Collecting native pines in New Jersey

rutulus

Sapling
Messages
36
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63
Location
South Jersey
USDA Zone
7b
I’m writing this thread to share my experiences collecting pitch, shortleaf, and Virginia pine in South Jersey during the late spring. I’ve only been doing this for three years—I’m not an authority and don’t want anyone to mistake me for one. I’m sharing my experiences to learn and not to teach. I would be gratified if anyone with true experience offered their thoughts or corrections. But also, I wanted to share some of a corner of the world many don’t see.

I collect on private land in southwestern New Jersey. It’s mostly farmland and pastures, but the edges are undisturbed woodland. This is the southwestern edge of the Pine Barrens, and the soil is very sandy. As with the rest of the Pine Barrens that sandy, acidic soil prevented heavy agricultural development or the population density we see in the rest of the state.

This sand is the fine ‘sugar sand’ that supplied what was called the birthplace of American glassmaking. But you’ve heard this story before: the industry declined as the 20th century progressed and the world became more connected. Only a small amount of artistic glassblowing remains. The manufacture of scientific glass, once big business, went overseas, and we will not see it return.

The woods are a mix of native oaks, pines, and blueberries. The blueberries are everywhere here. I’m told they love the acidic soil. We’re not so far from the place where they were first commercially cultivated a hundred years ago, or from Hammonton—the supposed blueberry capital of the world.

IMG_6599.jpeg

This is only about twenty minutes from the Delaware river’s widening mouth and the forgotten, disappearing communities of the Bayshore. If you ever drive down this way, spend an afternoon driving the lone roads through the marshes and visiting Fortescue, Money Island or Gandy’s Beach if the greenheads are not in season. An advancing coastline eats at these communities each and every year. One day they too will be gone.

Now that I’ve told you how sandy it is, I will tell you that I do not collect in the sand. I’ve tried and found it to be pointless. First, the roots are too long and without any fine feeders close to the trunk. Second, all the soil falls away when you lift the tree. In my experience this guarantees the death of a pine.

But in this mixed oak-pine woodland, we have a dense cover of duff. One photo shows it undisturbed, the second photo shows the soil beneath. The soil seems to me to be composed of the decayed duff. It is relatively light and airy but holds water well. I find this soil to be excellent to collect from because it produces many fine feeders close to the trunk.

IMG_6603.jpeg
IMG_6604.jpeg

As for timing: I have had the best success collecting in May and June. But I don’t think the calendar is what matters. What I look for is the hardening of the first flush of growth. Once the candles extend and harden, I can collect with minimal anxiety. I have tried collecting while candles are soft and extending and it has guaranteed failure. I have, however, pruned off soft extending candles at the time of collection. This has worked for me. I’ve pruned native pines back pretty considerably (to fit in my car) while collecting at this time, also with good results.

My number one predictor of success is lifting a root ball of native soil filled with fine feeder roots. Here are some photos of my process, taken today while I collect a thick Virginia pine.

I use a good slim shovel to slice a good sized rootball. I don’t know if there’s an ideal size. I just eyeball it based on the thickness of the trunk. I use a Root Slayer shovel and it pretty easily slices through the taproot. I try never to rock the tree back and forth. It is tough to resist the urge, but I find that rocking just rips all those fine feeder roots, ruining your chances of survival.

IMG_6591.jpeg

You can see here the amount of feeders I look for. Usually I get more, but this spot was a bit dry.


IMG_6592.jpeg

I lay out a damp burlap square beside the root ball in preparation for lifting.


IMG_6593.jpeg

Then, I slip the shovel back under the rootball to brace so I can lift the tree onto the burlap without the soil falling away. The shovel should take the full weight of the rootball, keeping those fine feeder roots in place.


IMG_6594.jpeg

Then, I wrap up the burlap and secure it with electrical tape. I make the burlap as tight as I can to keep the rootball intact.


IMG_6595.jpeg

Then, I further secure it in a black trash bag which I also secure with electrical tape. The black bag adds a little more support, but is mostly to keep the moisture in and keep it relatively clean when I put it in my car. Here’s the finished bundle beside a 5 gallon bucket.


