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I'll be leaving China very soon, and leaving behind a number of trees that I've collected between 2012 and now. In the spirit of sharing and keeping records, here are some pictures of the trees now (obviously all still in development stages). Maybe one day in the future, I'll be able to return...

I just stumbled upon this (link below) - It's called a waterbox, and the claim is that in tests in the Sahara, 88 percent of "waterbox" sheltered trees survive, versus 10 percent of those not sheltered by waterboxes. Could those of us who collect trees use a similar idea to shelter our trees'...

I decided I needed a custom pot for a very large peach tree of mine, and since I couldn't find anyone who could do it for me at a price that I can currently afford, I decided to try my hand at cement pottery. After three or four layers of various products, I finally got the right fast-drying...

I love looking at pictures of good bonsai, and I figure most others using this forum do as well. The other day, while searching for information about making pots out of cement, I came across Erik Križovenský's web site (maybe some here already know of his work). Thought I'd share for those who...

I collected this honeysuckle in July from a field that was being cleared for a construction project. When I found it, it had already been uprooted and tossed aside, root ball fully intact. Since this was a landscape tree, its root ball was considerably compact to begin with, and I was able to...

Today I walked past a large field that has been walled off from the public because construction is beginning on the land (which involves removal of most of the trees that are growing in it) and discovered that the doors were open, and I was able to walk in and examine the state of things. Many...

I collected this juniper yesterday (Monday, March 25). It was the other half of this juniper, which I collected on Saturday. Height: About 5'10" I suppose.. Trunk: haven't measured Plan: Keep it alive, maybe in a year or so, when I know it's healthy, start slowly working on a design...

This is my first time ever collecting a juniper. I collected it from a subway construction zone this past Saturday where it had been chopped and seriously damaged, but it seemed to still have a small amount of living foliage and a fair amount of shallow-growing feeder roots. This tree had two...

This is the only bonsai material that I've ever bought (so far) (i.e. not collected on my own). I don't remember the exact price, but I know that it was somewhere between $8 and $12 U.S. I bought it in January of this year, and kept it in a cold room until outside temperatures were fairly...

I've collected a few elms during the last couple years that I've been learning bonsai, but surprisingly, this tree, which I just collected two weeks ago, is the first for which I've started a dedicated thread. I believe this is Ulmus pumila (Siberian Elm). I dug it up from a mostly abandoned...

In spring of 2012, I collected this cherry tree (pictured below) which I believe to be Prunus serrulata (var. lannesiana). It's about an inch in width at the base, and has been growing very well in a colander for the past year. I repotted it yesterday into a larger pot (because I want to just...

I've had my eye on a peach tree in a field that's going to be razed for construction, and today (finally!), after three days of working on this tree, I got it loose! The secret, I suppose, was having the proper tools (a spade shovel and a pickaxe) and about 1.5 hours of hard work. In truth I...

This is an interesting article of information collected from the landscaping community: http://www.landscapeonline.com/research/article-a.php?number=4928

Yesterday I collected a tree (most likely formerly a landscape piece) that had been dug up and thrown in a pile of other trees (mostly poplar) and branches in the middle of a construction site. There's so much construction happening in Tianjin that I'm sure things like this are done all the time...

These(below) are some really inspiring willows that grow on the edge of an artificial pond in the middle of a university in Tianjin, China. Just thought I'd share.

This is amazing. I came across these stumps today in a park which I noticed about two months ago had been chopped by the park employees. Notice how amazingly tiny the foliage that they put out is!

I had the opportunity to collect a willow tree today. I'm not sure exactly what species it is, but it's definitely willow, so I'm relatively certain that it will do well with regenerating roots just sitting in a pan of water. It had been growing between brick tiles on the ground and was actually...

Today I was noting that my Chinese elm had a couple new yellow leaves, something that wasn't prolific, but I have definitely noticed a few over the last couple weeks. That, on top of the fact that it wasn't showing any explosive growth on its second flush of leaves, and all of its leaves were...

Recently, (within the last three months, I think) either in a thread dedicated to the subject or as a sub-conversation within a thread, someone made the statement that he's seen better growth (in girth) in pots than in field/ground grown trees when the trees are successively repotted into larger...

There's a hotel close to where I do my bonsai that has quite a few bonsai displayed on their premises. Usually, when I look at these trees, I'm just disappointed because they don't seem to be cared for or maintained at all. Many of them don't really have any branch development - their branches...

I'd like to see if I can get input from all of you who have experience with collecting oaks, and maybe we can come to a general concensus as to whether this is, in general, a genus-wide "truth" or just something peculiar to oaks in England: As some may have read, Harry Harrington says that he...

There's a really interestingly shaped Camphor tree that I've taken notice of recently and a few days ago, had the chance to get a closer look at. First, a picture of the tree as I originally saw it: When I got closer to the tree, I discovered this: Not including the third branch on...

(Posting for advice and constructive criticism) Collection: Rescued in late December from a field in Zhejiang to be cleared for apartment development. Back-hoe driver scooped it up for me. Unfortunately, I had virtually nothing for extra soil, so its roots were soaked for a couple days and...

I'm posting this tree for advice and constructive criticism. Collection: Half of a tree that had fallen from a cliff, discovered around mid-December, 2011. Potted in native soil at the time, and repotted into diatomaceous earth on March 17, 2012. Base dimensions: (L) 31 cm x (W) 13 cm x (H) 10...

Here's a peach tree I collected this past December. I'm posting it here for advice regarding development and care, and constructive criticism. Collection: Rescued from a field in Zhejiang to be cleared for apartment development. Potted in native soil at the time because I didn't have anything...