The 2022 Yamadori/Collecting Thread

[Cajunrider]

This thread should require reports of the event of mortality in collected trees . Curious of the long-run fate of these “out of season” collections and how they may be misleading to members of the forum regarding best practices.

Privet here collected today from location where it rightfully should and would be eradicated from, feel 94% certain of its survival given the species and experience with :

View attachment 449868

So far here are my results with mitigating factors listed. All trees collected late spring through summer high heat in the south.
Mayhaws 100% survival of a few dozens.
Bald cypress 9 out 10 survived. The one that died I am still wondering why.
Hackberry 0/1 tree collected from track hoe dig
Liquidambars 3/6 survived. All hard chop trees died. My poor care was not sufficient to keep stumps alive.
Oak 2/2 survived. Both are damaged tree rescued and not healthy trees in the ground.
Yaupon holly 1/1 survived

 

[MacSpook]

Looks neat!

Probably some sort of Privet... ligstrum.. by your definition AND foliage.. Great Bonsai Candidates.. I'm just wholly unfamiliar with Ligstrum, in general. I don't see many up here in the Arctic Forest. HA!



Keep it out of direct sun!

I'd, personally, 'bag it' for 4-5 days... then "bright shade".... no direct.

Thanks for the tips, I had it out in direct sun.

Mac

 

[Neo_Rokkenjima]

Well for quite a few of us, not only here in America but all over the world, walking to the backyard is going to the mountain, sloshing in the swamp, etc.. Many of us choose to live very close to nature.

If that's the case for you, then you are a blessed man. And so too do I wish, my friend, that I could also live out in the wilderness! But of course, this seems less to be the rule here and moreso the exception. Personally, I live in a townhouse development. I've gone out and taken little treelings from around the bases of the local decor trees planted around the neighborhood, which would inevitably be killed by groundskeepers if left alone. I consider these operations to be a kind of "tree rescue," but, in the language of these forums, it would almost certainly be considered a kind of "yamadori" even though there's nothing "wild" about the experience.

On that note, I'm planning a hike soon, whereupon I'll gather blackberry cuttings for propagation in addition to any trees worth keeping. Will keep you guys updated.

 

[ShadyStump]

If that's the case for you, then you are a blessed man. And so too do I wish, my friend, that I could also live out in the wilderness! But of course, this seems less to be the rule here and moreso the exception. Personally, I live in a townhouse development. I've gone out and taken little treelings from around the bases of the local decor trees planted around the neighborhood, which would inevitably be killed by groundskeepers if left alone. I consider these operations to be a kind of "tree rescue," but, in the language of these forums, it would almost certainly be considered a kind of "yamadori" even though there's nothing "wild" about the experience.

On that note, I'm planning a hike soon, whereupon I'll gather blackberry cuttings for propagation in addition to any trees worth keeping. Will keep you guys updated.

I'm with you there.
I can't afford a place in the wild, but I've avoided living anywhere more urban than absolutely necessary if at all possible.

As far as definitions of yamadori, I do think we tend to use it a little loosely. To me it means found in the wild, nature doing half the development work for you. Other collected trees are just other collected trees. Still legitimate material, still good stories attached, but not true yamadori.
But that's just my thoughts. No need to agree.

 

[HorseloverFat]

I'm with you there.
I can't afford a place in the wild, but I've avoided living anywhere more urban than absolutely necessary if at all possible.

As far as definitions of yamadori, I do think we tend to use it a little loosely. To me it means found in the wild, nature doing half the development work for you. Other collected trees are just other collected trees. Still legitimate material, still good stories attached, but not true yamadori.
But that's just my thoughts. No need to agree.

I'm ALL about gray areas... And bending acceptions...

But isn't "Yamadori" already a coined term... with specific meanings?

This is where my difficulty lies in using the term yamadori at all... Unless collected in high elevation.
We have our own, non-Japanese terrain
to collect from.. just BEGGING for their own terms.... "DORI" DOESN'T even have to be a part of it.

Kind of like.. I reeeeeeally got into.. and learned all the chinese terminology associated with Penchi/Penzai/Penjing... and it drives me CRAZY when "Penjing" is used as a "catch-all"... so I try to, IF USING Pen-Wu language, to use them correctly.

