Collecting California junipers in Mojave

[Si Nguyen]

Hi everybody, been awhile since I started a new thread here. Been too busy. Here's one for your discussion pleasure.

2 weeks ago 3 of us in the Orange County Bonsai Study Group went collecting California junipers. We went to the mountain desert area east of Mojave. It was a gorgeous day. Here are some pics from my smart phone camera.

 

[Smoke]

Ummm....I can almost smell the creosote bush, and the birds chirping. A small lizard peers from under a rock.

Thanks, Al

 

[gergwebber]

awwww... so cal is so drab
but I guess that is part of the charm
we only get deserts for ~1/4 of the year up here...(double winky face)

 

[tmmason10]

Looks beautiful out there. Dig anything up?

 

[Smoke]

I read this again this morning and was wondering...... Where are the mountains "east" of Mojave, and how far does one have to drive to reach them?

 

[Si Nguyen]

Ummm....I can almost smell the creosote bush, and the birds chirping. A small lizard peers from under a rock.

Thanks, Al

Yeah! It was just like that. The three of us split up in three different directions, and it became total solitude for hours. I just hiked and enjoyed the view. There were thousands of perfect bonsai materials, from junipers to pines, oaks, and manzanitas. The weather was cool and perfect. Could not ask for a better day.

 

[Si Nguyen]

Looks beautiful out there. Dig anything up?

Yup! Dug one small tree. I split it into two parts. That was enough for me. We only dug from about 9 to 12 then went home after lunch. I actually got lost for an hour looking for my tools. I was walking circles! The other people in our group also collected 2 small trees each too. They were not greedy either. I will submit pics of the collected stumps later this week.

 

[Si Nguyen]

I read this again this morning and was wondering...... Where are the mountains "east" of Mojave, and how far does one have to drive to reach them?

I guess that was "east". Just go east past Mojave on Hwy 14 then turn left (heading north) on Jawbone Canyon. Drive as far as you can then start hiking. Bring an RV and spend the night. Where we went it was private land so one needs permission to get past the gates. But I know people who went around the fences on 4wd trucks and got close up to the Pacific Crest Trail to collect. I saw what some people collected last year and I can attest that there are still true masterpieces out there by the thousands. But I don't get along with that crowd.

 

[Smoke]

Hiway 14 and the mountains are "west" of Mojave.....

From Orange County one would head north on 14 turn right, (east) on 58 to go to Denny's for breakfast (town of Mojave). Then you would head west to 14 and turn north to Jawbone Canyon turnoff (12 miles) and head west again to go thru the gates past the RV campgrounds. The Tehachipe mountains are between Mojave and Bakersfield. The nearest mountains east of Mojave is Yermo, the Calico mountains, just outside Barstow.

How about a picture or two of some trees. Is there a bad crowd?

 

[Si Nguyen]

Hiway 14 and the mountains are "west" of Mojave.....

From Orange County one would head north on 14 turn right, (east) on 58 to go to Denny's for breakfast (town of Mojave). Then you would head west to 14 and turn north to Jawbone Canyon turnoff (12 miles) and head west again to go thru the gates past the RV campgrounds. The Tehachipe mountains are between Mojave and Bakersfield. The nearest mountains east of Mojave is Yermo, the Calico mountains, just outside Barstow.

How about a picture or two of some trees. Is there a bad crowd?

You're right! I got my east and west mixed up. I was just thinking everything is east of the Pacific ocean.

Here are some pics of the trees that I were about to dig up.The first pic show a tree with some amazing twists. The live vein went around the trunk 4-5 times. The tree would have been about 5-6 feet tall probably had I finished digging it. The lower portion under the soil was too straight so I decided not to remove it. But I marked it for next time though. On the way home I realized that it would have made for a very cool literati.

The second pic show a tree that I was actually removing. It was crushed by another tree and was flattened to the ground. It took me about 30 minutes to remove it and got 2 nice stumps out of it. They have some nice curves at the base so I was thinking of styling them as cascades at the time. I have a very easy and fast way of digging up these things if anybody ever need some tips. But it took me almost an hour to hike out with the 2 stumps back to the car that was only about a mile or two away though.

Yes, there is a bad crowd. The bad boys of bonsai. You're lucky if you haven't seen them.

 

[Smoke]

That first pic looks like it has a killer trunk down there. Looks as though it makes a cool swoop (arching curve?).

better pic?

Too bad on the bad crowd......

 

[Tuan Dinh]

Hi everybody, been awhile since I started a new thread here. Been too busy. Here's one for your discussion pleasure.

2 weeks ago 3 of us in the Orange County Bonsai Study Group went collecting California junipers. We went to the mountain desert area east of Mojave. It was a gorgeous day. Here are some pics from my smart phone camera.

Chào anh Si Nguyên, chúng ta sưu tầm cây như vậy có cần giấy phép không anh Si Nguyên.
Em đang tập chơi cây cảnh, xin anh cho y kiến.

 

[Peter@Bonsainut2020]

Hi everybody, been awhile since I started a new thread here. Been too busy. Here's one for your discussion pleasure.

2 weeks ago 3 of us in the Orange County Bonsai Study Group went collecting California junipers. We went to the mountain desert area east of Mojave. It was a gorgeous day. Here are some pics from my smart phone camera.

Do you have CA. Juniper for sale?

 

[BajaKen]

Tuan Dinh (above) was inquiring about if a permit is necessary? Or if not, is this something to do... "quietly?"

 

[ihaveaspaceship]

it can be something like a 10k fine. So thats on you!