Alaska Yellow Cedar

[grouper52]

Here's another Alaska yellow cedar I collected up in an alpine bog on Vancouver Island with Dan Robinson a number of years ago. It sat in a papoose wrap for years, and has now been in this grow pot for years as well. I take it slow with these trees - learned the hard way.

It was gangly, and presented no obvious, tree-resembling way forward, so I just sat with it for years, and started styling it only last year when I was inspired to take it in this direction.

Enjoy.

 

[Cypress187]

What is a papoose wrap? Should i know that? I googled it but not much results.

 

[grouper52]

What is a papoose wrap? Should i know that? I googled it but not much results.

Ah . . . you haven't read my book . . . . .. .. . . . . . . .

"Papoose" is a Native American word for a young child, and they were often carried on a woman's back snuggly wrapped in blankets or animal skins, as they are in many other cultures as well. "Papoose wrap," then, was the name used by many of the early yamadori collectors in the US to describe the way the delicate and precious roots are protected after a wild tree has been dug up. The roots and the surrounding native soil dug up clinging them were contained very snuggly in a wrap, initially made of burlap and held in place with wire, so that they could be carried out of the mountains with little damage or disruption to the roots. Doing this with care improved the tree's chance of survival markedly. Over the years since Dan Robinson and Larry Jackel coined the phrase, the wire has been changed by most collectors to either twine, electrical tape or duct tape, and the burlap has largely been replaced by black plastic trash bags. Larry Jackel and some of his students were still using burlap when Dan and I collected with them about 4 or 5 years ago in the Rocky Mountains, but Dan, with whom I learned collecting, uses black plastic trash bags and electrical tape, and so do I.

I hope that helps.

 

[wireme]

So this tree and the rmj sat for years wrapped in a black plastic bag?

I started collecting with plastic bags, now I use burlap, I carry it pre moistened and wrap tightly with stretchy plastic wrapping film, often a stick or two is used as a splint and lumps of moss for padding and root immobilization.

 

[grouper52]

So this tree and the rmj sat for years wrapped in a black plastic bag?

I started collecting with plastic bags, now I use burlap, I carry it pre moistened and wrap tightly with stretchy plastic wrapping film, often a stick or two is used as a splint and lumps of moss for padding and root immobilization.

I loosen the top and make sure to have a few holes punched in the bottom, and yes, they sit for years and do very, very well. The only ones that had decent roots to start with and didn't make it were the ones where I got impatient and took them out after a year or two. Silly me - I was warned.

In my book, Dan talks of his surprise - when young - at hearing of one of the old Japanese masters talk of leaving a tree wrapped for at least five years after collecting. Especially with desert trees or the ones struggling for centuries in acid bogs, which is where he likes to go collecting, impatience in letting the disturbed roots settle in doesn't seem like a prudent strategy. Hardier trees growing in better conditions probably aren't such a problem, but often aren't as interesting as the ones he collects. YMMV.

 

[M. Frary]

I would think old t shirts would work well to wrap rootballs.

 

[Bunjeh]

Beautiful material.