Collecting a Hawthorn

[Nishant]

Hello Friends,

I may have the privilege to collect a Hawthorn tree stump after chopping off the top. However I am trying to come to best strategy for this, to make a great Bonsai.

If I leave the tree in ground until next spring, will the new shoots that emerge from stump likely to be thicker (and appear as stem, proportionate to the main trunk). I believe this will be the case as the stump will have only limited number shoots to spend all the stored energy?

And if this is likely, When should I chop the top? In say Feb/Jan? So that the downward flow of SAP has completed well ?

Any one experienced/tried this?

Thanks.

 

[M. Frary]

If you chop do it in spring as buds start to swell.
I would collect it then.
It takes a couple of years free growing to get the leader or leaders you want to be of proportionate size.
Then cut them back and let them grow again.
It takes a few years just to get to that point. Then you cut them back again and again to develop ramification.
At least 5 to 6 years to get it there.
There are a few hawthorn threads here.
BVF and Dave have a couple threads as well as I do.
You have time until spring to study these and some collecting threads to learn.
Also it never hurts to ask questions here.
Well maybe a little but pain wears off.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Any one experienced/tried this?

Yes. I chopped this one to a stump and collected it: Collected Hawthorn History

Where in the world are you? That will help determine the right time to collect; just as the buds are swelling.

 

[Victorim]

Yes. I chopped this one to a stump and collected it: Collected Hawthorn History
View attachment 167870
Where in the world are you? That will help determine the right time to collect; just as the buds are swelling.

Wow. Missed this one Brian. Loads of good trunks around me on shaded river banks. Will be collecting more next year.

 

[Zach Smith]

Hello Friends,

I may have the privilege to collect a Hawthorn tree stump after chopping off the top. However I am trying to come to best strategy for this, to make a great Bonsai.

If I leave the tree in ground until next spring, will the new shoots that emerge from stump likely to be thicker (and appear as stem, proportionate to the main trunk). I believe this will be the case as the stump will have only limited number shoots to spend all the stored energy?

And if this is likely, When should I chop the top? In say Feb/Jan? So that the downward flow of SAP has completed well ?

Any one experienced/tried this?

Thanks.

I've been doing it for 28 years now. Hawthorns have the highest success rate of any species I've collected, 90%. The wood is very hard, so don't try to dig them, use a saw instead. Collect at any time when spring is within 10-12 weeks of happening, provided your ground isn't frozen solid where you are. If that's the case, you'll need to wait till the ground is more forgiving. Don't chop and leave in the ground, do the whole thing at once. You can cut the roots back more than you think, but this is hard to do when you first start out. I dust the roots with rooting powder, pot in coarse bonsai soil, seal the chop, and wait for results. Easy stuff.

 

[Nishant]

Thanks All for reply and advise. Just FYI, I live in London. I will chop the top section in Feb-2018. Once the new buds start emerging, I will pinch the weaker buds and let only a few strongest buds grow, hoping to get some decent sized stems in first year.

In the thread Collected Hawthorn History , it does look like the new growths/stems were thick.

While I am on this thread, just thought of sharing picture of this Hawthorn that I collected in first week of Aug-2017. I noticed this one while I was walking through woods. The council had chopped down the tree (possibly because it was in the way ) and the wild vines has over-taken it. August was not the best time to collect but I did not have the option to wait ( since my wife was soon going to be back in the country soon. I did not tell her how about how I got this plant )

After the plant was uprooted, some of it's leaves dropped and the rest did stay on until Nov. It even had two small new growth in October. Possibly it has formed some roots and will over winter well.

 

[Cattwooduk]

Did you ever collect this last year in the end? I'm keeping an eye on 3 different Hawthorn in 2 locations. A couple still have very tight buds but the other one growing elsewhere is starting to show signs of swelling along with all his neighbours... a couple of them are already fully leading out so I may collect it this week.

 

[BobbyLane]

In the Uk Harry harrington is collecting hawthorn, was a big one on his page this week just collected

 

[Cattwooduk]

I know he collected some a few weeks back as well but he was using his under heating method. I considered giving that a go but don't really have a viable space to set it up at the moment. Think I'll try the black bag sweating technique and see how it goes!
Might even try and collect this evening after work if I have time.