Hope this one lives.....

Recent Shore Pine Yamadori. I initially wanted to stand it upright but it's root formation prevented that....looking at the photo, I might just go with the slanted style lol.
The base split a long time ago so it has nice weathered deadwood and kinda acts like an anchor....can picture it in a long narrow handmade cement pot with much more on the right side to just under the first branch.
Cheers G.

were you able to collect without damaging any roots, or did you have to cut some roots?

I can ez'ly see a style for this - was it straight plant with the native soil?

here is a style for it.

http://i.imgur.com/i8DVXLX.jpg

Waltron said:

were you able to collect without damaging any roots, or did you have to cut some roots?

Click to expand...

No root cutting.....the collection area is made up of veneers of soil with sometimes a thick forest duff.....lots of open rock, rock outcroppings..etc.....this tree and a couple of others were nestled in pockets or on ledges.......it had rained significantly in the area for the last couple of weeks....soils had rehydrated and so had the trees after some summer heat.
The tips and this years growth from fairly healthy and green but the summer stress had taken its toll on the last two years growth and were already turning yellow or turning brown.
This one had two main roots that contoured along the rock ledge......these main roots ran many feet.....I opened up the layer of duff/soil between tree and rock face..... slid my one hand along the roots and gently followed it......much of it was so close to the rock that it had no fine roots and was barking up....then these main roots expanded into a mini beaver pelt of roots, some soil but mostly a thick forest duff......it peeled off easily. Folded everything together, shrink wrapped and where necessary I used matts of moss (easily peeled off rock) to cover any exposed roots. In order to get it into the grow box (16x22" inside), I had to lay the base and the two major roots on a diagonal.....lots of layering of soil and root beaver pelts. I collected a number of potential informal uprights and/or literati's so I' leaning with the slant for now.....maybe sketch something.
Cheers Graham

Giga said:

I can ez'ly see a style for this - was it straight plant with the native soil?

Click to expand...

Are you asking about the collection area or what's in the grow box?...... The latter .......transplant soil mixture, is a combination of the original forest floor (which covers the roots) beneath those, above and in between is a mix of pumice, a small amount of left over red lava and Seasoil....lots of rain water. Here is another one from the same trip....sorry that the one photo is out of focus but one can see how this tree was growing flat against the rock.....in the foreground is the branch on the left side of pot.

ghues said:

slid my one hand along the roots and gently followed it....

Click to expand...

You should submit this to playboy magazine. -Mike

Maloghurst said:

You should submit this to playboy magazine. -Mike

Click to expand...

All about technique Mike......gotta be gentle if you want a yamadori to survive.......used a tree planting shovel and/or a trowel with the other hand.

nicely done.

Maloghurst said:

submit this to playboy

Click to expand...

Ha! or this....

ghues said:

expanded into a mini beaver

Click to expand...

Nice trees!

Sorce

Great yamadori my friend!

Another Shore Pine .... Love all the gentle curves.
Again very hopeful that this one will survive......I really want the little branch at the base to grow as it will anchor the base.......

This one not only survived but totally went crazy this summer. Collected in late summer 2015, put into grow box with pumice and Seasoil......needed the grow pot for this years collecting so I slip potted it and was just amazed with the massive amount of roots it had developed in just one season. It was growing next to a hiking trail and had tried to grow leaders in 4 different places...all to no avail. The main trunk on the right is only 5" tall and the base is 3".....it has a bulbous almost burl like feature on one side. Lots of branches to choice from and lots of small buds along many of them.
Cheers Graham

Giga said:

I can ez'ly see a style for this - was it straight plant with the native soil?

Click to expand...

@Giga.....Slanting style example at today's post. http://bonsaibark.com.

Here is another yamadori hopefull......a yellow cedar (Alaska Cedar or Nootka Cedar)..Cupressus nootkatensis.
This was actually a branch of the main cluster.....as it was growing more like a shrub rather than a tree. This particular branch was growing along the forest floor and the top portion was over rock...upon inspection of the lower trunk where the small tree forked from, it had layered itself with a nice volume of roots (a common trait of this species), so I sawed it away from the main clump. This first photo shows the deadwood detail, the live vein is mostly at the back and comes around the front at the top. You can also see the much smaller stem in the lower right....hopefully they both will live.

The roots were very active at the time of collection and they should have continued growth throughout this fall as its been wet and mild.....

The first photo Shore pine and the yellow cedar above didn't make it, however the rest have.
Here is another Shore Pine that I worked on today. I'm leaning towards the first image even though the apex doesn't move to the viewer. I leave all branches at this stage (young in Bonsai training) to help keep it healthy.
Cheers
Graham

Awwwe...

ghues said:

The first photo Shore pine and the yellow cedar above didn't make it, however the rest have.
Here is another Shore Pine that I worked on today. I'm leaning towards the first image even though the apex doesn't move to the viewer. I leave all branches at this stage (young in Bonsai training) to help keep it healthy.
Cheers
Graham

Click to expand...

Here is the same tree (pinus contorta, contorta) this spring.

Here is another P. Contorta, contorta from the 2015 late summer collection. Unfortunately this was what I thought as the ugly duckling (therefore no before photos that I can find at the moment)...one......which I had convinced myself upon finding this one, that it had some decent deadwood which told a story of struggle against the elements. I also ensured that I could collect it and it would survive as it had some recent Vigor as many of its neighbors, parents, uncles, aunts....etc had been blown over creating a significant increase in light....on this rocky exposed granite bluff.
It thrived for the last two summers .....a front was easy as it a natural lean towards the viewer.
Due to its ugly duckling status....I just looked at it all summer......won’t be a show stopper but the first styling was fun and some natural triangles appeared once it was all wired....studied some more and then, a little of this and that.
One photo inside the shop, two showing its deadwood and age, and one back outside.
Cheers
Graham

Another August 2016 yamadori collected pinus.......its got lots of character, age, deadwood and very, very corky bark (first photo) for a P. Contorta, only green is at the apex....a challenge.......
studied it from all angles over the summer and came up with this for now.....
Much of the lower trunk and base was buried under a 2” of litter, forest mulch. Removed enough to expose a sharp curve at the base and raised the trunk upwards......Bark is very thick and flaky.
Cheers