Yamadori - Collect or let it stay in the ground as long term project?

[Jamadåre]

So i'm totally new to bonsai I would be happy if you could give me some advice. A couple of hundred meters from where I live I have the opportunity to collect som trees (mainly birch - Betula pubescens ) from the wild. A couldn't find any tree that was ready to bring home and start working on right away but I think some might be good if I gave it a couple of years. So my questions is rather simple, should I just leave them in the ground and cut them where they grow? And if that is a good idea, do you have any advice where I should cut them? All pictures are potential trees I can collect and cut if advisable. 1-3 Birch, 4 Pinus Sylvestrus 5 Picea abies 6 Oak

 

[NOZZLE HEAD]

If you leave them in the ground they may not develop in a way that makes for good trees. Especially if really poor conditions where they are has stunted them to their current interesting shape, they may just die, or turn into telephone poles.

That said. In the area where I collect trees there are a few that I have pruned to develop more interest and just go back every month or so to see what’s up.

 

[Igor. T. Ljubek]

I have a very very bad experience with developing deciduous trees in a forest. And a reason number one are deers and stags. You make a trunk chop and these animals would just eat almost all new foliage that appears. Not only once but twice or three times per growing season! And that weakens the trees too much, you can expect heavy dieback on trunk or/and branches during winter or even death of the tree. You might get some luck with a Picea, while Pinus Sylvestris wouldn't survive your cutting or trunk chopping. I am sure you can find much more suitable pines, with some branches lower on the trunk.

 

[NOZZLE HEAD]

I have a very very bad experience with developing deciduous trees in a forest. And a reason number one are deers and stags. You make a trunk chop and these animals would just eat almost all new foliage that appears. Not only once but twice or three times per growing season! And that weakens the trees too much, you can expect heavy dieback on trunk or/and branches during winter or even death of the tree. You might get some luck with a Picea, while Pinus Sylvestris wouldn't survive your cutting or trunk chopping. I am sure you can find much more suitable pines, with some branches lower on the trunk.

I agree the conditions in the forest are uncontrollable, but the are where my uncollected vine maples are is HEAVILY hunted. Its location and easy access makes it popular with the timber company that owns its (and gave me permission if anyone cares) employees for hunting and when I have run into those fellas in the morning when I am showing up and they are leaving they regularly tell me that the deer stay on the other side of the property line.

What is the hunting culture like in Slovenia?

 

[Igor. T. Ljubek]

What is the hunting culture like in Slovenia?

As far as i know, our government dictates about which animal species and in what number needs to be culled each year. We have more than 900 brown bears (which is not bad for such a small country) but only 30 to 50 wolves and 15 to 20 lynxes. Without wolves there is not much threat for a deer. Annual cull for deer is between 30.000 and 35.000 but you can still find these animals in big numbers almost everywhere.

 

[Vance Wood]

The Spruce would be worth the challenge to harvest, the rest--unless you know what it is you are collecting, these trees are a waste of time.