Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Since you asked...and since I keep decent records...
Littlehip Hawthorn, Crataegus spathulata
1999, winter, a few months after moving to Birmingham, I went into a nearby woods to scout some collecting sites. I found this hawthorn growing in an area that appeared to be a seldom-used dirt path access way for overhead utility lines. It was about 15’ tall and growing in a wooded row near the dirt path. The bark was excellent, and the base had a great spread. I marked the location, and sawed the tree down to a 12” tall trunk. In the spring, I returned and trenched around the trunk to prepare it for lifting later.
2000, March, I returned and dug the tree; it had issued quite a few shoots over the year. I took it home, washed the roots, pruned them back pretty hard, and planted it into some amended soil in the yard to grow for a couple years.
This is how it looked at the end of 2000; the eventual front is facing the lower-right corner in this photo.
Littlehip Hawthorn, Crataegus spathulata
1999, winter, a few months after moving to Birmingham, I went into a nearby woods to scout some collecting sites. I found this hawthorn growing in an area that appeared to be a seldom-used dirt path access way for overhead utility lines. It was about 15’ tall and growing in a wooded row near the dirt path. The bark was excellent, and the base had a great spread. I marked the location, and sawed the tree down to a 12” tall trunk. In the spring, I returned and trenched around the trunk to prepare it for lifting later.
2000, March, I returned and dug the tree; it had issued quite a few shoots over the year. I took it home, washed the roots, pruned them back pretty hard, and planted it into some amended soil in the yard to grow for a couple years.
This is how it looked at the end of 2000; the eventual front is facing the lower-right corner in this photo.
