The 2024 Yamadori/Collecting Thread

[Gio_TYBG]

Red Spruce collection in New Hampshire Thanksgiving weekend. Now recovering in a heating bed at Dogwood Studios, NC. There was more captivating material at this location, but this was my first "yama" instead of "yarda" dori, and I wanted a "proof of concept" I could do a successful collection there.
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Man that’s sick.. what’s the elevation / mountain range like you’re at?

 

[DogwoodApprentice]

Man that’s sick.. what’s the elevation / mountain range like you’re at?

Collected at about 1000m. Housed at about 300m. Pushing right along with the rest in our spruce row where afternoon shade is priority.

 

[snowman04]

Collected at about 1000m. Housed at about 300m. Pushing right along with the rest in our spruce row where afternoon shade is priority.

Awesome tree! Greater achievement...

 

[flathead_valley_bonsai]

Plucked a really nice Douglas fir off a cliff today, around 4000ft elevation. It’s been a warm spring up here and soils are thawing out. Was able to get a good portion of the rootball, though it was concentrated off to one side (hence the shape of the training box). Hoping this pulls through, as I think it has great potential with a natural bend in the trunk and great bark. I’ve got it in a mix of about 70% pumice, 10% lava rock, 10% akadama, and 10% shredded sphagnum moss. I’ve since mulched the tree into my overwintering area, sheltered from wind and in shade save for the early morning sun. Fingers crossed!

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Red Spruce collection in New Hampshire Thanksgiving weekend. Now recovering in a heating bed at Dogwood Studios, NC. There was more captivating material at this location, but this was my first "yama" instead of "yarda" dori, and I wanted a "proof of concept" I could do a successful collection there.
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Very nice . Spruce are so tough it’s hard to find . Conditions that dwarf them . Very nice red . Myself I keep looking . Living in Ontario . It’s plenty cold . But there is next to no elevation . Have to go further north . For black I assume . Anybody that has seen a red forest . Can understand they will make great bonsai . Best of luck

 

[gschup]

It is late fall here in Sweden. Construction workers were chopping down a strip of green, apparently for a parking lot. I asked and was able to rescue one of the few longer stumps. A few weeks ago, these were wonderful bushes with fiery red leaves and nice black berries on them.

Hope it survives the winter.

One of the two rescues shows signs of life!

 

[baldone]

Looks like all my collected trees have leafed out or pushing bud. I spent a lot of time in the woods camping and hiking (over 30 years) when I was young. I am so excited about doing my first forest planting.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

Looks like all my collected trees have leafed out or pushing bud. I spent a lot of time in the woods camping and hiking (over 30 years) when I was young. I am so excited about doing my first forest planting.

Nice! Obviously you did something right.

i'm not having such luck. 4 locally collected elm, 1 with leaves. The other 3 stated to push buds into leaves, then seem to have died. The one elm I collected in Kansas after Thanksgiving pushed buds into leaves, but has completely stalled. The leaves are alive, but not much bigger than a pinhead. The currant I collected in Kansas has about six leaves, but has also stalled. I don't know if it was the awkward spring, or if I didn't get enough roots and they just used up the last stored energy. Oh, well.

 

[baldone]

Nice! Obviously you did something right.

i'm not having such luck. 4 locally collected elm, 1 with leaves. The other 3 stated to push buds into leaves, then seem to have died. The one elm I collected in Kansas after Thanksgiving pushed buds into leaves, but has completely stalled. The leaves are alive, but not much bigger than a pinhead. The currant I collected in Kansas has about six leaves, but has also stalled. I don't know if it was the awkward spring, or if I didn't get enough roots and they just used up the last stored energy. Oh, well.

Maybe it's because I had no idea what I was doing They were all breaking leaf already when I dug them up and was upset that I read they probably would not make it after the fact. If they come back next year, I will be very happy.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Nice! Obviously you did something right.

i'm not having such luck. 4 locally collected elm, 1 with leaves. The other 3 stated to push buds into leaves, then seem to have died. The one elm I collected in Kansas after Thanksgiving pushed buds into leaves, but has completely stalled. The leaves are alive, but not much bigger than a pinhead. The currant I collected in Kansas has about six leaves, but has also stalled. I don't know if it was the awkward spring, or if I didn't get enough roots and they just used up the last stored energy. Oh, well.

Losing collected material is part of being a enthusiast. Try to learn is all we can do . 2 exact trees same care . One dies one lives . This spring was the nail in the coffin of a tree I collected last spring . Keep digging and learning . And hope. Loss of a collected tree drove me to stop. And all that did was cost me my collection and 20 years .

 

[snowman04]

Choices are what we are made of... If it was not the right time, then we have to move on...

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

Losing collected material is part of being a enthusiast. Try to learn is all we can do . 2 exact trees same care . One dies one lives . This spring was the nail in the coffin of a tree I collected last spring . Keep digging and learning . And hope. Loss of a collected tree drove me to stop. And all that did was cost me my collection and 20 years .

Well, I'm starting out (finally) about 30 years after I first became fascinated with the art. Last year I had about 6 trees. This year, if you count seedlings and potential trees (cuttings, air layers, etc.) I have about 35. I don't know what I'm doing yet, but at least I have a lot of practice material to figure it out.
This forum is full of generosity and wisdom, and being so far from any club, I can't say enough how much value this place has for me. All I can do is make known my humble appreciation from a late-blooming GenXer.