A few planned collections

[Enano]

Hello,
I have a few specimens I will be collecting soon. While I continue my research (im sure I'll find/confirm answers to my questions, but you never know what additional insight can be found by asking) I figured I would reach out at the same time. I know some of my questions are vague and apply to several species, I will be specific where I can, and if I can clarify please let me know.

All specimens will be from property I or a family member owns.

I wanted to clarify/confirm some procedures and see if anyone has any further insight to add. My parents are selling their home so I intend to jack as many plants as I can. The plants off the top of my head are listed below.

From what I understand, conifers should be transplanted with native soil, though I don't know if I'll ave any to take. Deciduous, wash bare root and replant. does this change if transplanting while dormant in winter?. I will be collecting the plants from late fall to early spring so everything will be dormant, (collecting in NY and transplanting to NJ).

Is it ok to stick the roots in a plastic bag with damp sphagnum for the drive, about 2-3 hours?

From what I understand, I can chop the tops for transport. However I undestand some species may have particular needs/limitations/constraints.

Should I leave as much of the root ball intact for transport and the following year, or cut some of the big roots down to promote growth of smaller roots and to balance the top and bottom?

For now these are the plants I'll be looking at taking.

These I planted about 5-6 years ago:
Persimmon
Dwarf nectarine (grafted)
Peach (I believe grafted
Plum (I believe grafted

Older then the above: some are 20+ years old:
Azaleas
Rhododendrons
Rose of Sharon
A few evergreen shrubs I can't ID at this time, I'll post pics when I can. I think box woods and junipers
Roses (these were referred to as old fashion roses
Forsythia

Don't know how much I'll get away with actually taking. I have some room to put things in the ground but I think most will be going into containers/pond baskets. Anything in the above list that I should avoid for bonsai?

The roses i may just plant, as well as the dwarf nectarine.

Hopefully I can grab a few nice plants. Im sure I'll have to leave some

To confirm I'm very new to bonsai And have no problem going slow, but I'm on a time crunch (few months) to get these plants.

 

[M. Frary]

Your best bet is to collect everything from late winter to early spring. Period.
In the spring collect all conifers with native soil. Cut as little foliage off as possible.
Decidious trees can be collected then wash the soil from the roots gently with a hose.
And for me only I would just take the boxwoods,junipers,forsythia and maybe the azaleas.
The first three are tough and I know they can be made into respectable bonsai. I've never dealt with azaleas but if I could dig some up I would.
The persimmon and rose of Sharon I know nothing about.
I would leave the fruit trees if they are grafts.
And rhododendron has pretty big leaves so I would leave it. Azalea is a rhododendron anyway.

 

[sorce]

And Enano is Latin for. .....Crazy!
Lol. Welcome to It!

I'd skip the 5-6 year plants straight off if you're low on space.

Wait till spring of you can.
If not. Right now.

But let's see em....?
So we can be pic E...get it pic E.

Sorce

 

[Enano]

Heh I would have thgought the latin root would have been more similar to the Spanish. Ill get pics asap, which may be a few weeks.

In addition, I live in the pine barrens in NJ. Anything to consider with extremely sandy soil?

And thanks for the above.

Enano

 

[sorce]

Heh I would have thgought the latin root would have been more similar to the Spanish. Ill get pics asap, which may be a few weeks.

In addition, I live in the pine barrens in NJ. Anything to consider with extremely sandy soil?

And thanks for the above.

Enano

Pretty sure someone from here either lives, Or collects there.

Sorce

 

[M. Frary]

I live where it's sandy. Roots travel farther in sandy soil so having roots close to the trunks may be a problem. Also make Sur the soil is moist before you dig in order for it to stay together better when collecting.

 

[CWTurner]

I'm with Mike on the recommendations, except that I'd take any rhododendron, small leaf or big leafed.
Definitely keep the roots bagged and damp until planted. If you are going to chop the tops off (deciduous trees only) be sure to seal the cuts. If the trees are going to be exposed to 2-3 hours of wind in the bed of a pickup, I'd think about protecting the trees from that, with a cover of some type.
Take as many roots as possible, you can always trim them when you're home. Sandy soil with some organic added should work great.
CW

 

[GrimLore]

Avoid the grafted trees, you can get real nice fruit trees from cuttings at Ty Ty in GA - they are inexpensive and far better to work with.

Grimmy

 

[Steve Kudela]

Avoid the grafted trees, you can get real nice fruit trees from cuttings at Ty Ty in GA - they are inexpensive and far better to work with.

Grimmy

Not to be a smart mouth, but how does a guy in pennsylvania know of a tiny nursery in an even tinier town in sw Ga. They are about 25 miles from me. Bought an olive from them several years back. Way overpriced but i wanted one, only place locally that have them. Placing it in the car, I noticed something not quite right. Got home, started looking further, found out that the rootage was only 2 inches thick. It was put in 3 gallon nursery can, dropped all the way to the bottom of the can and filled with soil. My fault for not looking further @ the nursery. That's the last dime they will get from me. Would not recommend trading with them. Sorry.

 

[M. Frary]

Not to be a smart mouth, but how does a guy in pennsylvania know of a tiny nursery in an even tinier town in sw Ga.

Because the Grim gets around I would guess.

 

[Steve Kudela]

Because the Grim gets around I would guess.

I reckon so.

 

[rockm]

Hello,
I have a few specimens I will be collecting soon. While I continue my research (im sure I'll find/confirm answers to my questions, but you never know what additional insight can be found by asking) I figured I would reach out at the same time. I know some of my questions are vague and apply to several species, I will be specific where I can, and if I can clarify please let me know.

