Clarification on Winter Collection

[Bunjeh]

What species are we talking about here?

OK,..I see. Hornbeams. Honestly, my experience has been that deciduous trees are much more forgiving than conifers. I will dig hornbeam and hawthorn based on requirements not on calendar. Between November and April as long as you keep them moist but not wet, protect them from the wind and prevent the rootball from freezing you should be fine.

 

[aml1014]

Well that clarifies it- very late winter/ early Spring is generally the best time to collect most deciduous species including Hornbeam. And, yes, with most doing it prior to bud break is ideal. I wouldn't say they MUST be collected then, but that is definitely the sweet spot. The Fakl can be a good time as well in MY area at least where we generally do not have brutal winters and the worst of the cold tends to hit late like January/ early Feb... I do not know your climate very well to be able to advise on the difference between January and Feb where you live, but everything I hear about the long term forecasts for our region says Jan- March may see record breaking cold and precipitation! If that is the case... And it is the nasty freezing mess people are projecting, I would not recommend pulling a tree out of the ground in January... I'd wait until late Feb. on the other hand, if we stay at 79 degrees... Maybe you could dig them now and they'd be fine. The "norm" has kind of gone out the window so far this "Winter". I have bulbs that bloom in March/ April popping in my garden right NOW! A Korean Hornbeam I bought in October has tried to grow new buds ever since I got it home... Junipers are still growing like it is Spring time and I am not sure if any of my Maples- except the Tridents- are even fully dormant yet. So, who knows what is coming!?!.

In a normal year though, normal conditions.... February is probably what I would recommend.

Notable exceptions- Water Elm and Bald Cypress seem to do best when collected in mid-summer around here according my my experience and what I have been told by others who have done a lot more collecting than me. Beyond that, go for Early Spri/ late Winter...

The best advice I can give you is: AFTER CARE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN TIMING! You can miss by a couple weeks one way or another, or even collect something in a pinch at what most people tell you is the absolute WRONG TIME and still have success if you do a good job caring for the tree. You can also have total failure even if you collect at the perfect time if your after care sucks.

I agree on the aftercare, I randomly collected a ponderosa this July and brought it down from the mountains to the awful high desert and just gave it good aftercare and to my surprise I had back budds popping around September and the tree never skipped a beat.

 

[wireme]

I've collected 3 rmj and 1 potentilla in wintertime now, collected from frozen ground, potted up frozen and buried in the snow till spring, all did well, funny what works sometimes.
They were all smallish but decent, collected during exploration when I didn't find enough to warrant the hike back in in spring, wouldn't try it for anything too special yet though....
Entirely different circumstances than hornbeams that will have large root cuts and freeze thaw cycles of course, you could only try, depends on the quality of the material and how much you have to lose if they don't take.

Oh, yeah, another 7 small potentilla dug from recently thawed ground, potted and buried in snow for a month as well, every one of them lived, tough little buggers those plants but I hear that survival is very low if they have leafed out by collection time.

 

[JoeR]

Most deciduous species can be collected in winter. I have never had any issue with newly collected material being damaged by freezing, though everything does go on the ground below 20F. This provides enough protection.

Zach

Thanks, this is what I was looking for.


I think I may collect one next weekend and then more later, say in February.

 

[JoeR]

Well that clarifies it- very late winter/ early Spring is generally the best time to collect most deciduous species including Hornbeam. And, yes, with most doing it prior to bud break is ideal. I wouldn't say they MUST be collected then, but that is definitely the sweet spot. The Fall can be a good time as well in MY area at least where we generally do not have brutal winters and the worst of the cold tends to hit late like January/ early Feb... I do not know your climate very well to be able to advise on the difference between January and Feb where you live, but everything I hear about the long term forecasts for our region says Jan- March may see record breaking cold and precipitation! If that is the case... And it is the nasty freezing mess people are projecting, I would not recommend pulling a tree out of the ground in January... I'd wait until late Feb. on the other hand, if we stay at 79 degrees... Maybe you could dig them now and they'd be fine. The "norm" has kind of gone out the window so far this "Winter". I have bulbs that bloom in March/ April popping in my garden right NOW! A Korean Hornbeam I bought in October has tried to grow new buds ever since I got it home... Junipers are still growing like it is Spring time and I am not sure if any of my Maples- except the Tridents- are even fully dormant yet. So, who knows what is coming!?!.

In a normal year though, normal conditions.... February is probably what I would recommend.

Notable exceptions- Water Elm and Bald Cypress seem to do best when collected in mid-summer around here according my my experience and what I have been told by others who have done a lot more collecting than me. Beyond that, go for Early Spri/ late Winter...

The best advice I can give you is: AFTER CARE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN TIMING! You can miss by a couple weeks one way or another, or even collect something in a pinch at what most people tell you is the absolute WRONG TIME and still have success if you do a good job caring for the tree. You can also have total failure even if you collect at the perfect time if your after care sucks.

I do agree fully- that was the main question here: what aftercare is needed for winter collected trees?


The answer is: the same as all of my other trees. Protection under 25 degrees.