Urban Collecting - Need Help with IDs

[jasonpg]

As a noob, I've been looking for free material to cut my teeth on. I found this person giving away all of their landscaping livestock, as they're redoing their yard. Being a new guy, I'm not sure if any of these plants are worth while to go after.

I'd appreciate any feedback. I'm not even sure on the IDs .. it looks like the shrubs nearest the house are yews?

 

[Poink88]

Close up pics of the leaves with scale reference (like a ruler) would help.

 

[jk_lewis]

Hard to ID from those pics.

1. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking at. I don't recognize anything, and the stump ain't much.

2. Looks like a crape myrtle.

3 and 4 appear to be juniper type trees.

The crape myrtle (if that's what it is) and the juniper are good bonsai material.

 

[Jester217300]

#3 is a set of three big yews. I'm positive on that. It looks like #4 and #5 are also yews but they are a lot smaller and appear to not be perfectly healthy.

I would try my luck with the big yews but it will be pretty stressful to collect them now. Get as big of a rootball as you can and leave as much foliage as you can. Dump them in a big grow box or back in the ground to recover. Part shade, and water them well but don't leave them soaking. If you have access to a pickup you should be able to leave a lot of foliage which will increase the chances of survival. If you have to trim them to fit inside of an SUV or something your chances or survival will go down a lot.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I think 3 and 4 are yews, they can be great material, however you want to get as many roots as possible.

 

[Lazylightningny]

As a noob, I've been looking for free material to cut my teeth on. I found this person giving away all of their landscaping livestock, as they're redoing their yard. Being a new guy, I'm not sure if any of these plants are worth while to go after.

I'd appreciate any feedback. I'm not even sure on the IDs .. it looks like the shrubs nearest the house are yews?

Dude, you have the same avatar as me lol

 

[Dav4]

Regardless of what they are, you are only interested in collecting trees with interesting bases and lower trunks...the rest will be cut away eventually. You need to get down on your knees and look at the trunk wile digging to expose any trunk below the soil surface. Yews make great bonsai material and will sometimes have great trunks hidden below the surface...but sometimes not. I can't id the upright tree, but I doubt there's a crape myrtle growing outside anywhere in MI, particularly after last winter...it would have been killed outright or died back to the soil.

 

[jasonpg]

Dude, you have the same avatar as me lol

Yeah - I noticed that yesterday so I actually updated it. It didn't update immediately though ... do avatars go through moderation or something?

 

[tom tynan]

I agree with previous posts; it looks like # 3 thru #5 are yews. The first photo looks like azalea

These look like they were cut back hard several years ago - that is good for you as alot of new growth lower and closer to the base. Soemone did you a favor. Collect as many as you can. Hard to tell how good these are without seeing the bases.....Good luck Tom

ps. or the yews could have been pruned back and then the deer chewed on them to cause more back budding and tighter growth. If you have deer population they will chew on a yew......

 

[M. Frary]

Dude, you have the same avatar as me lol

I thought it was you at first when I saw the the avatar.

 

[Lazylightningny]

that's my brotha from anotha motha

 

[Dav4]

I agree with previous posts; it looks like # 3 thru #5 are yews. The first photo looks like azalea

These look like they were cut back hard several years ago - that is good for you as alot of new growth lower and closer to the base. Soemone did you a favor. Collect as many as you can. Hard to tell how good these are without seeing the bases.....Good luck Tom

ps. or the yews could have been pruned back and then the deer chewed on them to cause more back budding and tighter growth. If you have deer population they will chew on a yew......

I think this is what's going on those yews. Older yew material that gets pruned back annually by deer can be great material...but you gotta check out the trunks to be sure!!!


I'm wondering if that tall bush could be a lilac?

 

[Poink88]

My wild guess.
1- elm
2- crape myrtle
3-5 yew

 

[Jester217300]

As Dave said crapes are really uncommon in MI. There are a few very special cultivars that will grow very weakly here and with our most recent winter it would have almost certainly have died back to the ground.

 

[GrimLore]

As Dave said crapes are really uncommon in MI. There are a few very special cultivars that will grow very weakly here and with our most recent winter it would have almost certainly have died back to the ground.

Crapes can die back fully and regrow given your climate. Most up there would actually cut them almost to the ground late Fall and enjoy a new "shrub" in the Spring. Potted they can be Wintered in a shed, barn, or garage and experience a milder Wintering without the dieback. Dieback is not uncommon for many plants and trees so you know but it can be controlled a lot depending on your time and patience.

Grimmy

 

[Lazylightningny]

We really need some close-up pics of leaves and twigs.