Firewood or Bonsai?

[Jas]

I came across an ad for someone selling a 30 ft tall pine tree still alive in the ground and healthy, for firewood. Trunk is 8" wide. So if the top is chopped off for firewood and the trunk is left a couple feet tall with some bottom branches, would that remaining trunk and branches have the potential to be developed as a bonsai?
I thought maybe if you got a decent amount of roots it could be since the missing top would balance out the missing roots?
Thoughts?

 

[Adair M]

About the same chance as hitting the lottery.

 

[Jas]

Lol yeah I have no idea just wondering. Its a shame that it's going to end up in a fireplace.

 

[GGB]

the root spread on a 30' pine would be insane to dig up

 

[Nybonsai12]

1)If the tree is in the ground it's not going to make good firewood anytime soon
2)Pine does not make good firewood in the first place(at least for fireplaces)
3) Collecting a 30 ft pine is crazy
4) it may not even be a suitable bonsai species.

 

[Jas]

Im new to bonsai friends, so im sorry if this was a dumb question. Didn't see the harm in a little experimentation on a tree headed to the wood pile.
I didn't think you would need the entire root spread for a 30 ft tree, just enough to support the tiny amount of trunk and branches left after the chop.
It's just a shame thats all. I definitely wanted to make sure there wasn't a reason to intercept the chopping down/killing of a good healthy tree for no reason other than to burn it.
Someone's gonna chop it down, wait till it's dry and thats that.
Also, I didn't know three were pine species not suitable for Bonsai.

 

[Nicholas Box]

Im new to bonsai friends, so im sorry if this was a dumb question. Didn't see the harm in a little experimentation on a tree headed to the wood pile.
I didn't think you would need the entire root spread for a 30 ft tree, just enough to support the tiny amount of trunk and branches left after the chop.
It's just a shame thats all. I definitely wanted to make sure there wasn't a reason to intercept the chopping down/killing of a good healthy tree for no reason other than to burn it.
Someone's gonna chop it down, wait till it's dry and thats that.
Also, I didn't know three were pine species not suitable for Bonsai.

Good to ask for help. Pine roots often run away, so its unlikely that were it even the "right size" or species that you could easily collect a compact root ball. If you continue to keep your eyes open there will be other free material in your area that you can collect, material that is more compact, and potentially useful, etc.

A pine that big would be pretty heavy too!

 

[just.wing.it]

didn't know three were pine species not suitable for Bonsai.

There are....
I'm trying one now...for the last 2 years...
EWP.

 

[It's Kev]

Pine roots often run away,

When I was in primary school learning about root systems in science, the big topic was pines. They said what you see above ground is what it looks like underground

 

[Nicholas Box]

When I was in primary school learning about root systems in science, the big topic was pines. They said what you see above ground is what it looks like underground

Not a bad assumption.

 

[Jas]

But how much of the root ball would you really need to keep if the tree were topped off? I understand at full size it's enormous but when chopped couldn't you keep a small part of it to support the small trunk that's left? Obviously were talking about a large specimen like 3 ft..... not something in a 14" pot. I see in a lot of these large ones usually looking pretty damaged. Basically a niwaki in a pot.

 

[Jas]

Maybe not quite this big...though this is awesome and something I want to do now.

 

[It's Kev]

That tree has been in a pot for decades, they will have developed feeder roots ages ago. Your fine feeder roots is what the tree uses to absorb nutrients.
Your feeder roots will be at the ends of the roots much like the tree’s foliage.
Nobody knows the condition of the soil that this tree of yours is growing in. If the only nutrients tour tree gets is on the soil surface, your rootspread will be in a 30ft radius of your tree. Remember that trees in the wild do a lot of legwork with their roots to get nutrients. Also remember my previous comment about pine roots specifically. This awesomely drawn picture might be what you’re gonna have to deal with

A pine’s roots mirror the branches and trunk. Also, a pine is less forgiving than most other trees, a deciduous tree you can dig up and hack away at roots and chop trunks and it might recover.

I’m not really the expert, I don’t have a yard to grow trees out and I don’t even have space for any big trees. But I have picked up a lot of information about field growing. B-Nut website has a ton of valuable information with people who reply rather quick (if you respect their time zone)
Do some research and make sure you know what you’re dealing with. You might even pull it off and it could be a great success. Just don’t look astonished if it fails. Be prepared for all possible outcomes

 

[Potawatomi13]

Tree pic is most helpful. Cannot forget one in Bonsai magazine collected 60'(?) Cypress for Bonsai successfully. Is present tree worthy of vast effort?

 

[M. Frary]

Let it burn.
Remember,
All trees have the potential to be a stump.
Not all stumps are potential bonsai.

 

[AnneColeman]

Wow, that's lucky!

 

[TinyArt]

@Bonsai Nut ...(sorry!)

 

[Wulfskaar]

Maybe not quite this big...though this is awesome and something I want to do now.

@TinyArt ... is that you up on the roof?

 

[TinyArt]

@TinyArt ... is that you up on the roof?

...mostly likely armed...

 

[TinyArt]

Isn't that lucky?

Seriously, what's the Turing Test for Trolls?