I DO believe we need some specifying titles... in English OR Native American... to describe SOME of the areas were we collect nice trees..

Swamps/Wetlands.

Bluffs/Dunes

Farmland/Urban Areas...

Valleys/Gulleys...

Inlets/bays.

Large Rivers

 

[HorseloverFat]

Well for quite a few of us, not only here in America but all over the world, walking to the backyard is going to the mountain, sloshing in the swamp, etc.. Many of us choose to live very close to nature.

Hehe!!! I can be at the lake shore in 2 minutes... (can see from
my house..)... the door county inner bays in 20.. and Interior, beautiful green bay in 26.

Trailheads for the Ahnapee trail and others... in just a 15-mile radius is.... a ridiculous number...

30 miles to caves! (in like 2 directions!)

30 miles to waterfalls.

2 miles to public dunes and rock beaches. (20-33 miles for some REALLY
good ones...)

Public hiking trails (that allow 'broad' collection, situated in County parks?... got a few of them within that 30-mile radius too..

Big river access points starting 5 blocks from my house.. stretching the river both ways...

Islands? Yup.

And that's just within 30 miles of me... those're "close days"

I bet EVERYONE can find similar opportunities where they live... unless SUUUUUUPER urban... cause like... even in North Milwaukee... if you can drive 10 miles.... BOOM!... NATURE!.


I really like it up here.

The biggest damning aspect of Wisconsin.... is some of the people who live here.


Conversely, one of it's largest boasts..,.. is some of the people who live here.

Find your slice!

A small one is better than none.

 

[ShadyStump]

I'm ALL about gray areas... And bending acceptions...

But isn't "Yamadori" already a coined term... with specific meanings?

This is where my difficulty lies in using the term yamadori at all... Unless collected in high elevation.
We have our own, non-Japanese terrain
to collect from.. just BEGGING for their own terms.... "DORI" DOESN'T even have to be a part of it.

Kind of like.. I reeeeeeally got into.. and learned all the chinese terminology associated with Penchi/Penzai/Penjing... and it drives me CRAZY when "Penjing" is used as a "catch-all"... so I try to, IF USING Pen-Wu language, to use them correctly.

I DO believe we need some specifying titles... in English OR Native American... to describe SOME of the areas were we collect nice trees..

Swamps/Wetlands.

Bluffs/Dunes

Farmland/Urban Areas...

Valleys/Gulleys...

Inlets/bays.

Large Rivers

It would be nice to see something like this, but given that there has, previous to the cultural importation of bonsai, been no real tradition surrounding naturalistically styled potted trees in North America, we're left with the terms adopted from the culture that we adopted the practice from.

That said, simply stating a tree is, "wild collected," vs, "domestically collected," or the like would suffice in any language where we've been using the term yamadori.

That would still leave us looking for a term that might conveniently stand in for the word bonsai, but then we're fighting the branding, as it were.

 

[MMJNICE]

I recently got this Juniper. Pretty excited about it considering I got the whole pocket out and wrapped up. 40 pounds hiking down to my car.

Wow impressive!!

 

[MMJNICE]

Serious newbie question here, but what exactly is with this phenomenon of people pulling stumps out of the ground and calling them 'bonsai'? When I think of "yamadori," I think of people going out into the wilderness and collecting either rescue seedlings or interesting tree/ shrub specimens (usually a dwarfish thing with a lot of deadwood-- or a transportable, fully live, and interesting tree.) This can also happen when bonsai professionals do work in peoples' gardens. There's an amount of care that goes into the selection and collection of these trees from the wild.

Yet, I see many trees being posted here which are essentially stumps. They have no foliage, and possess brutishly-large, flat-cuts where the upper body of the tree was separated from its trunk. Is this an ordinary practice in bonsai? How does the tree survive this process? Further, if the tree does somehow survive, then how does it eventually look when it is turned into a bonsai? Wouldn't the cut cause the tree to become prohibitively hideous over time? I have so many questions about why people do this, and no answers.