IMG_6598.jpeg

I transport them home and pot them up the next day. My solution for collected pines is a little unusual, but it’s been very successful for me. I line a milk crate with landscape fabric, and then fill it with pumice. That’s it. The aeration is excellent, which I think keeps these pines happy and healthy. I stick a chopstick down into the native soil and use that to gauge moisture. At this time of year I’m watering them about once a week, but in the dog days of summer they might get watered every day. It all depends on how fast they start drying out.

Pitch pines have responded the best, and by that I mean they remain 100% green and don’t give any indication of distress. Younger ones I have even repotted that fall. Virginia pines and shortleaf pines have both stayed healthy using this technique, but have a tendency to drop their older needles. Seeing yellowing needles was initially scary, but it never progressed beyond the older needles.

I also prefer the pitch pines for another reason: they seem to look old much more quickly. I found these two growing together, about six feet tall each and 1.5 inches in diameter. But already with cracked, aging bark.

IMG_6617.jpeg

Here’s another one, showing their characteristic back budding and basal crook. Excuse the poor lighting. At lower left it looks like there’s a thick root, but that’s a trick of perspective. It’s actually a dead sucker that grew up out of the basal crook. Most of the crook is buried beneath the pumice.

IMG_6619.jpeg

This method has been working for me for three years. I don’t know if my conditions are unique to me, but I wanted to add one more data point to the discussion.

In parting, a photo I took today of a more mature pitch pine. Again, showing its characteristic back budding.


IMG_6605.jpeg
 
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I’m writing this thread to share my experiences collecting pitch, shortleaf, and Virginia pine in South Jersey during the late spring. I’ve only been doing this for three years—I’m not an authority and don’t want anyone to mistake me for one. I’m sharing my experiences to learn and not to teach. I would be gratified if anyone with true experience offered their thoughts or corrections. But also, I wanted to share some of a corner of the world many don’t see.

I collect on private land in southwestern New Jersey. It’s mostly farmland and pastures, but the edges are undisturbed woodland. This is the southwestern edge of the Pine Barrens, and the soil is very sandy. As with the rest of the Pine Barrens that sandy, acidic soil prevented heavy agricultural development or the population density we see in the rest of the state.

This sand is the fine ‘sugar sand’ that supplied what was called the birthplace of American glassmaking. But you’ve heard this story before: the industry declined as the 20th century progressed and the world became more connected. Only a small amount of artistic glassblowing remains. The manufacture of scientific glass, once big business, went overseas, and we will not see it return.

The woods are a mix of native oaks, pines, and blueberries. The blueberries are everywhere here. I’m told they love the acidic soil. We’re not so far from the place where they were first commercially cultivated a hundred years ago, or from Hammonton—the supposed blueberry capital of the world.

View attachment 602471

This is only about twenty minutes from the Delaware river’s widening mouth and the forgotten, disappearing communities of the Bayshore. If you ever drive down this way, spend an afternoon driving the lone roads through the marshes and visiting Fortescue, Money Island or Gandy’s Beach if the greenheads are not in season. An advancing coastline eats at these communities each and every year. One day they too will be gone.

Now that I’ve told you how sandy it is, I will tell you that I do not collect in the sand. I’ve tried and found it to be pointless. First, the roots are too long and without any fine feeders close to the trunk. Second, all the soil falls away when you lift the tree. In my experience this guarantees the death of a pine.

But in this mixed oak-pine woodland, we have a dense cover of duff. One photo shows it undisturbed, the second photo shows the soil beneath. The soil seems to me to be composed of the decayed duff. It is relatively light and airy but holds water well. I find this soil to be excellent to collect from because it produces many fine feeders close to the trunk.

View attachment 602481
View attachment 602482

As for timing: I have had the best success collecting in May and June. But I don’t think the calendar is what matters. What I look for is the hardening of the first flush of growth. Once the candles extend and harden, I can collect with minimal anxiety. I have tried collecting while candles are soft and extending and it has guaranteed failure. I have, however, pruned off soft extending candles at the time of collection. This has worked for me. I’ve pruned native pines back pretty considerably (to fit in my car) while collecting at this time, also with good results.

