Collecting Hemlocks

[Jchuhinka]

Hey all, I would like to start an Eastern Hemlock as a long term project. I work in the Catskills and have access to a lot of young trees and saplings. What should I look for in a young tree to be a good specimen, particularly for a formal upright?

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I’m not sure specifically for a formal upright, but a thicker trunk with some leaves close to the base is good criteria for collecting in general. Movement is good too, but not for a formal upright. Hemlock do graft easily from what I hear, so maybe just a good trunk, neberi would be enough and you could graft the branches where you want them?

 

[Jchuhinka]

Great, thank you! I did hear that they are pretty easy to graft as well so maybe I should be mostly concerned with nebari and trunk.