Cruiser
Omono
Nice work. What type of log did you use and was it rotting? What substrate and how deep did you cover the roots?
What are you trying/doing that’s new, uncommon, or unusual?
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Tycoss
Chumono
No one else seems to be working with silver buffalo berry (Sheperdia argentea). A stout and thorny prairie native with sour red berries and silvery blue green foliage. I only have one but will be digging more in spring.
Same plant different seasons
Same plant different seasons
Tycoss
Chumono
Same plant in 2016
rusticana
Mame
I said more. But wasn't considering this one. More serissa cuttings planted this time in a piece of beach pitted pitted sandstone..outside about to go dormant.The holes go right to the bottom. Plan is to plant it later with some sedums. Some say serissa are temperamental? But they seem to love me? But my oldest big(little)one died.
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rusticana
Mame
More like a branch. 3" From the wood pile probably hemlock too. Or Douglas fir. Draped the roots over it and stapled them. In the same material they came out of. I actually did 2. But the ones out in full sun in a gravely mixture some died. But the one behind an overturned stump in richer material is doing fine. Burried only just. I have a long trough for it to go into. Probably next year I'll start brushing some off.
Cruiser
Omono
@rusticana
Hemlock and Douglas-fir “logs” should work well, particularly if they had already started to rot. Hemlock, spruce, alder, cottonwood, silver fir, and maple rots fast, Douglas-fir has a medium rate of decay. Red cedar takes forever to rot and only becomes effective nurse logs once cracks and crevices open up and collect enough broken-down organic debris for seedling to root in.
I have similar projects going. All the hemlocks with stapled-down roots didn’t survive, but it could’ve been something other than the staples that did them in.
Thick moss works well for insulating the spreading roots.
I would wait longer than a year to expose roots, especially if the starting nurse wood was not decadent. Roots need time to work their way into the rotting wood and become established in substrate below.
One of my compositions is a red cedar over maple stump in its 4th year, still mostly covered. Roots in the pot beneath the stump were trimmed in 2024 to encourage more stump-root growth. Surface roots will start to be exposed in 2026. Exposure will happen incrementally in following years, not all at once.
It might interest you to know that rows of mature trees that established on nurse logs are known as Colonnades.
Hemlock and Douglas-fir “logs” should work well, particularly if they had already started to rot. Hemlock, spruce, alder, cottonwood, silver fir, and maple rots fast, Douglas-fir has a medium rate of decay. Red cedar takes forever to rot and only becomes effective nurse logs once cracks and crevices open up and collect enough broken-down organic debris for seedling to root in.
I have similar projects going. All the hemlocks with stapled-down roots didn’t survive, but it could’ve been something other than the staples that did them in.
Thick moss works well for insulating the spreading roots.
I would wait longer than a year to expose roots, especially if the starting nurse wood was not decadent. Roots need time to work their way into the rotting wood and become established in substrate below.
One of my compositions is a red cedar over maple stump in its 4th year, still mostly covered. Roots in the pot beneath the stump were trimmed in 2024 to encourage more stump-root growth. Surface roots will start to be exposed in 2026. Exposure will happen incrementally in following years, not all at once.
It might interest you to know that rows of mature trees that established on nurse logs are known as Colonnades.
rusticana
Mame
A wine pine? Now that I'm interested in.
HighAltitudeBunny
Seedling
Wow! Just found this thread and I’m immediately caught by the idea of using more native plants! It’s a long shot, but are there any resources on native trees that might thrive as bonsai in the Colorado region?
Desert O'Piñon
Omono
Maybe a sweet red, or a nice dry white?
pandacular
Masterpiece
Colorado has possibly the best and most well researched natives for bonsai. Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society would be the best community resource. Ponderosa pine, limber pine, rocky mountain juniper, blue spruce and aspen are all excellent bonsai subjects.
We've had
And bonus points for flowering prolifically early spring - with nice smaller flowers.
a Prunus maritima that we planted in the yard a good 5 years or so ago when we started to move in to native gardening. Based on what I've seen so far, while I'm wary of most fruiting trees for bonsai for health reasons, overall this species looks like it has good characteristics: including a naturally smaller leaf and decent internodes.