All specimens will be from property I or a family member owns.

I wanted to clarify/confirm some procedures and see if anyone has any further insight to add. My parents are selling their home so I intend to jack as many plants as I can. The plants off the top of my head are listed below.

From what I understand, conifers should be transplanted with native soil, though I don't know if I'll ave any to take. Deciduous, wash bare root and replant. does this change if transplanting while dormant in winter?. I will be collecting the plants from late fall to early spring so everything will be dormant, (collecting in NY and transplanting to NJ).

Is it ok to stick the roots in a plastic bag with damp sphagnum for the drive, about 2-3 hours?

From what I understand, I can chop the tops for transport. However I undestand some species may have particular needs/limitations/constraints.

Should I leave as much of the root ball intact for transport and the following year, or cut some of the big roots down to promote growth of smaller roots and to balance the top and bottom?

For now these are the plants I'll be looking at taking.

These I planted about 5-6 years ago:
Persimmon
Dwarf nectarine (grafted)
Peach (I believe grafted
Plum (I believe grafted

Older then the above: some are 20+ years old:
Azaleas
Rhododendrons
Rose of Sharon
A few evergreen shrubs I can't ID at this time, I'll post pics when I can. I think box woods and junipers
Roses (these were referred to as old fashion roses
Forsythia

Don't know how much I'll get away with actually taking. I have some room to put things in the ground but I think most will be going into containers/pond baskets. Anything in the above list that I should avoid for bonsai?

The roses i may just plant, as well as the dwarf nectarine.

Hopefully I can grab a few nice plants. Im sure I'll have to leave some

To confirm I'm very new to bonsai And have no problem going slow, but I'm on a time crunch (few months) to get these plants.

If you're new to bonsai and are digging all of this, you're going to lose the vast majority of it, it not all of it. Plain and simple. Some will die outright. Most will die because of improper aftercare.

Best advice is no to go wide, but target your efforts to three or four trees, tops. I'd concentrate on boxwood (if that's in the picture), skip junipers. Dig the rhodies and azaleas (but don't get too attached to them).

 

[Enano]

Thanks Rock,

I will probably try to get things in the ground down at my house in jersey which will give me a year to learn more. Ill start with the boxwoods Though ill probably loose many of them during my learning process, they will in all be lost when my parents move. I might just plant some of them for the sake of having more plants at my house.

I figure they would be good to start with since they have already been growing for many years.

edit:

Ive actually ordered trees from Ty before as well. I think I may have gotten some pawpaws from them a number of years ago. I believe they have a decent reputation over at garden web where I do a lot of lurking.

 

[Steve Kudela]

Thanks Rock,

I will probably try to get things in the ground down at my house in jersey which will give me a year to learn more. Ill start with the boxwoods Though ill probably loose many of them during my learning process, they will in all be lost when my parents move. I might just plant some of them for the sake of having more plants at my house.

I figure they would be good to start with since they have already been growing for many years.

edit:

Ive actually ordered trees from Ty before as well. I think I may have gotten some pawpaws from them a number of years ago. I believe they have a decent reputation over at garden web where I do a lot of lurking.

I'm glad you've had success with them. For a while, they didn't have a good reputation locally. It's possible for anyone to change. Again, i'm glad for you. I was actually more amazed that folks from the north had heard of and traded with a small nursery so far away. The garden web explains that. Also, I hope it didn't sound like I was picking on Grimlore or you Enano, I should have added "small world" to my post. Sorry for any misunderstanding. The Best to ya'll.................SK

 

[Enano]

Steve, didn't read it that way at all

Maybe they were the one with the bad rep now that I think about it been a few years

 

[Enano]

I'm with Mike on the recommendations, except that I'd take any rhododendron, small leaf or big leafed.
Definitely keep the roots bagged and damp until planted. If you are going to chop the tops off (deciduous trees only) be sure to seal the cuts. If the trees are going to be exposed to 2-3 hours of wind in the bed of a pickup, I'd think about protecting the trees from that, with a cover of some type.
Take as many roots as possible, you can always trim them when you're home. Sandy soil with some organic added should work great.
CW

Ive been seeing a lot of conflicting info on the use of sealant on tree wounds.

I was going to start a new thread but figured the suggestion to seal the wounds came here. Shigo is referenced as the prime source as to why sealants should not be used, however I see a lot of suggestions in the forums and how to's that suggest sealing wounds. I was also just reading a a thread on ficus and one on azalea, the ficus would dehydrate if not sealed and the inside of azalea will rot if not sealed (which actually looks pretty cool since it seemed to survive with that rotted/dried out section). My feeling is that this might be like 9mm vs .45.

Are there any particular instances where it is certainly suggested to seal wounds like with ficus? I'm thinking towards the transplants in spring, so this would be for the previously named species.

I'll continue to search more but any input is always appreciated.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Avoid the grafted trees, you can get real nice fruit trees from cuttings at Ty Ty in GA - they are inexpensive and far better to work with.

Grimmy

I've known about that nursery. They have these funny cheesey pictures with models on their Website. I've stumbled on their site from searching fruit trees.

 

[CWTurner]

Ive been seeing a lot of conflicting info on the use of sealant on tree wounds.

I don't see how it could hurt a tree. Worst case, you're wasting time and money.
CW

 

[M. Frary]

Ive been seeing a lot of conflicting info on the use of sealant on tree wounds

Because it is one of those subjects like soil. I won't even say whether I use it or not.

 

[vaibatron]

Because it is one of those subjects like soil. I won't even say whether I use it or not.

Mike is pioneering the new bonsai fad, soiless bonsai.

Sh*t is rad!