My number one predictor of success is lifting a root ball of native soil filled with fine feeder roots. Here are some photos of my process, taken today while I collect a thick Virginia pine.

I use a good slim shovel to slice a good sized rootball. I don’t know if there’s an ideal size. I just eyeball it based on the thickness of the trunk. I use a Root Slayer shovel and it pretty easily slices through the taproot. I try never to rock the tree back and forth. It is tough to resist the urge, but I find that rocking just rips all those fine feeder roots, ruining your chances of survival.

View attachment 602483

You can see here the amount of feeders I look for. Usually I get more, but this spot was a bit dry.


View attachment 602484

I lay out a damp burlap square beside the root ball in preparation for lifting.


View attachment 602485

Then, I slip the shovel back under the rootball to brace so I can lift the tree onto the burlap without the soil falling away. The shovel should take the full weight of the rootball, keeping those fine feeder roots in place.


View attachment 602486

Then, I wrap up the burlap and secure it with electrical tape. I make the burlap as tight as I can to keep the rootball intact.


View attachment 602487

Then, I further secure it in a black trash bag which I also secure with electrical tape. The black bag adds a little more support, but is mostly to keep the moisture in and keep it relatively clean when I put it in my car. Here’s the finished bundle beside a 5 gallon bucket.


View attachment 602488

I transport them home and pot them up the next day. My solution for collected pines is a little unusual, but it’s been very successful for me. I line a milk crate with landscape fabric, and then fill it with pumice. That’s it. The aeration is excellent, which I think keeps these pines happy and healthy. I stick a chopstick down into the native soil and use that to gauge moisture. At this time of year I’m watering them about once a week, but in the dog days of summer they might get watered every day. It all depends on how fast they start drying out.

Pitch pines have responded the best, and by that I mean they remain 100% green and don’t give any indication of distress. Younger ones I have even repotted that fall. Virginia pines and shortleaf pines have both stayed healthy using this technique, but have a tendency to drop their older needles. Seeing yellowing needles was initially scary, but it never progressed beyond the older needles.

I also prefer the pitch pines for another reason: they seem to look old much more quickly. I found these two growing together, about six feet tall each and 1.5 inches in diameter. But already with cracked, aging bark.

View attachment 602491

Here’s another one, showing their characteristic back budding and basal crook. Excuse the poor lighting. At lower left it looks like there’s a thick root, but that’s a trick of perspective. It’s actually a dead sucker that grew up out of the basal crook. Most of the crook is buried beneath the pumice.

View attachment 602492

This method has been working for me for three years. I don’t know if my conditions are unique to me, but I wanted to add one more data point to the discussion.

In parting, a photo I took today of a more mature pitch pine. Again, showing its characteristic back budding.


View attachment 602490
Most excellent write up.
 
Thank you for sharing your process.
I collected 4 pitch pines this spring in April. Small ones fom under high voltage electrical lines where they were mowed over and have interesting broken shapes. All are doing well and extending candles.
Good to know that the larger ones can be collected successfully.
 
Most excellent write up.

Thanks. Writing out my process helps me identify what works and what doesn’t. I hope it’s also useful to somebody else!

Thank you for sharing your process.
I collected 4 pitch pines this spring in April. Small ones fom under high voltage electrical lines where they were mowed over and have interesting broken shapes. All are doing well and extending candles.
Good to know that the larger ones can be collected successfully.

Cool idea. Since we don’t have any elevation around here we’ve got to get creative. I think they’re the most interesting when they’ve been subjected to animal or human pruning or have had another tree fall on them.

Here’s a photo of my milk crate pots before and after potting. Nothing complicated.

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These aren’t very interesting, but I want to try bending their upper branches down low and self-grafting.

Here’s a better shot of the basal crook on the pitch pine I showed above. From this angle you can easily see all the suckers growing up from the crook. Many of them are dead but still pretty flexible.

IMG_6625.jpeg

And here’s one that I left alone. These four trunks are all the same tree, each one emerging from the same basal crook.

