Yamadori (???)

[Just Rosie]

Ok, I know now isn’t a good time to be digging up trees. I really wanted to get a feel for the difficulty of digging one up. And boy, did I get a feel.

So like I said, I know this wasn’t a good idea for the tree’s sake, but this was more for testing exertion than gaining a healthy tree. I know these may die, and it would surprise me more if they survived.

Anyway, I’m just curious if they have any potential, should they survive. I really like both trunks but I’m not even sure how much of a chop they would survive. Have they grown too much to be considered for bonsai?

In a sea of these young pines, I picked 2 with trunks I liked and low branches. I think these are loblolly pines but I honestly have no clue.

I’ll be happy to take better pictures tomorrow if needed. Just let me know what position.

Thanks!

 

[coltranem]

You probably should have asked about their potential before digging them up.

 

[TN_Jim]

Either way, that potting soil is going to hold too much water, especially in GA, and likely do them in.

I would think your best bet would be to repot them today into a better medium, even if it’s just straight pinebark soil conditioner from Lowe’s. I would wait for others thoughts first before proceeding as I don’t have many pines.

Also, can you describe the steps you took in collecting? Did you bare root them?

 

[MrFancyPlants]

If collecting in GA is anything like FL, it can be nearly impossible to collect pines because they have long tap roots diving deep under the sand for water. On the plus side, loblolly doesn’t have much potential due to it’s super long needles.
However, you can’t learn if you don’t try, and I think it is worth experimenting with local species even if they may not end up winning any contests.
If it is a sandy area, try digging around a tree that strikes your fancy, and then backfilling with a more organic mix. The idea is to try to get it to grow a bunch of fine roots in near the trunk base. A little rooting hormone may or may not help, but worth experimenting with.. maybe even a tap root turnicate or a some thick wire tightened around the tap.
As I said, the trees might not win contests, but if you can get the technique down, you’ll be able to approach the better material when you get to it.

 

[Just Rosie]

I would think your best bet would be to repot them today into a better medium, even if it’s just straight pinebark soil conditioner from Lowe’s. I would wait for others thoughts first before proceeding as I don’t have many pines.

Also, can you describe the steps you took in collecting? Did you bare root them?

Thanks for that, I will see about getting them in a better draining soil. I have orchid bark but not nearly enough, so I’ll see what I can find at one of the home improvement stores.

I actually had the help of a friend, and so we dug about 18”-2’ around the pine. We were given the advice that pines’ taproots grow really deep, and that it’s important to preserve it, so we tried to dig as deep as we could. I’d say we probably dug as deep as we did wide. I also tried to preserve as many roots as I could, but plenty snapped or were spaded into.

If it is a sandy area, try digging around a tree that strikes your fancy, and then backfilling with a more organic mix. The idea is to try to get it to grow a bunch of fine roots in near the trunk base. A little rooting hormone may or may not help, but worth experimenting with.. maybe even a tap root turnicate or a some thick wire tightened around the tap.
As I said, the trees might not win contests, but if you can get the technique down, you’ll be able to approach the better material when you get to it.

Would this work in red clay? I don’t see why not, but that’s all that’s around here is sticky, nasty red clay

And yeah, I wasn’t even sure these could be bonsai. While I’m waiting on them to declare themselves, I just figured I’d ask if they’d be worth anything as bonsai. Their purpose is not to be bonsai, but to have been dug up and now to see if they will live! Because damn is it hard to dig a tree out of the ground

 

[bonsaichile]

Their purpose is not to be bonsai, but to have been dug up and now to see if they will live! Because damn is it hard to dig a tree out of the ground

This makes no sense at all. You dug them up knowing it is the wrong season and now you want to see of they live? You likely killed these trees to see if you were physically up to the task? A set of push ups would have served you better and nothing needed to get kill. Sure, we all kill trees, but as part of a learning curve: The ones I have killed was not because I did something knowing it would die for it. Next time, join a gym instead.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I've had winter collects live, but only with specialized aftercare. I dug them by hand, no shovels.
Yours could pull through, but not in this type of soil and not in those buckets.

 

[Just Rosie]

Y’all really get your panties in a twist over some plants don’t you lmao. As I stated in my original post, I wanted to see how hard it was to actually dig a tree out of the ground. Now they’re in a pot and I want to see if they live. These pines are on land that is going to be cleared. So they’re dead either way. I was asking for advice on whether or not they were prospects for bonsai, not on advice on what to do with my time. Why bother advising me on something I already knew? That’s the whole reason I gave the long intro.

I've had winter collects live, but only with specialized aftercare. I dug them by hand, no shovels.
Yours could pull through, but not in this type of soil and not in those buckets.

HOW ON EARTH DO YOU DO IT BY HAND? I could barely do it with a shovel!
And what’s wrong with their pots? What would be better?
Do you think they could be made into something small?

 

[bonsaichile]

Y’all really get your panties in a twist over some plants don’t you lmao. As I stated in my original post, I wanted to see how hard it was to actually dig a tree out of the ground. Now they’re in a pot and I want to see if they live. These pines are on land that is going to be cleared. So they’re dead either way. I was asking for advice on whether or not they were prospects for bonsai, not on advice on what to do with my time. Why bother advising me on something I already knew? That’s the whole reason I gave the long intro.



HOW ON EARTH DO YOU DO IT BY HAND? I could barely do it with a shovel!
And what’s wrong with their pots? What would be better?
Do you think they could be made into something small?

Well, people are usually in this hobby because they like plants, so...

 

[Just Rosie]

Well, people are usually in this hobby because they like plants, so...

