A thread about collecting Tamarack from a bog.

[Eckhoffw]

Well, I feel I have a few more things to share about my bog adventure.
- First off, what a bizarre place!
Early last winter, I bounced along on top of the sphagnum moss as it was frozen, but not frozen hard. It made for a squishy but relatively dry walk. I pretty easily flagged my prospects for the coming spring.
Yesterday, my knee high boots barely made the cut. I got pretty soaked. 2-3 feet of water, until I reached the forest of larches. In the thicket, there was enough moss mounds and vegetation to stay above much of the water

A helper would of been terrific! After digging, cutting, and ultimately collecting the desired tree, I had to slosh back to the dry land some 50 yards. away. Not a big deal, but damn! did I get a work out! My back and legs hurt today!
A few more photos today.
Some of the bog removed from the root balls.
The 3
One cone on the biggest one.

 

[GreatLakesBrad]

Buds golden sheen, just about ready to pop. Love the lichen. Beautiful places! Glad you enjoyed. Collecting from the bog is no small task!

 

[Colorado]

The big one especially looks fantastic. Nice finds!

 

[Dogestoevsky]

Gah so beautiful! Nice work, wish I could’ve been there — maybe sometime in the future! I especially love the large specimen, which seems as though it would make two or three very nice trees. The double trunk is a fascinating problem (in a good way)!

Hope you enjoyed your excursion!

 

[yashu]

I just did the same, collected some larch from the back yard. None of mine have this kind of character though, those are some great trees you found. Mine are small straight saplings that I’m hoping I can have some influence on. I collected one last fall after the needles dropped and it’s waking up nicely now as well.

I have the same muskeg type environment as well. I’ve been collecting, drying and grating the sphagnum through my soil screen and putting it to good use on all my trees. It’s an excellent resource.

 

[Firstflush]

The lichen makes it very unique and intersting.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Gah so beautiful! Nice work, wish I could’ve been there — maybe sometime in the future! I especially love the large specimen, which seems as though it would make two or three very nice trees. The double trunk is a fascinating problem (in a good way)!

Hope you enjoyed your excursion!

Thanks! Definitely enjoyed myself!
I plan on returning as the needles turn, so maybe some plans for then.

 

[Eckhoffw]

I have the same muskeg type environment as well. I’ve been collecting, drying and grating the sphagnum through my soil screen and putting it to good use on all my trees. It’s an excellent resource.

Very cool! I’m about 1.5hrs from the bog, and had two bricks of sphagnum ready to use if I needed it there. Well I didn’t use it, and then forgot it at the farm!
I had to go buy more when I got home to pot them up.

 

[yashu]

It’s funny, I had “documented” my process and then saw your post after I had wrapped up for the evening and I had taken many similar photos. I won’t post them all here so as to not take over your thread but here’s some shots of processing the sphagnum and one shot of my twigs on the ATV

 

[Eckhoffw]

Little Photo update on the 3 collected tamarack. All in all, I’m pretty happy this far. They all seem alive for now. The biggest one at left, had the least amount of roots so I’m not surprised by it stunted growth. The needles are already dark green and very small. There are some new shoots happening.
The other two seem to be doing pretty good. All of them have been in a more shaded part of the yard here since I potted them up.
Im wondering if I should put them in a bit more sun at this point.
Soil stays relatively wet with sphagnum moss and pumice. My thought has been that I need to keep them wet in transitioning out of the bog setting. I imagine that once they’ve recovered fully I can transition into bonsai soil.

Thoughts? Thanks for your help/suggestions!

 

[Dogestoevsky]

These look marvelous! Excited to see how you handle them. I still think the largest is a total stunner. Great lines, great branch placement, overall excellent design potential.

 

[Dav4]

I’ve never collected or grown larch but know they love sun… I’d give them as much sun as you can.

 

[August44]

Little Photo update on the 3 collected tamarack. All in all, I’m pretty happy this far. They all seem alive for now. View attachment 446425The biggest one at left, had the least amount of roots so I’m not surprised by it stunted growth. The needles are already dark green and very small. There are some new shoots happening.View attachment 446424
The other two seem to be doing pretty good. All of them have been in a more shaded part of the yard here since I potted them up.
Im wondering if I should put them in a bit more sun at this point. View attachment 446423View attachment 446427View attachment 446429
Soil stays relatively wet with sphagnum moss and pumice. My thought has been that I need to keep them wet in transitioning out of the bog setting. I imagine that once they’ve recovered fully I can transition into bonsai soil.

Thoughts? Thanks for your help/suggestions!

Good job! Look great!

 

[Cajunrider]

Little Photo update on the 3 collected tamarack. All in all, I’m pretty happy this far. They all seem alive for now. View attachment 446425The biggest one at left, had the least amount of roots so I’m not surprised by it stunted growth. The needles are already dark green and very small. There are some new shoots happening.View attachment 446424
The other two seem to be doing pretty good. All of them have been in a more shaded part of the yard here since I potted them up.
Im wondering if I should put them in a bit more sun at this point. View attachment 446423View attachment 446427View attachment 446429
Soil stays relatively wet with sphagnum moss and pumice. My thought has been that I need to keep them wet in transitioning out of the bog setting. I imagine that once they’ve recovered fully I can transition into bonsai soil.

Thoughts? Thanks for your help/suggestions!

Beautiful trees.

 

[Shogun610]

That last one is the best and will lend itself to a wonderful spindly literati-esq tree one day . When r you collecting again? Have you explored other areas ?

 

[yashu]

That’s great! They look super healthy! Mine are growing well also.

 

[yashu]

I put mine in a bonsai mix that was about 1 part sphagnum, 1 part peat and 3 parts DE with some screened turface thrown in as filler. They’ve been in full sun and kept “wet” all season. They are thriving with some branches (ones I have not pinched) with over 12” of new growth. I have fertilized with BioGold and Osmacote since about 2 weeks after repotting and wired them just after I started the fertilizer regimen. I’ll put up a pic when I get home but this has worked well for me so far.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Thank you! @Dogestoevsky, @August44, @Cajunrider, for the kind words!

@Dav4, thanks for the heads up on more sun! I was babying these a bit too much but have learned that these don’t much like being in the shade.

@yashu, thanks for letting me in on your care regimen. I definitely will get them in lots more sun while continuing to keep ‘em wet.
I look forward to some pics of yours!

 

[August44]

I put mine in a bonsai mix that was about 1 part sphagnum, 1 part peat and 3 parts DE with some screened turface thrown in as filler. They’ve been in full sun and kept “wet” all season. They are thriving with some branches (ones I have not pinched) with over 12” of new growth. I have fertilized with BioGold and Osmacote since about 2 weeks after repotting and wired them just after I started the fertilizer regimen. I’ll put up a pic when I get home but this has worked well for me so far.

I have never used moss in the mix. Are you using dried moss or live moss ground up? Do you us it for water retention or? Do you keep your other conifers like spruce and pines in that mix? I would be afraid it would get to soggy.

 

[yashu]

I have never used moss in the mix. Are you using dried moss or live moss ground up? Do you us it for water retention or? Do you keep your other conifers like spruce and pines in that mix? I would be afraid it would get to soggy.

I am only using the moss (in that quantity) in this mix for the larches. I don’t use any in my pine mix. In my post further back you can see what I harvested. It’s last years growth so I don’t think it counts as “alive” per se but it is very “fresh”. Other than the larches I just use it for top dressing or I’ll add a little to the mix for young and/or small deciduous trees that are in small containers and are likely to transpire a lot. The larches I collect are from my back “yard” and the sphagnum constitutes a large part of what the trees are naturally growing in. Pic of the “back yard” for reference.