Ashe Juniper Yamadori...a good day's haul

rev0s

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Due to a mix of rain and cooler weather, I hadn't been able to get out back in the field.
Today, upon arising there was a wonderful S-SW wind @ 5-10 MPH, a cloudless blue sky and a powerful urge to get out and find some more pieces for my collection. Having a day's worth more experience than last time, I took a more fitting toolset and a slightly more discerning eye.
This is what I found.
 

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rev0s

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Getting it out

I started the removal by digging a trench about 16" out from the trunk, and probably about 12-14" deep. There were a great deal of rocks in the soil, so it was quite a job. After the initial trenching, I started cutting into the soil beneath the tree proper, and after getting through to a few larger roots which I snipped, she began to rock in the hole.
A little gentle rocking and probing later, I located the main tap root and snipped it (it was about 5/8" thick!). All that was left was to get it out!
 

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october

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A job well done! Proper time and proper technique can mean a lot. When you get it settled in a pot, can you post pics of it with a neutral back ground? Thanks

Rob
 

rev0s

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Getting it home

After lifting it out of its original home and maneuvering it into a piece of dampened cloth I'd brought for the purpose, I tied it up and backed up my truck to get it out of the field. It was no mean feat for this 140 lbs. man, either, to wrestle it ever so gently into the truck bed. I didn't ever weigh it nor could I now (it's in its pot, with more soil and just watered, so i can no longer lift it), but if I had to guess, I'd say it was about 85 lbs.
I headed back home (less than a mile), and started the creation of the new training pot for my find. I have access from our ranch work to what we call "Sweetlix" tubs (plastic tubs about 24" tall and probably around 32-34" in diameter), so I trimmed one down a little shorter and perforated the bottom with 45 or so holes for drainage.
Covering the bottom with a layer of soil to get the plant to the height I wanted, I put it in and settled more soil around the edges. After a thorough watering and the cutting off of some branches that were already dead, I sighed and looked over my handiwork.
 

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rev0s

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Thanks rob! It's in a shady location now under the eastern eave my house, so it's not too easy to photograph. Tomorrow morning I plan on heading out while the light's good and hanging my ubiquitous white sheet and getting a little bit better quality pics than are in my preceding post.
 

rev0s

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Also, apologies in advance about the upside down pics...they're from my phone, and I guess I need to pin down the correct orientation to get my photos to come out right-side up
 

october

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I can see the tree more clearly now. Although it is very early to think about styling options. From what I can see, it is going to be relatively difficult to pull a nice image out of this material. Not impossible though.

Rob
 

rev0s

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Thanks again, rob! Yes, these first few potensai are really just to get my feet wet, to get a sense of timing (when to water, prune, re-pot, etc) and solid foundations of keeping these trees alive in confined soil. I'm planning a trip soon that will get me some more appropriate material to start learning styling and so forth, and I'm also looking for a teacher and better tools, too.
My hope with this tree and the others I've got is to keep them alive and learn what direction I should be moving with them, so that in two or three years I may be looking at something I can work with that I've come to know, so to speak, as well as gathered with my own hands from my own land.
Does that make any sense? I feel kind of silly when I come home all dirty and blistered up and try to explain to my wife what I picked this plant for, etc., because I admit I don't always know. But hopefully I was meant to have them, and they will teach me a great deal. If not, oh well; I've got time and hundreds more acres scattered across about a hundred square miles of Central Texas to find some better ones!
 
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Poink88

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I personally think it is a nice material...if it survives.

I'll start by cutting 3 branches as shown.
 

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october

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Thanks again, rob! Yes, these first few potensai are really just to get my feet wet, to get a sense of timing (when to water, prune, re-pot, etc) and solid foundations of keeping these trees alive in confined soil. I'm planning a trip soon that will get me some more appropriate material to start learning styling and so forth, and I'm also looking for a teacher and better tools, too.
My hope with this tree and the others I've got is to keep them alive and learn what direction I should be moving with them, so that in two or three years I may be looking at something I can work with that I've come to know, so to speak, as well as gathered with my own hands from my own land.
Does that make any sense? I feel kind of silly when I come home all dirty and blistered up and try to explain to my wife what I picked this plant for, etc., because I admit I don't always know. But hopefully I was meant to have them, and they will teach me a great deal. If not, oh well; I've got time and hundreds more acres scattered across about a hundred square miles of Central Texas to find some better ones!

It all makes sense to me. Generally if a tree has some age and health, like this one does, there are usually styling options. Sometimes they are just not obvious.

Rob
 

rev0s

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Thanks poink! Here's some pics afterwards, by using some of the filters in my phone' cam I got a little more visible images.That middle branch is dead at least half it's length, I'm not too sure if it's alive at the point it was removed, but regardless, we'll know soon. The only one I didn't cut is the farthest right in your cut diagram.
 

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Poink88

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What I see is jinning the entire right half of the tree and working with the left side (in the future). For now, let it be and wait if it makes it.

I really like this material.
 

Poink88

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To let you know how much I like it...PM me if you are selling...I'll buy it from you (if I can afford it). ;)
 

october

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Now that I see these pics, especially the first and second one, there is major potential here. Grafting might even bring more possibilities. Very nice find.

Rob
 

rev0s

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Wow! You guys are really going to inflate my ego! For the present I'd have to decline any offers, but if I keep my rate steady, I may indeed be interested in parting with it, or others I come across. I'm planning a trip to some property with much more potential for good Yamadori (if memory serves, anyway; it's been over a year since I got out and really stomped the grounds there.)
It's a giant hill, mostly limestone and completely COVERED in Ashe juniper. And by giant, I mean about a quarter mile wide at its widest, running about 2.5 miles long and topping out at probably 150-175 at its tallest point from the surrounding terrain.
I want to go soon because as it warms up the current denizens (hordes and hordes of rattlesnakes) will start to be more active, not that they'd stop me. I killed my first with a machete about as sharp as a 2x4 and barefooted when I was 11 or 12, I literally grew up bouncing around those hills.
The top of the hill is covered in a thin layer of relatively poor topsoil, and the stratified nature of the stone means when it erodes, the edges break off and between the stone layers is where the snakes like to den up. But, also at these edges I remember some small, stunted trees ekeing out survival on the stones and poor soil.
Once I've gotten around to getting some of those trees, as well as hopefully purchased some for working on, then I can maybe think about sales or trading.
 

edprocoat

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Thank God the pictures were upside down, i was beginning to think I was taking a stroke ....


BTW Nice juniper.

ed
 

rev0s

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Lol thanks ed, and sorry...I know for me, at least, it does make it difficult to see what's going on in them. I'm going to try and figure it out tomorrow morning when I have a little photo session.
 
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