Yamadori JM

[Gr8tfuldad]

So my brother showed me a spot for JM in the wild. There is an old tree that just made hundreds of JM by seed I guess. All varying ages. Downside I got a really bad case of poison ivy, plus side, I collected a few trees. Most have very interesting trunks from environmental conditions. I thought this one was crazy because it literally made a 90 degree angle.
So are these considered Yamadori since they were collected from the wild.

 

[Shibui]

You will start another heated debate asking such questions.

The purists insist that Yama dori means from the mountains so if it does not come from a mountain it is not Yamadori.
Another group argue that, like many other terms, the meaning has changed and can refer to older trees collected from the wild, not always mountains but does not include garden collections.
Some are happy to use the term for any older trees that have been collected and converted to bonsai - mountains, forest, garden.
Not many would use Yamadori to describe really young seedlings even if they originally grew wild.

 

[sorce]

I think gr8fulness comes from the thing, not from the words that describe the thing.

Sorce

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

I think gr8fulness comes from the thing, not from the words that describe the thing.

Sorce

I am glad you added that insight. My first thought was for as fluid as nature can be, bonsai sure seems rigid. We all know what happens with flexible branches vs. the stiff ones.

 

[MrWunderful]

To me, “yamadori” is generally much older. Its become a catch all for anything wild, not sown specifically from seed/layered etc

I would define yours as “wild seedlings”.

If design input is wanted:

Depending On what your design intent is, you will probably end up chopping it back to the first node for taper unless your artistry is top notch and you can pull off a deciduous literati which is doable, but difficult to pull off convincingly.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

Considering they are not indigenous to this area, I would agree.
I have not really given much thought to design, although it caught my eye this morning on the way out to work. I even gave it a bend to see potential. My first goal was to keep them all alive. Then decide which ones I will work and which ones will make mother plants. There are a few very promising finds in the group. This one really seemed off because how often do you see a perfect 90* angle like that. I wonder what conditions resulted in that outcome.
Now if this sumac would just go away, that is no joke!!!! I thought it was poison ivy at first but the blisters make me think it is sumac. Hard price to pay. I need a different game plan when I go back

 

[sorce]

I'd make an air layer one fence plank beyond the bend, to start a branch to cut back to later, and find out wether collecting these is a good idea, or if you can't get a better root start just growing a couple in the ground to layer off of.

Sorce