Another Freshly Dug Tree

[Chris Johnston]

Collecting trees for bonsai does not require a trip to the mountains. Sometimes an imagination and a willingness to ask are all it takes to find some promising material.

Here is a tree I collected March 30th or so of 2009. This first tree is part of a hedge in front of my shop. It seems to be some type of Russian olive (turns out to be a privet!), although it has never produced those little red berries we used to throw at each other when I was a kid. It does, however, have very small leaves and came with a great deal of good fibrous root, so I have a lot of confidence in this one. It will eventually be a much smaller tree. I'm looking forward to working on it next spring.

 

[Anonymous User]

What do you see in the future for this tree Chris?


Will

 

[JasonG]

Here is a very rough sketch of what I see in this tree......I think everything that I got rid of needs to be cut off today. If left on it will just set you back another 1 to 2 years before you cut it off anyways. Plus if you cut it off now then next year when you want to work on it you will have plenty to work on and not just cutting off branches that are too big anyways. Ofcourse this easy for me to say, we have been hacking down hunderds if not thousands of trees in the farm. But if this was my tree I would cut it back today and this is the direction I think I might head towords.....

So my rough sketch is a bit to long on the right side...but I think it convays the message I was trying to get across, flow.

What do you think Chris, is this kinda along the lines of what you saw too?

See Ya, Jason

 

[TeKmInIbI]

Nice looking tree, and the virt aswell... goodluck with it!!

 

[davetree]

The trunk looks like it could be a lilac of some sort. Have you figured out what it is ?

 

[pauldogx]

I like Jasons virt.


Chop it!!!! Chop it now!!!!! Do it!!!!

Dont wait ....just chop.

Dont make me come through the screen and chop it for you!!!

 

[FourMileMarc]

I would be careful, you may want to wait. If you hit it back too hard at once it could root sucker and die back the trunk.

 

[anttal63]

definately an olive chris. yes they sucker off the base and roots and will grow multiple trunks if not kept in check mate. it is a constant weekly battle. i like where you are goin with it.

 

[daniel]

(Please spare the flaming--this is in no way meaning to hijack this thread.)

I have a very similar situation in a "found" large, old hedge azalea that had been freshly dug up. It looks very similar to Chris' olive here. So, I take it that the overriding opinion is to get rid of all but the largest trunk? I guess I'll take a pic (if it ever stops raining) and show you what I mean...

 

[agraham]

Are olives hardy up there?

Chris...your chop looks good to me.Good start.

Andy

 

[ml_work]

Chris...I collect trees from the hedge or side of road when someone digs theirs up. Most of the time they die because the roots have dried out before I get to them but it is worth a try and free. I see you put this direct into a bonsai pot. I thought it was best to put the collected tree in a 1-3 gallon pot for a year or 2? I know a tree like you have here (and most of the ones I collect ) are many years old and do not need any trunk growth but just thought it best to go into the larger pots for a time....?
Thanks,
Michael

 

[apisto]

You know to my eye it looks much like the privet hedging we have around here.

I have one in development as a bonsai and the branching looks the same as does the growth pattern on the extending fresh ones.

Privet is winter hardy around here where it can drop as low as -20 deg c but more commonly - 10 deg c

 

[anttal63]

very posibble, they both belong to the same family olea. once the leaves harden off olives are more leathery and thicker than privet.

 

[apisto]

cool will wait and see what it looks like once it gets going
If privet the ramifications can be built up rather rapidly which makes them ideal for Bonsai but like the other mentioned species they need constant work to keep them under control

 

[Chris Johnston]

cool will wait and see what it looks like once it gets going
If privet the ramifications can be built up rather rapidly which makes them ideal for Bonsai but like the other mentioned species they need constant work to keep them under control

After a hiatus from posting material here, I decided to come back and repost some of the things I removed plus some updates.

I decided to chop the tree immediately to take advantage of its great root system. These photos were taken 4/26/09, just 25 days after the first photos.

 

[cascade]

..

Some nice material, Chris! I see where you are going. Do you have more pics?

-dorothy

 

[bougie nights]

Just for clarification on the species of this tree- It could be autumn olive which is not a true olive, but is naturalized throughout the midwest and great plains.

 

[Chris Johnston]

Some nice material, Chris! I see where you are going. Do you have more pics?

-dorothy

Just for clarification on the species of this tree- It could be autumn olive which is not a true olive, but is naturalized throughout the midwest and great plains.

I do, and here are some from 5/29/09. The tree responded very well, apparently it never missed a beat. It grew strongly although the very base of new sprouts seems to be quite fragile.

Bougie, I have it on pretty good authority that it is ligustrum. But of course any identification through mere photographs could be questioned.

Here's the tree as of 7/12/09. I intend to photograph it again after soji.

 

[cascade]

..

Thanks for the pics, Chris. It is coming along realy well, good growth. Looking forward to see the
development.
Yeah, we have soji here nearly all year long.

Best,dorothy

 

[greerhw]

Good luck !

Keep it green,
Harry