Collected Material

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
I have been waiting for the new year to arrive (and the first full moon) so I can begin collecting some of the trees that I have found over the last few months. We had a week of frosts right at the beginning of November here but haven’t had any since, It’s just been really wet. So although technically only 2 and a bit weeks in to Winter and with the obvious threat of a cold snap possible at some point, things seem to be moving quickly in the flora and fauna. Bulbs have popped their heads up, hazels are flowering and even the swans are staking claims for territory on the river. With some of the various species beginning to swell their buds, I have decided now is time to move on a few of the trees. I’ll collect some now up til mid January then some from beginning to mid February and if I’ve any room left, no doubt I’ll do the same in March.

So, first up is a field maple, Acer Campestre, that I’ve had my eye on for a while. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about it, but there’s a nice shape and some decent taper, though it is severely lacking in the photos. An informal broom is what I’ve got in mind. It is just over 3” at the base and stands 14” to the chop. It was 4” higher, but I decided the proportions were better lower and just above where I chopped was a bit too straight compared to the rest below. Potted in 2:Moler 1:Lava 1:Sphagnum 1:Bark.65AB365D-5957-4F87-B127-C254606A951A.jpeg
C9AF2E77-192C-4660-BD55-E549601BFA32.jpeg5613808D-49D4-4759-AF67-B5504F7350B7.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • 69B0FBDB-428A-4E96-AA6C-74C71F422AA4.jpeg
    69B0FBDB-428A-4E96-AA6C-74C71F422AA4.jpeg
    173.6 KB · Views: 51

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
Next a couple of things I collected in September. A hawthorn, Crataegus Monogyna, which I thought was a small tree in it’s own right, but turned out to be a root sucker and so doesn’t have the amount of fine roots I’d have liked. I also got a Turkey oak, Quercus Cerris, which although small has some movement and nice branching already, rare round these parts. They’re both about 14” tall.B2A7E277-931C-4906-BBA4-CFFBC919815F.jpeg
10E77CC3-1E9C-4BF1-A255-3EC4FA2914DF.jpeg
 

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
Here is a hazel, Coryllus Avellana, that I collected in a small copse nearby. It’s one of several that were planted 20 or so years ago and left to their own devices. I had to rip, cut and pry away the tree guard which had been swallowed by the tree which might have added to the nobbly nature of it. There is a nice amount of radial roots and fine feeders too, though I forgot to take a picture before potting up. It has a 5” diameter at the base and stands 24” to the chop. Same soil mix as the maple above. Excuse the dirty dust sheet, I was trying to get a better backdrop for indoor photos.28925762-DA76-47D7-9EC8-1EC15F148ABB.jpeg
C7567DC1-D4C5-45FE-8E20-A5A68BC9BD91.jpeg8ACE568A-B492-416E-A7A7-DD8AC2A3BC51.jpeg3F26B727-5B3D-4D41-B0BC-DF881349FD89.jpeg5490F998-3660-42F9-8384-0623340E5E67.jpeg607BEBF0-C94D-409C-94AF-3E4798DAF277.jpeg
 

Tieball

Masterpiece
Messages
3,098
Reaction score
3,173
Location
Michigan. 6a
USDA Zone
6a
Nice collecting adventure. I’m interested in how the field maple responds with new growth. I keep “reading” that they grow extremely well and wild in the UK. It’s nice to see a real example...so....keep posting when that growth starts.

I like that hazel tree.
I tried digging up and cutting back a hawthorn bush-like tree before. I managed to get poked and cut up all over with those thorns.
 

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
Nice collecting adventure. I’m interested in how the field maple responds with new growth. I keep “reading” that they grow extremely well and wild in the UK. It’s nice to see a real example...so....keep posting when that growth starts.

I like that hazel tree.
I tried digging up and cutting back a hawthorn bush-like tree before. I managed to get poked and cut up all over with those thorns.
Thanks. I’m just hoping they all make it through at the moment. Field Maples grow like weeds here and when you cut them back they come back with a vengeance so I’m hopeful this one gets some good vigour on it. I’ll definitely be posting progress. From what I’ve read they’re not the easiest to tame though, but I hope to work out the secret because the leaves reduce really well and they are very beautiful trees. Same with the hazel as well to be fair. Except the leaves staying pretty big. That’s why I collected such a large one. It’s got potential though.
As for Hawthorns, I’ve got no end of splinters just looking through them, let alone when I come to collect them. I’ve got a beastie which I’ll be taking soon which I think will definitely be worth the pain.
 

