Yamadori In Texas

[Walther]

Hello All,

This is my first post here but I have been a long time lurker.
I was wondering if anyone knew where in Texas I could collect yamadori. I am interested in Juniper and pine species.
I have been looking online and there is not much information about this topic that I could find and I would very much like to get more information on it.
I have gone around my city to various plots of lands and asked land owners if I could collect some young pines and I was given permission but upon closer inspection the trees I was interested in had several issues so I decided against it.
Anyways, around my city there arent really any areas to collect really good bonsai specimens so I was thinking of taking a trip to north Texas or west Texas to search for a juniper (one seed, utah) or pine (bristle cone) but I am just not sure where I could even go and Im not really down to just start driving when I have no clue where to drive. Do you guys who collect trees just go to public hunting lands? Or remote locations off of the highway? What is the best method and how should I go about planning a trip if I wanted to do this say next spring?


Thank you in advance.

 

[Tieball]

Try to connect with the Juniper collector that posted photos from a Texas in the post just below your post. Nice a Junipers....and I’m sure other material also. I see you post a few questions. You might inquire at the local bonsai club mentioned.
The post I refer to is: Texas Juniper Yamadori.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

You did not mention what city you are in or near. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin all have very active bonsai clubs. I'm sure some of the club members in each group have information on good places to collect. I would start with the clubs. Also google Cho Bonsai - and start a discussion with the owner. He does a lot of collecting in and around Texas and adjacent New Mexico.

 

[Walther]

Awesome! I am in the Houston area and yes I have seen the clubs do go out but they mainly go out for maples I have not seen them go out for junipers or coniferous. I know the Austin club did a little while back but I have not seen them do it recently.
I will see what Cho Bonsai has to say. Thank you very much.

 

[markyscott]

Awesome! I am in the Houston area and yes I have seen the clubs do go out but they mainly go out for maples I have not seen them go out for junipers or coniferous. I know the Austin club did a little while back but I have not seen them do it recently.
I will see what Cho Bonsai has to say. Thank you very much.

In terms of junipers, we have mostly Eastern Red Cedar in the Houston area. You don’t start running into Ashe until you get to the Victoria area and they’re the common species west of 35. In terms of pine, there are Loblolly, Long leaf and Slash. Challenging to collect and they tend to grow pretty straight trunks. There are some folks in the club that try and work with those species, but I’d say we’re still learning and our success rate in collecting is pretty low.

As a result, most folks go for broadleaf trees here. Most popular, for good reason, is probably Cedar Elm followed by Bald Cypress, but there are a number of other species that people collect as well (Boxwood, Crape Myrtle, Podocarpus, Hawthorn, Hackberry, Hornbeam and Yaupon to name a few). I vastly prefer Cedar Elm myself. You can get permission from the folks at Addicks Reservoir. The club used to go there quite often in the past.

- Scott

 

[rockm]

Awesome! I am in the Houston area and yes I have seen the clubs do go out but they mainly go out for maples I have not seen them go out for junipers or coniferous. I know the Austin club did a little while back but I have not seen them do it recently.
I will see what Cho Bonsai has to say. Thank you very much.

You're in Houston and you're after high altitude conifers? You're a lot closer in climate to a Louisiana bayou that a Utah mountain...If I were you I'd start looking for native deciduous trees. There are a lot more of those species that make terrific bonsai in your climate.

Take a spin through Zach Smith's Bonsai-South site (he's in central-ish Louisiana to see what's possible with trees that actually live in your area and make successful bonsai there

Bonsai South | Better Material Means Better Bonsai

bonsai-south.com

And I definitely recommend Cedar Elm as a top notch bonsai candidate. It's tough as nails, easy to collect and EVERYWHERE down your way. I've had them for years. They are among my favorite trees to work with. They also can be made into sparse literatish trees, as well as the traditional elm image.

This one in the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in D.C. was collected in Central Texas in 1981

 

[Walther]

You're in Houston and you're after high altitude conifers? You're a lot closer in climate to a Louisiana bayou that a Utah mountain...If I were you I'd start looking for native deciduous trees. There are a lot more of those species that make terrific bonsai in your climate.

Take a spin through Zach Smith's Bonsai-South site (he's in central-ish Louisiana to see what's possible with trees that actually live in your area and make successful bonsai there

Bonsai South | Better Material Means Better Bonsai

bonsai-south.com

And I definitely recommend Cedar Elm as a top notch bonsai candidate. It's tough as nails, easy to collect and EVERYWHERE down your way. I've had them for years. They are among my favorite trees to work with. They also can be made into sparse literatish trees, as well as the traditional elm image.

This one in the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in D.C. was collected in Central Texas in 1981
View attachment 292472

That is a very nice tree ill admit.
I am not in Houston I am farther north than Houston by a good bit but Houston is just the largest city near me so I say Houston area.
I have seen some ashe junipers as well as bentham cypress around the area but none I can collect. I have mainly just preferred conifers and junipers as their aesthetic is very appealing to me.
But I will have to look into the deciduous species I have around its a good idea and I should stick with whats best for my climate since that would be the most ethical and reasonable thing to do.

 

[Walther]

In terms of junipers, we have mostly Eastern Red Cedar in the Houston area. You don’t start running into Ashe until you get to the Victoria area and they’re the common species west of 35. In terms of pine, there are Loblolly, Long leaf and Slash. Challenging to collect and they tend to grow pretty straight trunks. There are some folks in the club that try and work with those species, but I’d say we’re still learning and our success rate in collecting is pretty low.

As a result, most folks go for broadleaf trees here. Most popular, for good reason, is probably Cedar Elm followed by Bald Cypress, but there are a number of other species that people collect as well (Boxwood, Crape Myrtle, Podocarpus, Hawthorn, Hackberry, Hornbeam and Yaupon to name a few). I vastly prefer Cedar Elm myself. You can get permission from the folks at Addicks Reservoir. The club used to go there quite often in the past.

- Scott

Awesome Ill check out Addicks for sure.
Thank you

 

[Walther]

That is a very nice tree ill admit.
I am not in Houston I am farther north than Houston by a good bit but Houston is just the largest city near me so I say Houston area which I realize now is probably a mistake. I am closer to huntsville than Houston if that makes any difference.
I have seen some ashe junipers as well as bentham cypress around the area but none I can collect. I have mainly just preferred conifers and junipers as their aesthetic is very appealing to me.
But I will have to look into the deciduous species I have around its a good idea and I should stick with whats best for my climate since that would be the most ethical and reasonable thing to do.

 

[sorce]

If I think of Texas I think of Cattle.

I'd collect whatever is in the cattle pasture.

Sorce

 

[Walther]

If I think of Texas I think of Cattle.

I'd collect whatever is in the cattle pasture.

Sorce

Lol Well there are a whole lot of different stuff growing in cattle pastures. In fact there are a few Juniper types that grow in them Ive seen ashe and eastern red cedar juniper. But youll see some magnificent apple and maple trees here growing right next to the cows. In fact some of the most beautiful maple treees I've ever seen are growing on cattle pastures.
Theres a farm near my work where the owners seem to be growing red cedar or some other kind of juniper as they have 2 - 3 rows of 15 trees growing on elevated hills. They look very nice. I've attempted to speak to the land owners but the entrance is gated and always closed so I stopped trying, dont wanna bother people who dont wanna be bothered.

 

[sorce]

Walter Pall has a 3 part video series on collecting, maybe it's an article. Good info either way.

#1....location location location.

It's not what to collect, it's where from.

Sorce