IMG_6600.jpeg

And another benefit of collecting pines in May and June: it’s a great time to grab immature green cones for making pine jam/mugolio. It’s delicious and requires nothing else but sugar, water, and your time.

IMG_6621.jpeg
 
Wow, never heard about mugolio before. Sounds good.
 
I’m writing this thread to share my experiences collecting pitch, shortleaf, and Virginia pine in South Jersey during the late spring. I’ve only been doing this for three years—I’m not an authority and don’t want anyone to mistake me for one. I’m sharing my experiences to learn and not to teach. I would be gratified if anyone with true experience offered their thoughts or corrections. But also, I wanted to share some of a corner of the world many don’t see.

I collect on private land in southwestern New Jersey. It’s mostly farmland and pastures, but the edges are undisturbed woodland. This is the southwestern edge of the Pine Barrens, and the soil is very sandy. As with the rest of the Pine Barrens that sandy, acidic soil prevented heavy agricultural development or the population density we see in the rest of the state.

This sand is the fine ‘sugar sand’ that supplied what was called the birthplace of American glassmaking. But you’ve heard this story before: the industry declined as the 20th century progressed and the world became more connected. Only a small amount of artistic glassblowing remains. The manufacture of scientific glass, once big business, went overseas, and we will not see it return.

The woods are a mix of native oaks, pines, and blueberries. The blueberries are everywhere here. I’m told they love the acidic soil. We’re not so far from the place where they were first commercially cultivated a hundred years ago, or from Hammonton—the supposed blueberry capital of the world.

View attachment 602471

This is only about twenty minutes from the Delaware river’s widening mouth and the forgotten, disappearing communities of the Bayshore. If you ever drive down this way, spend an afternoon driving the lone roads through the marshes and visiting Fortescue, Money Island or Gandy’s Beach if the greenheads are not in season. An advancing coastline eats at these communities each and every year. One day they too will be gone.

Now that I’ve told you how sandy it is, I will tell you that I do not collect in the sand. I’ve tried and found it to be pointless. First, the roots are too long and without any fine feeders close to the trunk. Second, all the soil falls away when you lift the tree. In my experience this guarantees the death of a pine.

But in this mixed oak-pine woodland, we have a dense cover of duff. One photo shows it undisturbed, the second photo shows the soil beneath. The soil seems to me to be composed of the decayed duff. It is relatively light and airy but holds water well. I find this soil to be excellent to collect from because it produces many fine feeders close to the trunk.

View attachment 602481
View attachment 602482

As for timing: I have had the best success collecting in May and June. But I don’t think the calendar is what matters. What I look for is the hardening of the first flush of growth. Once the candles extend and harden, I can collect with minimal anxiety. I have tried collecting while candles are soft and extending and it has guaranteed failure. I have, however, pruned off soft extending candles at the time of collection. This has worked for me. I’ve pruned native pines back pretty considerably (to fit in my car) while collecting at this time, also with good results.

My number one predictor of success is lifting a root ball of native soil filled with fine feeder roots. Here are some photos of my process, taken today while I collect a thick Virginia pine.

I use a good slim shovel to slice a good sized rootball. I don’t know if there’s an ideal size. I just eyeball it based on the thickness of the trunk. I use a Root Slayer shovel and it pretty easily slices through the taproot. I try never to rock the tree back and forth. It is tough to resist the urge, but I find that rocking just rips all those fine feeder roots, ruining your chances of survival.

View attachment 602483

You can see here the amount of feeders I look for. Usually I get more, but this spot was a bit dry.


View attachment 602484

I lay out a damp burlap square beside the root ball in preparation for lifting.


View attachment 602485

Then, I slip the shovel back under the rootball to brace so I can lift the tree onto the burlap without the soil falling away. The shovel should take the full weight of the rootball, keeping those fine feeder roots in place.


View attachment 602486

Then, I wrap up the burlap and secure it with electrical tape. I make the burlap as tight as I can to keep the rootball intact.


View attachment 602487

Then, I further secure it in a black trash bag which I also secure with electrical tape. The black bag adds a little more support, but is mostly to keep the moisture in and keep it relatively clean when I put it in my car. Here’s the finished bundle beside a 5 gallon bucket.


