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, etc.
You can buy green stakes (of various heights) and a roll of netting or wire mesh at any hardware store. Just bonk in stakes and wrap netting around. Secure w. piano wire or the ties that come w. trash bags.
Thinking about the dogs, I wonder whether metal mesh would work better than nylon.
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