Yeah, me too. That doesn’t mean I chastise people for doing things to their plants that I don’t agree with, especially after they’ve already acknowledged it. I’m here to learn. From advice AND experience. I posted a question, and I’d like the answer to THAT question.
Of course I appreciate the HELPFUL advice that was given on helping these babies survive ^.^

 

[rockm]

Y’all really get your panties in a twist over some plants don’t you lmao. As I stated in my original post, I wanted to see how hard it was to actually dig a tree out of the ground. Now they’re in a pot and I want to see if they live. These pines are on land that is going to be cleared. So they’re dead either way. I was asking for advice on whether or not they were prospects for bonsai, not on advice on what to do with my time. Why bother advising me on something I already knew? That’s the whole reason I gave the long intro.



HOW ON EARTH DO YOU DO IT BY HAND? I could barely do it with a shovel!
And what’s wrong with their pots? What would be better?
Do you think they could be made into something small?

Well, um, you've cut their chances of living by digging them out of season. Won't really teach you much about how to get them out alive if you've already got odds against you because you were, well, basically impatient.

Doesn't make any difference if they prospective bonsai if they're dead.

The first rule for bonsai candidates is to get them out alive.

 

[bonsaichile]

Yeah, me too. That doesn’t mean I chastise people for doing things to their plants that I don’t agree with, especially after they’ve already acknowledged it. I’m here to learn. From advice AND experience. I posted a question, and I’d like the answer to THAT question.
Of course I appreciate the HELPFUL advice that was given on helping these babies survive ^.^

Good luck learning from dead plants!

 

[Atom#28]

Their purpose is not to be bonsai

I was asking for advice on whether or not they were prospects for bonsai

I'm confused

 

[_#1_]

Ok, I know now isn’t a good time to be digging up trees. I really wanted to get a feel for the difficulty of digging one up. And boy, did I get a feel.

So like I said, I know this wasn’t a good idea for the tree’s sake, but this was more for testing exertion than gaining a healthy tree. I know these may die, and it would surprise me more if they survived.

Anyway, I’m just curious if they have any potential, should they survive. I really like both trunks but I’m not even sure how much of a chop they would survive. Have they grown too much to be considered for bonsai?

In a sea of these young pines, I picked 2 with trunks I liked and low branches. I think these are loblolly pines but I honestly have no clue.

I’ll be happy to take better pictures tomorrow if needed. Just let me know what position.

Thanks!

I apologize for dissecting your thought process if you find it offensive.

It appears your thought process is backwards. If you wanted to experience what it's like to dig trees out, you start with 2 (or 10) trees you DON'T LIKE. Because chances are they will die, especially digging out of season. Once you get the hang of it, you then dig the ones you do like.

Now there's a sea of undesirable pines out there and two desirable pines on death row

 

[TN_Jim]

Rosie, one advantage you have is that you aren’t extremely out of season. Unless you account for the fact that our S.E. seasons are out of season -I saw active bees today, flowering cherry trees two weeks ago, folks in shorts and t-shirts consistently...was 70 today, why did I get my wife that massive scarf with pockets!!?..pockets!

Orchid bark... get a big ass bag of pinebark soil conditioner from Lowe’s for $4, carefully get them out of that terrible soil asap (yesterday), retain as much of the native soil around roots as possible, do your utmost to not disturb in any way delicate fine feeder roots...do not fertilize

Put in large pots if these aren’t large. Let them dry out on first 2” of new soil -I don’t water any of my trees lately, rain..

...maybe you’ll have a chance

 

[Forrestford]

http://walterpallbonsaiarticles.blogspot.sk/2009/10/collecting-trees-from-wild-english.html?m=1

http://ofbonsai.org/techniques/bonsai-collecting/collecting-basics

http://yamadori-passion.blogspot.sk/2010/01/my-guidelines.html?m=1

http://www.kaizenbonsai.com/bonsai-tree-care-information/graham-s-guide-to-repotting-bonsai

Some links I found on another thread. Just read and learn. Theres a lot of great information on this site too.
"And what’s wrong with their pots? What would be better?"
Make a custom grow box out of some wood so you can fit most of the root mass into it. When you have a specific pot you want to fit collected material in, you will end up taking off too much of the roots to keep the plant alive.
You live and learn. Good luck!

 

[MrFancyPlants]

[QUOTE="Just Rosie, post: 707799, member: 28699”]
Would this work in red clay? I don’t see why not, but that’s all that’s around here is sticky, nasty red clay

And yeah, I wasn’t even sure these could be bonsai. While I’m waiting on them to declare themselves, I just figured I’d ask if they’d be worth anything as bonsai. Their purpose is not to be bonsai, but to have been dug up and now to see if they will live! Because damn is it hard to dig a tree out of the ground
[/QUOTE]

I had forgotten how much clay was in Georgia.. about as much as they have sand in Florida. Clay has it’s own challenges when collecting from as you have learned. On the plus side, the roots are less likely to go straight down in search of water as the moisture is better distributed within clay. On the minis side, when you try to remove the clay and get it into better draining soil, you often strip off the roots along with the clay.
Digging and backfilling with organic material could still be a good way to go, but I think my technique would be a little different. Try to HBR or half bare root, leaving half of the roots untouched and healthy. This will give the tree time to recover and throw new roots into the organic material. The next year the other side is addressed and in theory, no more clay right next to the roots and you can repot into your soil of choice. Pond baskets could be another useful tool, and pumice is a great soil component.

Good luck and have fun with it. Don’t get too discouraged by the ney-sayers here, although they have a point that you might want to start with less desirable practice trees. Get permission from whomever owns the land if it is not your property.. not worth getting into trouble over.

 

[sorce]

but this was more for testing exertion than gaining a healthy tree.

So when you dig a good tree you know you'll make it through it without killing the tree?

why in the fuck would anyone do that?


oh yeah, we care!

This is the same concept as walking to the toilet before you dump, and y'all figured that out! I hope!

Sorce