What shrubby plant is this?

Where you found it is helpful in identifying since different species of the same genus live in different area’s yet resemble each other very closely in appearance. Specially young.
 
RKMcGinnis said:
Where you found it is helpful in identifying since different species of the same genus live in different area’s yet resemble each other very closely in appearance. Specially young.
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This is Eastern Pennsylvania, US. Came from an area with lots of white pines and maples
 
I'm a complete novice to plants in general even if I do have some basic knowledge of Bonsai practices, so at the risk of sounding like an idiot - does this appear to be a proper tree or some kind of low shrub? I'm going to give it the Bonsai treatment anyway but I'm just curious
 
If it was growing wild, given your location, it's eastern red cedar until proven otherwise. It could possibly be J. communis but they are significantly less common then the ubiquitous J. virginiana which can be found growing in pretty much any non cultivated open space in the eastern part of the USA.
 
Dav4 said:
If it was growing wild, given your location, it's eastern red cedar until proven otherwise. It could possibly be J. communis but they are significantly less common then the ubiquitous J. virginiana which can be found growing in pretty much any non cultivated open space in the eastern part of the USA.
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i was wondering, walking a campus the other day, saw a small (3" tall, 10" long, COMPACT FOLIAGE) tree. can an ERC be compact foliage and that small? if its not an ERC i want to snag it before the lawnmower claims it
 
I’ve seen some really nice ERC that had been styled in yards but large and not in pots. I can imagine they can make nice large literati. Or used as stalk to graft other junipers species to. The wood is beautiful.
 
Dav4 said:
If it was growing wild, given your location, it's eastern red cedar until proven otherwise. It could possibly be J. communis but they are significantly less common then the ubiquitous J. virginiana which can be found growing in pretty much any non cultivated open space in the eastern part of the USA.
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I can't tell if it was placed there or growing wild - I may or may not have found it growing on the side of the road on nobody's land, but it was the only one around so I doubt it was state-hired landscapers. I haven't really seen any small thing like this growing elsewhere
 
On a side note, I recently dug up a tiny 4" white pine seedling I found in my yard and tried to move it over to a pot with my Bonsai soil (akadama/volcanic char/pumice) and it lasted maybe 2 days before slumping over completely. Is that the soil's fault or my fault for not letting it get established first? I want to pot this mystery tree in that same type of soil, is that a bad idea?
 
Dav4 said:
If it was growing wild, given your location, it's eastern red cedar until proven otherwise. It could possibly be J. communis but they are significantly less common then the ubiquitous J. virginiana which can be found growing in pretty much any non cultivated open space in the eastern part of the USA.
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Totally! It’s gonna depend on where you are... we are all “tree towns” around here...

And Arbor Day Foundation uses J communis for reforestation and “dune reclamation”.. so I end up seeing them more often,
 
QuantumSparky said:
On a side note, I recently dug up a tiny 4" white pine seedling I found in my yard and tried to move it over to a pot with my Bonsai soil (akadama/volcanic char/pumice) and it lasted maybe 2 days before slumping over completely. Is that the soil's fault or my fault for not letting it get established first? I want to pot this mystery tree in that same type of soil, is that a bad idea?
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Whenever you retrieve pines and probably all conifers. You need to dig the actual sapling or seedling out with it’s native soil in tact with the roots. What’s actually keeping the little guy alive is the symbiotic relationship the roots have with the mycorrhizae. When that is disrupted it shocks the plant and will die. Just dig them up and leave the roots and soil in tact as much as possible. And keep it in a shady place for a while. The tree will acclimate. I’ve had 100% with little pine saplings and seedlings. Last month I pulled 100 Japanese maple seedlings straight out by the stem and they are thriving without native soil. I have never had success doing that with conifers. All the maples lived.
 
I'm seeing longtitudal stripes on the foliage, so my first guess is communis.
But.. Communis is pretty woody on the branching and this looks crispy green like young J. Virginia.

Pretty hard to tell this time.
I'd wait until the end of summer and see how it looks. If the new branches stay green and soft, it's ERC. If they go woody, it's communis.
Communis is notoriously hard to collect though, so if it's that, mentally prepare yourself for some dieback or sudden death. Not your fault, it's just their suicidal nature.
 
RKMcGinnis said:
Whenever you retrieve pines and probably all conifers. You need to dig the actual sapling or seedling out with it’s native soil in tact with the roots. What’s actually keeping the little guy alive is the symbiotic relationship the roots have with the mycorrhizae. When that is disrupted it shocks the plant and will die. Just dig them up and leave the roots and soil in tact as much as possible. And keep it in a shady place for a while. The tree will acclimate. I’ve had 100% with little pine saplings and seedlings. Last month I pulled 100 Japanese maple seedlings straight out by the stem and they are thriving without native soil. I have never had success doing that with conifers. All the maples lived.
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Thanks, I'll try that next time! Of course I didn't know that when I took the seedling, but it also didn't help that the soil it was in was extremely densely packed clay and seemed like pretty crap soil - but I guess that's what it sprouted in so how bad can it really be.

If I understand your reasoning correctly, you're saying to keep it in the native soil for (what, a few weeks/months?) until it develops more roots and becomes stronger? Is it all about making sure the plant has a good enough root system to survive transplant into new soil?
 
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