I've been busy collecting Yamadori so that I don't over work my collection or buy anything else. Locally I have probably another week before the ideal window wanes until till fall (this week was likely the last hard frost).
Here are two specimens that recently have sparked joy for me. While perhaps humble to many, I'd love to see what local trees you target and what features you look for.
1) While just a little guy, the features that drew me in included the natural movement of the trunk (it was growing on a slope in the understory) and the degree of ramification for a tree of this size. I was also happy with the amount of root structure I had to work, even some nebari (some of these little guys are as twiggy below as on top so 8 consider that a feat). I belive I'm working with either an ironwood (Ostrya virginiana) or hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) which I was targeting. Leaves are also similar to an Elm so that's also a option. I had it in a training pot then pivoted and potted it up as I liked it as it was in its untrained state and the pots were the same size anyways.
2) I was actually on my way to collect a jack pine that I was targeting when I literally stumbled on this fella. I'm fairly certain it's a Juniper (Juniperus virginiana). I liked the relative trunk taper and some of its natural deadwood branches that reminded me of the trees on Georgian Bay. It even has a weird double trunk feature that I think might allow me to double down on the jin. It had a nasty tap root that I had to sever but fortunately it also had a fair bit of radial feeder roots that I'm hoping now that they are free of all the dense clay muck and tall grasses will take off. It was browning in a number of areas when harvested it, but that and the deadwood I belive are symptoms of it fighting in a suboptimal setting. I think this tree has moxi. I threw in a slab of gniess as I have a root over rock vision this could possibly fulfill (the actual reason I was hunting the Jack Pine in the first place)!
Hornbeam, Jack Pine and native Juniper are mostly what I've been stalking although a wild crabapple or hawthorn would be nice too.
What have you been collecting?
What are you targeting?
What features are looking for?
Here are two specimens that recently have sparked joy for me. While perhaps humble to many, I'd love to see what local trees you target and what features you look for.
1) While just a little guy, the features that drew me in included the natural movement of the trunk (it was growing on a slope in the understory) and the degree of ramification for a tree of this size. I was also happy with the amount of root structure I had to work, even some nebari (some of these little guys are as twiggy below as on top so 8 consider that a feat). I belive I'm working with either an ironwood (Ostrya virginiana) or hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) which I was targeting. Leaves are also similar to an Elm so that's also a option. I had it in a training pot then pivoted and potted it up as I liked it as it was in its untrained state and the pots were the same size anyways.
2) I was actually on my way to collect a jack pine that I was targeting when I literally stumbled on this fella. I'm fairly certain it's a Juniper (Juniperus virginiana). I liked the relative trunk taper and some of its natural deadwood branches that reminded me of the trees on Georgian Bay. It even has a weird double trunk feature that I think might allow me to double down on the jin. It had a nasty tap root that I had to sever but fortunately it also had a fair bit of radial feeder roots that I'm hoping now that they are free of all the dense clay muck and tall grasses will take off. It was browning in a number of areas when harvested it, but that and the deadwood I belive are symptoms of it fighting in a suboptimal setting. I think this tree has moxi. I threw in a slab of gniess as I have a root over rock vision this could possibly fulfill (the actual reason I was hunting the Jack Pine in the first place)!
Hornbeam, Jack Pine and native Juniper are mostly what I've been stalking although a wild crabapple or hawthorn would be nice too.
What have you been collecting?
What are you targeting?
What features are looking for?
might help that I've not been taking the oldest trees until I have more practice.