View attachment 602488

I transport them home and pot them up the next day. My solution for collected pines is a little unusual, but it’s been very successful for me. I line a milk crate with landscape fabric, and then fill it with pumice. That’s it. The aeration is excellent, which I think keeps these pines happy and healthy. I stick a chopstick down into the native soil and use that to gauge moisture. At this time of year I’m watering them about once a week, but in the dog days of summer they might get watered every day. It all depends on how fast they start drying out.

Pitch pines have responded the best, and by that I mean they remain 100% green and don’t give any indication of distress. Younger ones I have even repotted that fall. Virginia pines and shortleaf pines have both stayed healthy using this technique, but have a tendency to drop their older needles. Seeing yellowing needles was initially scary, but it never progressed beyond the older needles.

I also prefer the pitch pines for another reason: they seem to look old much more quickly. I found these two growing together, about six feet tall each and 1.5 inches in diameter. But already with cracked, aging bark.

View attachment 602491

Here’s another one, showing their characteristic back budding and basal crook. Excuse the poor lighting. At lower left it looks like there’s a thick root, but that’s a trick of perspective. It’s actually a dead sucker that grew up out of the basal crook. Most of the crook is buried beneath the pumice.

View attachment 602492

This method has been working for me for three years. I don’t know if my conditions are unique to me, but I wanted to add one more data point to the discussion.

In parting, a photo I took today of a more mature pitch pine. Again, showing its characteristic back budding.


View attachment 602490
I appreciate your humility, but I may just use this post as a future reference when I need info on pine collecting in the mid-Atlantic region. I collected pitch pine many years ago in southern NY and can verify that collection is almost guaranteed success if you can see many feeder roots when lifting the root ball. However, I’ve only collected pitch pine and red spruce in late August and early Sept with success (each tree responded with strong growth the following growing season). I haven’t tried spring yet. I’m really itching to collect again this year if I can find time.
 
I’m curious for your experience if you collect a little bit later than now. Please let me know how it goes. I’d be worried that as summer gets going there’s a point in time at which your chances of success take a nosedive. But I have no idea because I’ve never tried later than mid-June 🤷‍♂️

There’s bound to be differences based on what pine you’re digging, but I don’t know enough to guess. A wise man once told me there’s nothing so dangerous as a little bit of knowledge. I try to remember that advice because I’ve made my share of mistakes thinking I knew everything there was to know!

I stop collecting right around now but I don’t have any basis for that other than anxiety. If you’re digging pitch, maybe keep an eye out for soft new growth. That would be a no go for me. I’ll trim a few back but I wouldn’t pull a tree covered in soft new candles because I’d be worried about how much energy it just expended right before I come lumbering in and rip it out of the ground.
 
Two photos that demonstrate why you don’t proceed without a good rootball. With this pitch pine, the duff soil transitioned to sand much less deeply than I thought. When I lifted, even with the shovel bracing the bottom, the sandy soil fell away. There were some fine feeders left in the duff topcoat, but not enough. This trunk had some subtle movement and neat natural deadwood. Combined with that distinctive basal crook this could have been something special! But it was probably best left in the ground. The second photo shows my hand for a sense of scale.

IMG_6632.jpeg

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I collected this one early, around March. I also used a nursery can instead of a milk crate. I don’t think the nursery can was a problem. When it got bare rooted it was a goner either way.

Mistakes like these have really led me to think carefully and move slowly.
 
Great write up. Id love to go collecting with you some time so hit me up if you want an extra hand. I have some eyes on a few spots myself but havent sought permission to collect yet.

Great insight regarding the difficulty of digging in sandy soil. Need to figure a way to prevent the collapse of the soil...
 
Sounds good. 👍

I tried a new method this year for getting at a tree that’s in soil that’s too sandy and has too few feeder roots. I dug out a circle from the trunk about 8 inches in diameter, and a couple inches deep, then filled it back in with wet sphagnum. I then covered that up with native soil.

I’m going to wait a year and see if any feeders grow into it. 🤷‍♂️
 
Seems like a good idea. How far down in sandy soil do you usually see feeder roots?

