rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Another thing about collecting in the Eastern U.S.--There is a gold mine of "old growth" ornamentals here on the East Coast that can't be matched in Western states. While collecting from a garden is seen as mainly for wimps and pale skinny dudes who can't hack mountain collecting in the rockies 
, here in the East, it's probably one of the best ways to get world class material. It can also be more arduous, since these plants have been rooted so well for so long, it requires more than a little elbow grease to get them out...
Gardens and landscaping on the East coast goes back three centuries, perhaps a little longer. Some of the plants imported or of local sourcing have been cut back and prepared as "urban yamadori" for just as long, only the owners didn't really know it at the time.
Take this for instance:
http://www.gunstonhall.org/grounds/landscape_features/boxwood_allee_lg.jpg
It is a boxwood allee at George Mason's estate not five miles from my house. The "Dwarf" boxwood species used here isn't common, but the old "regular" boxwood allee is a common feature on old plantations throughout the east and south. There's at least a dozen old plantation and home sites within 10 miles of me that have old boxwood plantings. Six have azaleas over 80 years old. Speaking of azalea--Japanese varieties have been planted in Eastern US gardens since the early 1700s. There are some very old azalea hedges in the east that can be the source of some pretty substantial trunks. Michael Persiano has one that was allegedly collected from Benjamin Franklin's house in Pennsylvania.
Older gardens, abandon sites, etc. can all yield some fantastic trees here in the East and South. Don't discount them as yamadori sites because they're not high up in a mountain range.
, here in the East, it's probably one of the best ways to get world class material. It can also be more arduous, since these plants have been rooted so well for so long, it requires more than a little elbow grease to get them out...Gardens and landscaping on the East coast goes back three centuries, perhaps a little longer. Some of the plants imported or of local sourcing have been cut back and prepared as "urban yamadori" for just as long, only the owners didn't really know it at the time.
Take this for instance:
http://www.gunstonhall.org/grounds/landscape_features/boxwood_allee_lg.jpg
It is a boxwood allee at George Mason's estate not five miles from my house. The "Dwarf" boxwood species used here isn't common, but the old "regular" boxwood allee is a common feature on old plantations throughout the east and south. There's at least a dozen old plantation and home sites within 10 miles of me that have old boxwood plantings. Six have azaleas over 80 years old. Speaking of azalea--Japanese varieties have been planted in Eastern US gardens since the early 1700s. There are some very old azalea hedges in the east that can be the source of some pretty substantial trunks. Michael Persiano has one that was allegedly collected from Benjamin Franklin's house in Pennsylvania.
Older gardens, abandon sites, etc. can all yield some fantastic trees here in the East and South. Don't discount them as yamadori sites because they're not high up in a mountain range.
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