And bonus points for flowering prolifically early spring - with nice smaller flowers.
milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
I'm working with Fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) for many reasons. It's crazy suitability to bonsai but also a deep emotional and spiritual connection to it for a reason I may share one day...
doc spring _work
Chumono
Considering doing something with a cactus... Not sure yet, not super deep into cacti... But I feel like given how easy they are to graft you'd be able to create some seriously weird "alien" forest 
not sure yet.
not sure yet.
Desert O'Piñon
Omono
I laugh when I see it at nurseries, but then, most people don't think like a plant nerd.
It grows literally, like a weed on the property where I work, and I have permission to collect as many as I want, provided I leave the vacancy looking like the rest of the dry, salty earth around it. Only a couple months, and I'll be digging several that I've already selected. If you start a thread, I'd be interested to see your methods; I have a lot to learn. I agree that it has plenty of appealing qualities for bonsai.
I'm also going to be collecting a couple creosote bush, Larrea tridentata, because I think it has some potential in bonsai culture. It doesn't have the much-lauded thickness of trunk, but it has such pleasant natural movement and a graceful ruggedness that pairs well with the way the tiny, dark green leaves contrast with the subtle yellow flowers and black bark. And let's not overlook that fragrance!
milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
With Fourwing, do your big rootwork late winter early fall. It will have a long taproot but cut most of mine back. I saw it in the back lot of a nursery in Tucson and I don't think they had even been watering it... I am growing it in a strainer to try to encourage finer roots. I'll know more when I repot if it worked. This one is super skinny but has a cool vein of deadwood running up the middle. I grew up with them in my home town in Colorado but I have other reasons why it's special. It's an emotional story for one day. I will need a creative potter at some point. Maybe you all will have some thoughts. As to Creosote, yes they absolutely have potential. The oldest living things on earth are fascinating plants. Give n their natural way of life (they clone themselves so the ones you see out in the desert are literally clones of one that could be as much as 10k years old. I said all that to say that You might have super good luck layering. That said if you have to dig, do it during the rainy season. Would you believe there is one in the park across the street from my house with about a 6" trunk?I laugh when I see it at nurseries, but then, most people don't think like a plant nerd.
It grows literally, like a weed on the property where I work, and I have permission to collect as many as I want, provided I leave the vacancy looking like the rest of the dry, salty earth around it. Only a couple months, and I'll be digging several that I've already selected. If you start a thread, I'd be interested to see your methods; I have a lot to learn. I agree that it has plenty of appealing qualities for bonsai.
I'm also going to be collecting a couple creosote bush, Larrea tridentata, because I think it has some potential in bonsai culture. It doesn't have the much-lauded thickness of trunk, but it has such pleasant natural movement and a graceful ruggedness that pairs well with the way the tiny, dark green leaves contrast with the subtle yellow flowers and black bark. And let's not overlook that fragrance!
milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
Oh another one I am working with is Celtis ehrenbergiana the spiny desert hackberry. It's an interesting little bugger... I have one currently growing in a little strainer. I'll post a pic when I can...
Frenchymanny
Sapling
Definitely white!
a very common pine in my neck of the woods. I also took a red pine (much rarer) on a logging rod last October, I hope it will make it
milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
Celtis ehrenbergiana the spiny desert hackberry. Here is the I have been letting it grow out wild all summer so it's kinda ugly at the moment but here it was last February. The whole thing is about 4" tall here. Lots to fix but I think it's gonna be cool when it's done. 
Joe Dupre'
Masterpiece
I've been growing this wild muscadine in the ground for a couple of years. I just dug the trunk up and potted it recently. The second pic is just this summer's worth of growth.
JoeWilson
Mame
I am growing a few Euphorbia californica, aka cliff spurge (closely related to Euphorbia misera). I haven’t seen much information about these online, but they seem to be great candidates for bonsai, especially if you live in a dry climate. I’m growing them indoors, and they are doing relatively well, but I might put them outside next summer. They’re woody but have succulent leaves and are drought-deciduous. Like many Euphorbia species, they have milky latex sap. They make tiny little flowers (not quite flowers) year-round. Naturally small leaves and the branches tend to grow in a zig-zag pattern, so they develop a nice form without much wiring. Smaller branches take to wiring well; larger branches can be somewhat brittle but are tough and can handle some abuse (may crack and leak sap, but usually recover).
The little guy on the right is a clump of cuttings from the same species. I’m trying to see if/how easily they fuse.
The little guy on the right is a clump of cuttings from the same species. I’m trying to see if/how easily they fuse.
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