Time Sensitive Collecting

[Jsokolski]

Hello everyone, I have been developing bonsai for a few years now but only with nursery stock, no yamadori, collecting... Now my aunt's house has gotten quite overgrown the last few years and while looking over the property I noticed a few good candidates for collection. The issue is that this house is being sold in a few weeks and while I understand summer is not the optimal time for collection (zone 7b) I figured I would have a shot. These trees would also be removed anyway (and thrown away) if I don't collect them.

So far I have this yew tree on the side of the house:



My question for the yew is, can I cut it back to where new growth is forming and dug it up at the same time?

Next up is this elm right next to it. I understand the base is fairly straight and boring but it's got some girth to it, why not try.

Question for the elm, can I hard chop this tree to like 1 foot and collect at the same time? Or can I chop now, collect in a few weeks...?

Last up is this maple.


Similar question to the elm, hard chop and collect or stagger a few weeks? Any other suggestions you guys have to collect these trees? Thanks!

 

[leatherback]

Elm and aple are probably fine with the chop-and-collect.
With Yews I tend to keep as much foliage as possible, but others have had good results removing all foliage at collection time. For me, the best survival of yews has been with as much foliage as I could bring.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

The elm looks like an Ash.
The maple looks like a Plane tree.
And the yew doesn't look like it'll make it.

But if that is Virginia Creeper on the ground and up the wall, the mother trunk of that might be worth digging!

Looks to be other stuff better than these too.

Sorce

 

[Jsokolski]

Welcome to Crazy!

The elm looks like an Ash.
The maple looks like a Plane tree.
And the yew doesn't look like it'll make it.

But if that is Virginia Creeper on the ground and up the wall, the mother trunk of that might be worth digging!

Looks to be other stuff better than these too.

Sorce

Thanks for the response! Upon further inspection you are absolutely right, the "maple" looks to be an american sycamore and the "elm" is an ash.

With that being said, is chop-and-collect still feasible within the next few weeks? I also want to view this as a learning experience, so although it may not be the best material in the world I would like to still try.

And I will definitely look into that Virginia creeper!

 

[Jsokolski]

Elm and aple are probably fine with the chop-and-collect.
With Yews I tend to keep as much foliage as possible, but others have had good results removing all foliage at collection time. For me, the best survival of yews has been with as much foliage as I could bring.

Got it, so I will try to keep as much foliage as possible with the yew. Any special aftercare I should be aware of since I'll be collecting in late summer in my zone? Thanks!

 

[rockm]

Got it, so I will try to keep as much foliage as possible with the yew. Any special aftercare I should be aware of since I'll be collecting in late summer in my zone? Thanks!

Optimally, anything you collect should be overwintered someplace that doesn't freeze.

 

[sorce]

With that being said, is chop-and-collect still feasible within the next few weeks?

It will be a rough winter but ASAP seems a good time.

The best thing about the yew is it's long thin trunk.

Sorce

 

[leatherback]

Got it, so I will try to keep as much foliage as possible with the yew. Any special aftercare I should be aware of since I'll be collecting in late summer in my zone? Thanks!

I dug a bunch of yews 2 weeks ago. THey are in the shade and I pulled tomato-bags over them to reduce airflow and increase humidity. Roots prefer to be dry rather than wet. Foliage can absorp water.