Tips for Urban tree collecting

[jstare]

Hey Everyone, I've been lurking for a while but decided to actually start posting.

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to go about collecting Urban yard trees from peoples property or public property. I am looking for suggestions how people typically go about asking permission. If it's public city property, do I just contact the local parks department?

I have found 3 old Scots Pine trees that have great thick trunks (5-7"+) that I want to dig up. I am hoping to get permission on the basis that they are just getting damaged where they are and all have varying amounts of Scale. If not nursed back to health they will likely eventually die anyways so that is why I am targeting them as easy ones to get permission to dig up.

Any suggestions would be great.

 

[BrianBay9]

There is a forum here called "Collecting and Importing" with lots of thread on the process and permissions, etc. You should spend some time reading there. I think in general people have found it difficult to get permission from local parks departments unless you have a personal connection with someone. Sometimes you can volunteer to remove unwanted invasive species and they'll take you up on it.

Add your general location and people may give you more specific answers.

 

[PABonsai]

I think in general people have found it difficult to get permission from local parks departments unless you have a personal connection with someone. Sometimes you can volunteer to remove unwanted invasive species and they'll take you up on it.

Without having tried I would completely agree with this. These city govs pay to put these trees there. They don't want every Tom Dick and Harry taking them at will. Don't forget every tree you take from the park costs your neighbors money to replace. In terms of private property, asking folks you know is a good starting point. Posting an ad that you want material might be helpful. Welcome and Good luck!

 

[Captain.Bonsai]

City governments usually have a parks department. Maybe bring those guys some donuts and start a conversation.

I’m just speculating because I’ve never tried this... but that’s what I would consider doing. Maybe they will have a plan to remove unwanted plants - they may inform you when it’s time for ‘disposal’.

 

[Atom#28]

I've tried getting permission at every level of government in my area....City Parks Dept is a no-go. State Forestry Service also a hard "no". If you live near a National Park, many of them have a permitting process that allows you to take "transplant trees", often from a designated area, a designated species, and a designated limit / size limit, during a designated time of year. In Idaho, the fall collection permits are available right now.

Also, there's a really clever post on the forum (Search"Craigslist template") in which you can harness the power of the internet to have urban yamadori find YOU!

 

[Captain.Bonsai]

Also, there's a really clever post on the forum (Search"Craigslist template") in which you can harness the power of the internet to have urban yamadori find YOU!

Thanks to that thread I’ve been getting regular emails for the past few weeks. I’m yet to dig anything up - most replies are asking me to take unsuitable material. I’ve gone to look at 2 private yards - but neither had anything good. The ad works though.

 

[Warpig]

Having spent several years as a landscaper for one company. I plan on giving them a call next spring. If they get a job where they need to put in a whole new landscaping, im going to have them give me a call to save them the work and me money. It is a small scale company with just a handful of workers but might be worth a try.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I've tried getting permission at every level of government in my area....City Parks Dept is a no-go. State Forestry Service also a hard "no". If you live near a National Park, many of them have a permitting process that allows you to take "transplant trees", often from a designated area, a designated species, and a designated limit / size limit, during a designated time of year. In Idaho, the fall collection permits are available right now.

Also, there's a really clever post on the forum (Search"Craigslist template") in which you can harness the power of the internet to have urban yamadori find YOU!

I think permits apply to National Forests. Pretty sure National Parks are protected from any sort of tree removal.

 

[Atom#28]

I think permits apply to National Forests. Pretty sure National Parks are protected from any sort of tree removal.

Yep. Brainfart. Thanks for catching that

 

[TN_Jim]

Backroad public trust ditch.
There are salamanders, fishes, herbaceous plants, frogs, crayfish, and other organisms to consider.

..yes in urban areas. train tracks, industrial districts, over behind the slurry plant..

don’t get shot at, nobody cares about plants

 

[PABonsai]

Backroad public trust ditch.
There are salamanders, fishes, herbaceous plants, frogs, crayfish, and other organisms to consider.

..yes in urban areas. train tracks, industrial districts, over behind the slurry plant..

don’t get shot at, nobody cares about plants

Lol. It's also amazing what you can see if you look hard enough at the highway medians when you're driving. You pass by lots of 3' trees everyday probably without ever realizing it!

 

[TN_Jim]

Lol. It's also amazing what you can see if you look hard enough at the highway medians when you're driving. You pass by lots of 3' trees everyday probably without ever realizing it!

salamander @PABonsai...salamander

 

[rockm]

The Craigslist idea is a good one--"Free landscape shrub removal" is a good bait headline. FWIW, you will see ALOT of crummy, dead, or useless shrubs as that's what people generally want to get rid of. It CAN turn up some excellent stuff once and a while. Takes some patience. As for the public spaces, it's worth talking to park and public space MAINTENANCE people, not the managers. The managers are more than likely going to say "NO...WTF bonsai?" Ask the maintenance people ON A JOB SITE where plants are being removed if you can have one of the shrubs/saplings/small trees THEY DIG UP. You doing the digging is part of the problem for city government. Liability issues if you chop you foot off digging a pine...

Asking your neighbors is probably the best way to get decent material. Depends on your relationship with them however. Around here, old boxwood hedges are extremely common. Old box make excellent, easily collected bonsai. These bonsai (the plant on the right side is an English boxwood, while the one on the left is a Japanese box) started out as a hedges in Arlington, Va. yards 30-60 years ago or so... Both were removed to make room for "better" plants, as the hedge was fading in health.

 

[PABonsai]

See!

 

[sorce]

bring those guys some donuts and start a conversation

Terminology matters too.

Don't say "digging trees for bonsai".

Say, "pulling some weed trees"

Don't say things that make them think of liabilities.

It's about the person you contact too.
The office person is going to say no due to ignorance of the situation, only thinking liabilities.
The brown guy in the park doing the maintenance will say yes. May even help you.

Show pictures of possibles.

If you say dig a tree in a park, some people think a....tree in a park.

Sorce

 

[BrianBay9]

t's worth talking to park and public space MAINTENANCE people, not the managers. .....Ask the maintenance people ON A JOB SITE where plants are being removed if you can have one of the shrubs/saplings/small trees THEY DIG UP.

Throwing in a $20 or a six-pack never hurts either.....

 

[BrianBay9]

Many of my Wisconsin urban trees were volunteers dug from the edges of the parking lot at work. Our facilities guy was going to poison them to keep roots from wrecking the blacktop.

 

[jstare]

Thanks everyone for such great supplies. It gives me a lot of great ideas. I did find the other thread for posting on Craigslist and I have done that to see what it turns up.