BuckeyeOne

Chumono
Messages
557
Reaction score
522
Location
South Shore of Lake Erie
USDA Zone
6a
That's great!!
All these new trees to start your brand new year.
While I, in the north of the Americas, look forward to another 4 months of frozen tundra!!
All in jest. Great finds.
Hope my spring is as fruitful as yours!!
Looking forward to progress pictures.
I myself are starting the journey of growing from seed. Going to be bit before they can compare to these!
 

Tieball

Masterpiece
Messages
3,098
Reaction score
3,173
Location
Michigan. 6a
USDA Zone
6a
Thanks for posting your collected trunks. This will be my first spring digging out several Celtis Sinensis Hackberry trees from a growing area. I keep thinking that I should leave branches on when collecting these....but as I study your work....I’m more convinced that the coarse branches should be removed and maybe just 3cm stubs left on the trunk....and also just leave as many trunks as possible on the tree when collected. The trunks will be 10-12cm diameter above the soil. So....keep posting results so I increase my chopping confidence level.
 

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
That's great!!
All these new trees to start your brand new year.
While I, in the north of the Americas, look forward to another 4 months of frozen tundra!!
All in jest. Great finds.
Hope my spring is as fruitful as yours!!
Looking forward to progress pictures.
I myself are starting the journey of growing from seed. Going to be bit before they can compare to these!
Cheers buddy, I hope yours is plenty fruitful too. I am excited to see how (if) they develop, but I’ve hopefully given them as good a chance as I can. Truth be told it should be far too early to worried about Spring being round the corner, but thats just the way of it these days. I’ve collected several pips from various apples around here which I’m going to start in the next week or so, so I’m not just going for “quick” fixes either ;) That’s all part of the fun of it though.
 

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
Thanks for posting your collected trunks. This will be my first spring digging out several Celtis Sinensis Hackberry trees from a growing area. I keep thinking that I should leave branches on when collecting these....but as I study your work....I’m more convinced that the coarse branches should be removed and maybe just 3cm stubs left on the trunk....and also just leave as many trunks as possible on the tree when collected. The trunks will be 10-12cm diameter above the soil. So....keep posting results so I increase my chopping confidence level.
These are my first ever collections, to be honest, so I’m not positive if I’ll use any of the stubs I’ve left on or not in the end. I just figured they’re in good positions and will speed up the potential for taper on lower branches. I figure theres no point in cutting stuff off I’ll want in the future anyway. All we can do is suck it and see and learn from what works. I’ll look forward to seeing yours too though! Scouting and collecting is probably the part of bonsai that I’ll enjoy the most, in the end. I think there’s a mature hackberry on the island round the corner, but god knows how it got here, because I’ve never seen one before. They were introduced to England a couple of hundred years ago, but not around these parts. It’s a lovely tree though so good luck.
 

Shibui

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
7,545
Reaction score
15,209
Location
Yackandandah, Australia
USDA Zone
9?
An informal broom is what I’ve got in mind.
Surely this is an oxymoron. The way I understand it, Broom is a formal upright style. Your tree will either be informal or broom, not both at the same time.
I know that's just being pedantic so all the best with these new collections.
 

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
Surely this is an oxymoron. The way I understand it, Broom is a formal upright style. Your tree will either be informal or broom, not both at the same time.
I know that's just being pedantic so all the best with these new collections.
Thanks, that is true though, in the traditional sense. However, Walter Pall coined the phrase, I think, to attribute it to a more upright, naturalistic growth than you would get from an informal upright. Broom, being a symmetrical broom shape and informal upright generally having branches that plateau or hang down. On deciduous trees in nature this happens comparatively rarely, and really only on the largest, or oldest trees, or on certain species with huge limbs. In my experience, most trees end up with many smaller trunks and smaller, more horizontal branchlets emanating from them. So, you are probably correct in that it is an unnecessary sub distinction, in most cases, but I think that’s where the distinction lies.
 

Shibui

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
7,545
Reaction score
15,209
Location
Yackandandah, Australia
USDA Zone
9?
Therin lies the problem with having defined styles. There are always some natural tree shapes and some bonsai styled in a shape that just does not fit into any of the traditional officially designated styles.
I'm quite happy for anyone to grow whatever shaped tree looks good.
 