I wonder if you can insert something under that can contain the soil more fully at time of collection.
 
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I only see them in the first 2-4 inches because that’s where the duff and litter is. And that’s the best case scenario for my collecting area. Below that there’s a transition into sand. You can only collect where the organic litter has piled deeply enough to produce feeders. Sometimes trees are ten feet apart but for whatever reason one only has a dusting of organic litter on top of sand, so there’s no chance of collecting it.
 
Im saying in soil which is predominantly sand, how far down do you need to go to get feeder roots. Collecting in the humus rich top 3 or 4 inches is ideal, but It severely limits the collectible area.
 
I've collected small 1-2 year old pitch pine seedlings from sandy soil. They are small enough that their roots aren't too long yet and I can just get a trowel under them and scoop them up and put them in a pot.
 
My goal is secure some large collecting space approval in the barrens themselves, which is very sandy. In locales also dominated by oak and scrub, there should be that thinish layer of humus but in other locales where it is predominantly sand, Id like to figure out how far to dig down for feeders. its easy to dig in sandy soil so needing to dig down 12" or so isnt a problem typically.
 
My goal is secure some large collecting space approval in the barrens themselves, which is very sandy. In locales also dominated by oak and scrub, there should be that thinish layer of humus but in other locales where it is predominantly sand, Id like to figure out how far to dig down for feeders. its easy to dig in sandy soil so needing to dig down 12" or so isnt a problem typically.
The problem isn't so much depth but distance. Trees in sand will grow roots for many feet which is why it's such a problem collecting larger trees from sand.

No one can give you a depth/distance as it will differ per tree
 
Thank you for this account, I'll be following along. I'm less into my bonsai journey than you are (2 years) and have my eye on what I believe is a loblolly pine in the sandy forest behind my house in the outer banks. threads like these help me remember I am not advanced enough to try to collect something so large. I appreciate the pumice information in your process, and will be checking for feeder roots in the duff when it finally stops raining. Thanks again.
 
Regarding pumice... I will never not use pumice with a bit of pine bark as a post collection substrate from this point on for conifers. All my collections that went into pumice survived. Its a great substrate. Its expensive here on the east coast, but it makes your efforts worth it in confident post collection results.
 
Im saying in soil which is predominantly sand, how far down do you need to go to get feeder roots. Collecting in the humus rich top 3 or 4 inches is ideal, but It severely limits the collectible area.
I got you. I don’t know. I’ve never traced out those big roots or the taproot. I gave up after a few feet because I figured they were too long to be viable. I agree with Paradox’s take though. Differs by tree but in my experience we’re talking way deeper than 12”. From the Forest Service:

IMG_6739.jpeg

Getting broader access in the pines would be killer. I just don’t know how viable it is to collect on predominantly sand. I might just have a failure of imagination though. That’s why I’m trying to add a feeder-promoting substrate in a sandy spot and wait. If the conditions are bad, why not try to change them…

The holy grail would be to collect on the pine plains and get at the dwarfed pitch pines. But I’m guessing the conditions that make them so incredible would also make them impossible to collect. 😂

Thank you for this account, I'll be following along. I'm less into my bonsai journey than you are (2 years) and have my eye on what I believe is a loblolly pine in the sandy forest behind my house in the outer banks. threads like these help me remember I am not advanced enough to try to collect something so large. I appreciate the pumice information in your process, and will be checking for feeder roots in the duff when it finally stops raining. Thanks again.

I’m happy you could benefit from my playing around in the woods. If you can get permission go for it and good luck. I’m very curious how you make out. I spent a lot of time down there as a kid and the sandy conditions aren’t so different from the NJ pines. Take your time and look for feeders you can extract in one unbroken rootball—if you can’t find any, just leave the tree where it is. It’s unlikely it’ll survive if you try to move it, but at least you can enjoy it where it is.
 
I've collected small 1-2 year old pitch pine seedlings from sandy soil. They are small enough that their roots aren't too long yet and I can just get a trowel under them and scoop them up and put them in a pot.

💯💯💯

And they grow fast enough that it’s worth it even for seedlings.
 
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