Would you buy this?

leatherback

leatherback

The Treedeemer
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So.. I was passed a tree for sale. This tree is about 5-6 hours drive away, and at 850E in a pricerange where I normally do not buy trunks. Driging up and down will take a day, and add a tank of fuel -> 100E. All in all, it is a 1000E trunk...

That being said.. It is a big trunk, with old bark, of a species that has been teasing me for a long time. Good trunks are not easy to find, as they do not occur locally (and typically are collected in south-eastern europe). Prunus maheleb. Reliable flowering species, good with deadwood, nice aging bark, small leaves, takes well to pruning. Basically one of the ideal species for bonsai in the Prunus family.

Almost 90cm (3ft) tall, with a 30cm (1ft) diameter trunk. This is BIG.

1712992197317.jpeg
 
They were posted so close together I can sense the inner conflict!

But hey I'm no doctor!

If it were me I'd be snapping that up BTW!
 
I find in the USA good deciduous yamadori lacking. Yes... we have bald cypress and what not. But that is my stance. Good age and character on other deciduous material lacking in the market to buy. I personally...wouldn't bat an eye.

If it's a species that has haunted you. Then...if I could financially swing it. I would. But here we ship things. I detest congestion on our highways. I have only drove 4 hours to reach a destination once, to pick up material. I doubt I do it again. When I'm spoiled to shipping methods.

That said...sounds like a beast...buy it. 😉 Especially if it will haunt you later that you passed..
 
The base is awesome, how long would it take to grow proportionate continuation of the trunk and branches? That's what I'd need to know before buying.
 
Way too big for me, especially these days. Maybe if you have lots of bonsai friends to help with moving and repotting?
We are into bonsai are we not? Big is not always better.

At least trimming won't take long - for a few years at least.
 
leatherback said:
So.. I was passed a tree for sale. This tree is about 5-6 hours drive away, and at 850E in a pricerange where I normally do not buy trunks. Driging up and down will take a day, and add a tank of fuel -> 100E. All in all, it is a 1000E trunk...

That being said.. It is a big trunk, with old bark, of a species that has been teasing me for a long time. Good trunks are not easy to find, as they do not occur locally (and typically are collected in south-eastern europe). Prunus maheleb. Reliable flowering species, good with deadwood, nice aging bark, small leaves, takes well to pruning. Basically one of the ideal species for bonsai in the Prunus family.

Almost 90cm (3ft) tall, with a 30cm (1ft) diameter trunk. This is BIG.

View attachment 539836
Click to expand...
IMG_4724.jpeg
😅
 
Shibui said:
Way too big for me, especially these days. Maybe if you have lots of bonsai friends to help with moving and repotting?
We are into bonsai are we not? Big is not always better.

At least trimming won't take long - for a few years at least.
Click to expand...
🤔 True enough. I guess I assume everyone but me has a circle/community near then to get help. But if solo...that would be daunting for repotting.
 
leatherback said:
So.. I was passed a tree for sale. This tree is about 5-6 hours drive away, and at 850E in a pricerange where I normally do not buy trunks. Driging up and down will take a day, and add a tank of fuel -> 100E. All in all, it is a 1000E trunk...

That being said.. It is a big trunk, with old bark, of a species that has been teasing me for a long time. Good trunks are not easy to find, as they do not occur locally (and typically are collected in south-eastern europe). Prunus maheleb. Reliable flowering species, good with deadwood, nice aging bark, small leaves, takes well to pruning. Basically one of the ideal species for bonsai in the Prunus family.

Almost 90cm (3ft) tall, with a 30cm (1ft) diameter trunk. This is BIG.

View attachment 539836
Click to expand...
Sound like you want it. Get it. It really isn’t that big. With some judicious carving it can be smaller and will look fantastic.
 
Distance is a relative thing. I drove to Texas from Va. (1,300 miles or so--two days of driving one way) to pick up a tree. If it's worth it, it's worth it. That trunk is worth the effort and it's not really all that large.
 
Haggle
 
rockm said:
Distance is a relative thing. I drove to Texas from Va. (1,300 miles or so--two days of driving one way) to pick up a tree. If it's worth it, it's worth it. That trunk is worth the effort and it's not really all that large.
Click to expand...
Yep. Yesterday I walked around 30” diameter base BC and something whispered to my left ear: “If you take your Farm Boss Stihl with a long bar and go around 10” or so from the base, you can tilt it with the track hoe and slice off the bottom. The whole thing can be planted in a 5ft plastic pond.”
 
That tree would already be mine.
At that price you could buy it and resell and make a good profit.
 
rockm said:
Distance is a relative thing. I drove to Texas from Va. (1,300 miles or so--two days of driving one way) to pick up a tree. If it's worth it, it's worth it. That trunk is worth the effort and it's not really all that large.
Click to expand...
... 🤔 pausing... my Olive may weigh close to this...if not more. I manage. I just rechecked the size of it. Yeah...my trunk on the olive is a huge chunk of wood.

I hope he buys it. Would love to see his progression down the road a few years with it.
 
Cadillactaste said:
I find in the USA good deciduous yamadori lacking. Yes... we have bald cypress and what not. But that is my stance. Good age and character on other deciduous material lacking in the market to buy. I personally...wouldn't bat an eye.

If it's a species that has haunted you. Then...if I could financially swing it. I would. But here we ship things. I detest congestion on our highways. I have only drove 4 hours to reach a destination once, to pick up material. I doubt I do it again. When I'm spoiled to shipping methods.

That said...sounds like a beast...buy it. 😉 Especially if it will haunt you later that you passed..
Click to expand...
In some capacity I believe the availability of material is skewed by demand. To find trees with potential you generally have to go quite far into a wooded environment carrying the materials necessary to harvest the yamadori as well as make the return trip with them. When one has finite carrying capacity, you're generally going to make your selections based on price point and ease of sale (At least if one is collecting for the purposes of sale). From my perspective, it generally seems the demand for yamadori in the states dwells mostly within the realm of conifers. Ergo the vendor is likely only going to settle for assorted deciduous material in lieu of anything else worthwhile appearing. On the upside, you generally get really solid deals on decidious material when contrasted with coniferous material.

Long story short... The deciduous yamadori of your dreams is probably out there waiting to be collected!
 
KikurageOtomo said:
In some capacity I believe the availability of material is skewed by demand. To find trees with potential you generally have to go quite far into a wooded environment carrying the materials necessary to harvest the yamadori as well as make the return trip with them. When one has finite carrying capacity, you're generally going to make your selections based on price point and ease of sale (At least if one is collecting for the purposes of sale). From my perspective, it generally seems the demand for yamadori in the states dwells mostly within the realm of conifers. Ergo the vendor is likely only going to settle for assorted deciduous material in lieu of anything else worthwhile appearing. On the upside, you generally get really solid deals on decidious material when contrasted with coniferous material.

Long story short... The deciduous yamadori of your dreams is probably out there waiting to be collected!
Click to expand...
I agree with that statement. My original main two guy for nice deciduous material ...stopped being my go-to guy years back. He said the market just wasn't there like conifer was.

That said...Jared Carrion is doing his part on bringing some delicious yamadori deciduous to the market. That's where my Hawthorn came from. But yeah...conifer seems to hold the golden ticket or fame.
 
I hesitate to buy any tree that I can't lift myself. Just too much of a hassle come repotting time, and the cost of media and pots is astronomical. I'm a pretty big guy and can manage pretty big trees, but when I left my largest California juniper back in California (which I could not lift by myself) I will admit to feeling a degree of relief.
 
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