Oak Collection Question

Bpswieringa

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I am completely new to bonsai (inspired by a seed gift box and a couple bonsai shows) I have access to some land from which to collect but it is mostly oak and white pine. I'm picking up that oak is slow and difficult to bonsai. I'm Eyeing these trees with a base of about 3 to 4 in. (To collect in the spring) Am I dreaming to think that I might be able to keep these alive and practice on them?
 

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Potawatomi13

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Bad idea🤨! Until horticulturally able to give proper survival care. Once having decent idea of desired style and proper pruning/cutting back techniques could start cut backs IN PLACE. Digging should only come after able to give proper care. Be aware trees this size trunks require large heavy root balls at collection and large growing containers after carried home. Bare rooting is negative idea when collecting.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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I would look for oaks with smaller leaves, like English oaks.
But as potawatomi says, it might be a good idea to get a couple nursery plants and try to work those first. Or dig a couple of course, you can only get experience by doing things. But.. Leave the good ones for later! It would be a shame if you dig the best trees now and have them fail.
It's always good to get some experience by trial and error.
 
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rockm

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Collecting is not a great way to start out in bonsai. It complicates everything. Basic care for a newly collected tree is not the same for an established bonsai. Collected trees require specific kinds of care post-collection that can be difficult for beginners to understand--watering in particular can be a challenge. Soil choices, whether to keep all field soil on the tree, the size of the root mass that is possible or preferable to get all are critical factors in collection.

Even for experienced bonsaiists, Oaks are not the easiest trees to collect. For the most part, They can have deep tap roots and no close feeder roots to work with. Beginner collectors typically have very high rates of loss among the trees they dig. Those rates increase with the age and size of the trees they dig up.

The tree you've pictured is worth collecting, but with no experience, you will most likely kill it. Why not practice on smaller trees for a few years. Kill those, learn from those, THEN move onto better material like this one...
 

Yankee Dog

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Not specifically bonsai related. But I have had very good transplanting success by undercutting prior to lifting. Take a shovel and cut all around the tree but do not remove it from the ground. Leave it for at least a season. A year is better.
 

PaulH

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Depends on the species. Deciduous oaks are very difficult because they tend to have deep root systems. Very few survive collection.
 
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I have killed a few nursery oaks just from a basic root prune and repot, let alone a field oak. If your like me you will collect this tree and then kill it. Dont be like me.
 

Cajunrider

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It depends on the type of oaks. Live oaks (Quercus Virginiana) up to 3" in diameter are not that difficult to collect. I usually wait until after a good period of rain and soil is soft in late summer early fall. Then I use my root slayer shovel to make a cut circle around the tree about 12-14" from the trunk and about 12" deep to sever all the surface roots going outside that circle. I also wiggle the blade to create a slight trench. In the spring I will come back to dig it out. After collection I will put it a big pot and keep it in a place where it will get only morning sun.
 

Zelrod

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It depends on the type of oaks. Live oaks (Quercus Virginiana) up to 3" in diameter are not that difficult to collect. I usually wait until after a good period of rain and soil is soft in late summer early fall. Then I use my root slayer shovel to make a cut circle around the tree about 12-14" from the trunk and about 12" deep to sever all the surface roots going outside that circle. I also wiggle the blade to create a slight trench. In the spring I will come back to dig it out. After collection I will put it a big pot and keep it in a place where it will get only morning sun.
Great tip! I've topped a few of these in South Florida to collect.
 

JackHammer

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Bad idea🤨! Until horticulturally able to give proper survival care. Once having decent idea of desired style and proper pruning/cutting back techniques could start cut backs IN PLACE. Digging should only come after able to give proper care. Be aware trees this size trunks require large heavy root balls at collection and large growing containers after carried home. Bare rooting is negative idea when collecting.
I pulled up a red oak from my yard last year and dumped it in a grow out box in direct sun. I guess I did everything wrong but it is growing great!
 

AJL

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All the wild English oaks Ive collected inevitably had grown from acorns and had deep near-vertical taproots. They were growing on gravelly soil in heathland and had a deep layer of moss and Heather around them making it hard to view the tree bases properly before choosing which ones to dig. It took a lot of work to dig and some degree of luck to keep them alive, and none of them ended up with great nebari so I eventually moved them on after a few years, but at least none died!

Nurseries who field grow English oaks by the thousand from seed here routinely undercut the roots by machine during the growing season and they dont kill their trees, so it can be done.
 
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