The 2025 Yamadori/Collecting Thread

[doc spring _work]

Box elder maple are just crap right? I found like... 6 springing up in garden beds around the property, debating finding some sage deadwood and doing a Phoenix graft with them but I'm fairly certain that a deciduous Tanki might not be super popular for design... And secondly, I don't know if the box elder is even worth messing with

 

[shohin_branches]

Box elder maple are just crap right? I found like... 6 springing up in garden beds around the property, debating finding some sage deadwood and doing a Phoenix graft with them but I'm fairly certain that a deciduous Tanki might not be super popular for design... And secondly, I don't know if the box elder is even worth messing with

They're definitely a difficult tree and I've never personally seen a decent bonsai from one. Long internodes, compound leaves, young bark is green/glaucous so it really stands out. That's not saying it's impossible as long as you understand the challenges ahead of time.

 

[Jrmcmich]

They're definitely a difficult tree and I've never personally seen a decent bonsai from one. Long internodes, compound leaves, young bark is green/glaucous so it really stands out. That's not saying it's impossible as long as you understand the challenges ahead of time.

Agree not a great tree for bonsai. I collected One last year not realizing what it was before I knew any better to ensure you know what you’re collecting. While it lives I plan to send it back to the wild as was mentioned large compound leaves and long internodes.

 

[Cmd5235]

Agree not a great tree for bonsai. I collected One last year not realizing what it was before I knew any better to ensure you know what you’re collecting. While it lives I plan to send it back to the wild as was mentioned large compound leaves and long internodes.

They’re not good. If you’re going to try anything, go big. Trunk at least the diameter of a soda can, aim for a 3-5 foot tall tree. Prepare to be disappointed.

 

[MalsRFun in TN]

My first yamadori, collected around March 1st. Hoping to eventually cut it back small. That's my bonsai assistant in the background.

 

[Cruiser]

 

[rutulus]

This year I collected an eastern hemlock and a red spruce from the White Mountains in New Hampshire. They were both understory trees growing in near complete shade.

Can anyone give recommendations on transitioning them to sun? They’ve been living happily under my deck in bright shade. My gut tells me that since they were growing in shade I should probably leave them there until the worst of the heat has passed and then transition them into morning sun and full sun over the course of the later summer/fall.

 

[DeepSouth]

Collecting success rate this season was the highest I have had so far. Over 90% across about 45 trees. Of the few I lost, all but one were American hornbeams. The other is a mayhaw that is still technically alive but not doing well (I don't expect it to survive). I attribute the success to treating them like cuttings. They stayed in the shade until they produced strong growth, then slowly migrated them into more Sun. Top-dressing with spaghnum also kept the sensitive roots nice and cool through evaporative cooling.

 

[BrianBay9]

Crepe myrtles - you gotta love em. I took this one out of my daughter's yard the second week of June. She wanted it gone and didn't care about the 104 F day or if it lived.



I threw it in a box with pumice anyway, put it in the shade. By 4th of July it was budding out.




This is it today, laughing at the 100 F heat, scoffing at its ripped up roots. Don't know if I can get a bonsai out of it but it can at least go back into the landscape in a more appropriate spot.

 

[rutulus]

The red spruce I collected in NH. I have never collected in the mountains before and I was gratified to find this growing on a flat granite boulder. I cut one or two thick supporting roots and then it lifted off the rock with fine roots so thick it was like a front door welcome mat. No photo of the hemlock, but it was the same way—except it was growing completely horizontally off a granite face.

A welcome break from my only experience collecting in NJ where it’s all dig dig dig. Our tallest mountain is an ant hill.