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
Me too. I wouldn’t call myself a disciple, but it’s hard for me not to be enthralled by Walter Palls creations. I asked him recently what style one of his trees was and, although he gave me an answer, he also suggested that styles were for other people to label trees as. To that end, it’s nice to give a rough aim of how the tree will end up, but who knows where the look will truly lie?
 

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
Oaky doke. Today I got a twofer. I originally just went to collect an old dog rose, Rosa Canina, but that came out in no more than 10 minutes so I thought I’d grab a field maple, Acer Campestre, while I was at it.

First up, the dog rose. As I said, this came out in no time at all, mainly because it’s old root system was rotten and only had fine feeder roots left that were living. It looks a spectacular size for a rose, but unfortunately the only living part is where the green can be seen. It’s even trying to come out in leaf already. I’m thinking of trying to create either a sort of woven plant around the deadwood or even turning it into a sort of living tanuki. Some, but not all of the deadwood is rotten so we’ll see how it holds up. It measures 7” at the base and is 23” to the top of the deadwood. 2:moler 2:bark 1:lava 1:compost363F6CCC-7D04-4151-A6C6-2AAF51E184DC.jpeg
B40F2A93-E3FF-439C-AE85-8298CCC1D289.jpeg46E4ED01-C8DA-4850-8D9A-CB3BA7D1F146.jpeg46F0F414-B1BC-4555-AEF1-C17FDBC0688F.jpeg7CA1F37E-C3A0-4205-97CC-1CBF8E3E256F.jpeg
 

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
Next up a lovely little maple. I thought it was quirky before I dug it up but I’m really pleased with it now it’s out of the ground. Cracking taper and a great shape with interesting deadwood (thanks Muntjac). It has a nice compact root ball with loads of feeders and the beginnings of a decent nebari. It measures 3” at the base, 1.5” at the chop and is 13” high. 2:moler, 1:lava, 1:bark 1:sphagnum.
A299F01A-CAAC-4991-B78C-36667F4E808E.jpeg
587793EA-3122-43CF-AC2A-6E282CA2647F.jpeg77F99FA1-D489-4733-B5F5-B0675342274C.jpeg49FF936F-3655-4D36-92FF-C7D7B17B4BDF.jpegD224C40D-F1AF-4AEE-9590-1133662179E2.jpeg8EE84D33-72E5-4406-A2BB-E2E0637EE073.jpeg9790508A-1DAA-4669-8CF3-7678E0F29906.jpeg
 

Woocash

Omono
Messages
1,607
Reaction score
2,262
Location
Oxford, UK
Nice

If it were me, I would have cut the Corylus about much shorter, pretty much eliminate the central trunk, make one of the side branches the main trunk. Much more dramatic taper that way. But what you have "ain't bad".
Cheers, Leo. I didn’t even think of that to be honest, but with the leaf size I was just looking for a large one with the hope that it looks more in keeping. There are more available though so maybe I’ll be able to find another to do that with.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
Messages
11,337
Reaction score
23,254
Location
on the IL-WI border, a mile from ''da Lake''
USDA Zone
5b
Cheers, Leo. I didn’t even think of that to be honest, but with the leaf size I was just looking for a large one with the hope that it looks more in keeping. There are more available though so maybe I’ll be able to find another to do that with.

I took a second look, one of the heavy branches turns out to be shadow, your branches are not as heavy as I thought. However, I usually plan my trees out in thirds. My eye was treating what you collected as the first third of the finished tree. So at 24 inches, I could see this finished at nearly 6 feet. Fist third is trunk, second third is main branches, final third is only secondary and tertiary branches and leaves. I would bring the central trunk down a bit if you want to keep it under 4 feet tall.

But the above is my taste, it doesn't have to be yours.
 

Forsoothe!

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,878
Reaction score
9,248
Location
Michigan
USDA Zone
6b
I keep hearing this "full moon" thing. What's the science here?
 

ConorDash

Masterpiece
Messages
2,699
Reaction score
3,154
Location
Essex, UK
USDA Zone
8b
I keep hearing this "full moon" thing. What's the science here?

it’s a funny one. I first heard Sorce mention it a few years ago and thought it was one of the strangest things! But it’s real. Have a read:

One of those things that may well, realistically, make no difference but clearly people stick to it and if it helps, more power to them.

Or maybe it’s another cut paste situation. We use it to make ourselves feel better... (I use it, makes me feel better!)
 
Top Bottom