Osier dogwood Potentially difficult collect: any chance?

[Tycoss]

I've been out walking near a river where my family owns some land, and came across these very old and interesting looking osier dogwoods.
This species usually grows around here as a small clumpy shrub. Its larger leaves, long internodes and thin trunks led me to discount it as bonsai material, but these have substantial gnarled deadwood trunks and have been grazed by deer and moose extensively. I think the deadwood/red live growth would make a beautiful contrast. These get medium green leaves and white flowers and berries.
Im used to collecting local spruce and pine, which need a lot of healthy roots and native soil to be successful. These have roots trailing through the rocks and gravel a long way from the trunk. I know they are not like conifers, but I still wonder how much root I will need to retain in order to be successful. Anyone have any experience/thoughts on this species?

 

[Tycoss]

Here are some images: the deadwood trunk of one (live vein on the other side):
The whole plant:

 

[Tycoss]

This is another from the same area:
An image of the red twigging:

 

[Tycoss]

Grazing by wild ungulates has made the twigs very congested:

 

[mwh]

Did you try collecting any of these? I think they would look spectacular in the winter/fall without leaves.

We have them here in BC, usually growing in moist/wet riparian areas. I have never dug one up, but have rooted many live stakes simply by cutting a long straight branch about 1/2-1in thick by 3ft long, soaking the bottom in willow water and rooting hormone, then hammering it about halfway into the ground. I had probably about a 80-90% success rate. I did this in fall once the leaves were down.

I think this is a good sign for collecting. They can grow new roots from nothing, so these probably have a reasonable chance if you can get some roots when digging them up. The ones here love moisture, I had the best success rooting them in naturally wet areas.

 

[Tycoss]

Good to hear. I've never really thought of them as bonsai subjects since the branching is so course and trunks are usually pretty uninteresting. These made me rethink that. I still haven't collected any, but I'll keep you posted on how it goes this spring

 

[mwh]

Yeah me neither but I'll keep my eyes open for ones like this now. Definitely interested to see how it goes.

 

[Tycoss]

Cool. By the way, where are you located? There doesn't seem to be a lot of western Canadian bonsai enthusiasts, other than the west coast

 

[mwh]

Vancouver, BC. There are a few clubs here. No luck finding anyone interested in going collecting though