M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
I was out looking for a couple jack pines to collect today.
Driving along the trails and spotted this about 50 yards off the side of a snowmobile trail.
It looked good at a distance. Short,lots of foliage. Couldn't see the trunk. It was sitting in a depression in the ground.
As I got closer my heart started beating faster and faster.
My god,what did I find?
Something very close to a bonsai ready tree growing in the wild.
Probably the closest thing I'll ever find probably.
Hell I'll use the term yamadori for this tree,not just a collected wild tree.
Being so large in diameter and being so old I didn't hold out much hope for getting it out. It probably had a couple big roots coming out of the side and a tap as big as my wrist
I still had to try.
I got the shovel,saw and the largest bucket I have. Its 5 gallons.
As I started going around the trunk with the shovel my heart really started beating hard.
No resistance but the shovel cutting through small diameter roots.
I only had to go around only one time and it was out.
No tap root,no large roots radiating out of the sides.
I've dug up much smaller trees that were way worse.
And they usually don't survive.
I filled the bottom of the bucket with sand from the hole and dropped the tree in.
Jack's love their sand,yes they do.
Now,I'm no shrinking violet but this thing is heavy!
I'm so glad I only had to carry it 50 or so yards.
Any further and I would have needed to take a smoke break to get my breath back.
I really hope it makes and I have confidence it will come through with flying colors.
Time will tell.
I'll know in about a month or less if it survives.
Yeah I used a brick for scale.
Didn't think a beer can conveyed the size well enough.
Driving along the trails and spotted this about 50 yards off the side of a snowmobile trail.
It looked good at a distance. Short,lots of foliage. Couldn't see the trunk. It was sitting in a depression in the ground.
As I got closer my heart started beating faster and faster.
My god,what did I find?
Something very close to a bonsai ready tree growing in the wild.
Probably the closest thing I'll ever find probably.
Hell I'll use the term yamadori for this tree,not just a collected wild tree.
Being so large in diameter and being so old I didn't hold out much hope for getting it out. It probably had a couple big roots coming out of the side and a tap as big as my wrist
I still had to try.
I got the shovel,saw and the largest bucket I have. Its 5 gallons.
As I started going around the trunk with the shovel my heart really started beating hard.
No resistance but the shovel cutting through small diameter roots.
I only had to go around only one time and it was out.
No tap root,no large roots radiating out of the sides.
I've dug up much smaller trees that were way worse.
And they usually don't survive.
I filled the bottom of the bucket with sand from the hole and dropped the tree in.
Jack's love their sand,yes they do.
Now,I'm no shrinking violet but this thing is heavy!
I'm so glad I only had to carry it 50 or so yards.
Any further and I would have needed to take a smoke break to get my breath back.
I really hope it makes and I have confidence it will come through with flying colors.
Time will tell.
I'll know in about a month or less if it survives.
Yeah I used a brick for scale.
Didn't think a beer can conveyed the size well enough.
.