If somebody could please explain this all to me, I would be highly appreciative. I am probably just too new to tree-keeping to understand.

Not sure if you got a response but those trunks have enough root to start budding up new leaves. Lots of Deciduous trees don't need much root like maples and will survive the transplant. The big cuts will be hidden by foliage and eventually will heal up. Remember that bonsai is a practice in patience.. over the course of 5 years those cuts will be healed up to the point of non-facters and longer branches will develop.. sometimes it much better to start fron ground zero to create something.

 

[Grego83]

Collected in January, a large Lantana that grew at my parent's house for over 20 years. And a very old Rose bush with some gnarly deadwood.

 

[MMJNICE]

Amazing what Siberian elms can do after collection.
2 weeks after collection. May 10
View attachment 441384

Today
View attachment 441385

Siberian elms are awesome even though they grow like weeds and in cracks and in fence lines and destroy concrete they're sweet for bonsai.. I just air-layer two in 4 weeks and already had tons of roots.. they are pushing new growth as I type

 

[Fi5ch]

I collected this native pitch pine unlowningly that the trunk was kind of straight and how big it was View attachment 424442

I am curious if this guy made it. I lost all 4 PP I collected with what I thought were great roots this spring near Avalon NJ.

 

[PowerTap]

This is a ~30yo juniper I collected from my FIL's yard this spring. I'm honestly not sure how to read it's health. Some branches have died off, but I understand that to be normal. It's still green in a lot of places, but hasn't had any new growth this year.

First photo is from closer to collection time. The others are from today.

I collected with a local professional, soil is a mix of original soil and potting mix (his recommendation). we had a really wet spring and a mild summer so far.

Time will tell.

 

[Njyamadori]

I am curious if this guy made it. I lost all 4 PP I collected with what I thought were great roots this spring near Avalon NJ.

A storm heavy storm came and it fell out of the pot . However from another tree that I haven’t posted it didn’t survive . Also another guy that lives in Brick NJ that I know very well had his collected pitch pine die after collection . However New Jersey blueberry’s are very easy to collect and interesting

 

[MMJNICE]

I recently got this Juniper. Pretty excited about it considering I got the whole pocket out and wrapped up. 40 pounds hiking down to my car.

Man I would be too if picked up something this nice... I guess the thrill of finding that amazing treasure never really wears off because it looks like you already have quite an collection. I Collected a few junipers and maples this late winter early spring. I think one was a some kinda cedar, maybe red cedar cuz it had pretty sharp foliage... it crooked tho ...the maple is a American silver maples,, it's just something to play with and practice on.. I'm pretty new to bonsai.. the juniper I thought for the life of me was going to die because it had rust really really bad and I didn't want it to infect my shimpaku's so I slowly cut all the rust apples, deformation and Infected foliage out of it and it didn't leave much growth... I'm happy to say it has been growing pretty good now for the past couple of weeks.. it's definitely going to make it.. hey I guess I'll post the juniper and my mystery tree, that for everything I love can't figure out what is.. my bad I'm rambling..

 

[Cajunrider]

Does anyone of us routinely collect trees in the fall?

 

[ShadyStump]

Does anyone of us routinely collect trees in the fall?

I've rolled over to spring when possible, but fall used to be my favorite time. Not as much luck with survival rates as in spring, but I still keep an eye out when starting in September.

 

[BrianBay9]

Does anyone of us routinely collect trees in the fall?

Not sure what you count as fall. Out here I start collecting after the first couple of substantial rains.....usually late November/early December. But that's coastal California.

 

[Cajunrider]

Not sure what you count as fall. Out here I start collecting after the first couple of substantial rains.....usually late November/early December. But that's coastal California.

For me fall begins in September. When we no longer have the "80's F by 8 am" weather and the temperatures are solidly in the downward trend.
I am asking because it appears I will be collecting Mayhaw for the next two months. 2-3 trees each week. With my record of survival of Mayhaw, I think it is doable all the way through October.

 

[Njyamadori]

Does anyone of us routinely collect trees in the fall?

Im still young and have only been collecting trees for probably 2 years. This fall I’m also gonna try to collect