Planning first collection. Baltimore city honeysuckle "yamadori"

[Bonsaicarpenter]

Over the last few years, I have been eyeing up a large bush type honeysuckle growing behind my work. It has about 6 trunks that are about 1 1/2-2" thick and several smaller ones. I think it will make a nice clump style and offer an opportunity to maybe do some carving. The nebari is around 15-16" across. My boss owns the building and property around it so getting permission to collect it is not an issue. He would probably be happy if I dug up and removed everything growing around the building.

This being my first collection I was hoping to get any pointers you all may have to give. I thought it would make a good first tree to collect since honeysuckle tends to be extremely hard to kill.

My plan as of right now is to dig it up relatively soon as the buds are starting to pop. I wanted to try napa oil dry as a substrate since it's affordable and this is a large tree that will require quite a bit. If there is any reason that would not make an acceptable substrate please let me know (not trying to start a war over soil types). I plan to build a wooden grow box for it to recover/establish in. I'm unclear how big of a box I may need to build for it. I'm also not sure what would be a good height to chop this thing. Do I need to seal my chops?

Please let me know any other things I may be forgetting.

 

[sorce]

I've whacked a couple out in the shaded forest that backbudded....

Out in the open....
I would chop it back now...see what pops in spring, and ruthlessly transplant it during a Rain and Wane in the Summer.

I was brutal to the one I grabbed last year and it shined in the ground, its ready to pop good soon!....

@crust and @CasAH are knowledgeable.

Because the root so well, and that clump is .
......a mess?...

I'd consider separating out that single trunk on the right with your hand in the pic....
Iffin you can follow it down enough to identify the other side as good....

Or maybe even tear em all apart and reconfigure any number of them...

Just don't be lighthanded....
We gotta push these dimeadozen invasives..
And these can take it!

Ruthlessly create a good image straight away! Keep or toss later!

Sorce

 

[CasAH]

I have literally killed thousands of these with brush cutters, chainsaws, herbicide, and fire.

The plants are tough and will reroot easily. The branches are brittle and will snap if pushed to hard. The wood tends to rot quickly, so seal all cuts.

They make ok Bonsai, if you find an interesting nebari. Give it a try if you like, we need people to try these invasive species . Just not for me. I cleared eight acres of honeysuckle, buckthorn, and multiflora rose this Winter.

 

[Bonsaicarpenter]

I've whacked a couple out in the shaded forest that backbudded....

Out in the open....
I would chop it back now...see what pops in spring, and ruthlessly transplant it during a Rain and Wane in the Summer.

I was brutal to the one I grabbed last year and it shined in the ground, its ready to pop good soon!....

@crust and @CasAH are knowledgeable.

Because the root so well, and that clump is .
......a mess?...

I'd consider separating out that single trunk on the right with your hand in the pic....
Iffin you can follow it down enough to identify the other side as good....

Or maybe even tear em all apart and reconfigure any number of them...

Just don't be lighthanded....
We gotta push these dimeadozen invasives..
And these can take it!

Ruthlessly create a good image straight away! Keep or toss later!

Sorce

It is a bit of a mess. I'm not sure separating the thing is going to be possible though. It does look a little better in person. I'm thinking I will most likely carve away some of the existing trunks down the line.

I have literally killed thousands of these with brush cutters, chainsaws, herbicide, and fire.

The plants are tough and will reroot easily. The branches are brittle and will snap if pushed to hard. The wood tends to rot quickly, so seal all cuts.

They make ok Bonsai, if you find an interesting nebari. Give it a try if you like, we need people to try these invasive species . Just not for me. I cleared eight acres of honeysuckle, buckthorn, and multiflora rose this Winter.

I'm not expecting it to be some show stopping thing ever. I have seen pictures of some decent and interesting looking ones though. Plus it's a good first tree to try collecting. It should be easy to collect successfully but if I kill it, it's an invasive anyway. No biggie.