Bristlecone Pine (pinus aristata) Yamadori questions

[2MileHighBonsai]

Hello Bonsainuts!

New member here. I have been really enjoying all of the information on these forums as I begin my bonsai journey. I have a Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) which I purchased from a non-bonsai nursery for $7 that I have been keeping alive in my windowsill for a couple months. I currently live above 10,000ft in Colorado and am very lucky to have many mature Bristlecone Pines on my property. My family will be moving down to the Denver area this summer and I would like to collect a young tree to bonsai and take with me. The research I have done tells me to treat these as an extremely slow growing White Pine, care wise, and to dig up the tree in early spring. I plan on building a wooden box .

I have many options to choose from, ranging in size from 12 - 60in tall and trunk sizes from 1/2 - 2+ inches. I don't know enough about bonsai yet to have any kind of vision for this tree style-wise. I am really trying to be successful at collecting a tree and keeping it healthy so that I can work with the tree when my skills are ready. I may even give myself better options/odds by taking more than one...

I am looking for advice and things to look for when selecting Yamadori from you fine folk and will be happy to keep this thread updated as the process moves along.

Here are some photos of likely suspects around the house and there even more buried in snow in the shady areas I can uncover an snap a pic of also.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

Beautiful candidates! The first thing you want to consider when it comes to yamadori is where it's growing, as in what type of soil the roots are in.
If the soil is too loose and rocky/crumbly, you might end up bare-rooting the tree. This isn't automatically a bad thing, but it definitely presents some challenges with pines, as the original soil contains mycorrhizae (sp?), beneficial microbes that assist the roots in absorbing nutrition.
If the soil is too fine and heavy, the challenge will be keeping it dry enough, as bristlecone prefer pretty dry conditions. You'll have to exchange the original soil, over time, to a looser, more "proper" bonsai soil.
If its roots are growing into a large rock, there's a very low chance of getting enough undamaged roots to ensure survival.
Aftercare is crucial. There are a number of threads addressing this topic for multiple species and genera. There are a few members here from Colorado who may be able to give you much better information and advice. This is just what I've learned here.
@Colorado, @ShadyStump, and in the Albuquerque area, @Hartinez

 

[2MileHighBonsai]

Thanks, I think so too! It has been really neat watching these little trees grow over the years, even before I ever thought about bonsai. I was definitely wondering how to determine what type of soil would be best and will look deeply into that and aftercare. Thank you.


Here's a couple snaps of the first 2-3' of soil...this is very typical for the whole property.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Sand and rocks are a bad sign, roots dig down deep in those kind of soils. Try to look for a pocket that contains a lot of leaf litter and organics, roots tend to be closer to the surface in those kind of spots. Those situations increase the chance of survival by about 4x compared to a sandy dig spot.

 

[Javaman4373]

Let me give you a tip coming from my bad experience. I had a bristlecone pine on our property that had been in the ground something like 20 years that I decided to collect and put in a pot. i made a basic newbie mistake and thought the soil that it had been in would be best. Wrong. Also, since I transplanted the tree, I thought it would need to be watered well. Wrong. The tree promptly died. I should have potted it in good bonsai soil, primarily inorganics, and avoided over watering. Hard lesson learned. The tree I killed, you can see it sitting in muck.

 

[2MileHighBonsai]

Sand and rocks are a bad sign, roots dig down deep in those kind of soils. Try to look for a pocket that contains a lot of leaf litter and organics, roots tend to be closer to the surface in those kind of spots. Those situations increase the chance of survival by about 4x compared to a sandy dig spot.

Thanks for your input. The two biggest candidates look like they may have started life as a sucker... not sure if that would affect the location of the root mass or the difficulty in removing successfully. I am going to hike down towards the river later today and see if there are any more likely suspects on the lower part of the property.

 

[2MileHighBonsai]

Let me give you a tip coming from my bad experience. I had a bristlecone pine on our property that had been in the ground something like 20 years that I decided to collect and put in a pot. i made a basic newbie mistake and thought the soil that it had been in would be best. Wrong. Also, since I transplanted the tree, I thought it would need to be watered well. Wrong. The tree promptly died. I should have potted it in good bonsai soil, primarily inorganics, and avoided over watering. Hard lesson learned. The tree I killed, you can see it sitting in muck. to

Great advice. I am sorry to hear about your tree, it had a very interesting trunk. I was planning on only keeping the soil in the rootball and using inorganic bonsai soil to fill in the rest.

Do you remember how deep the taproot went down? Did you prune yours back at the same time as repotting? I am not planning on doing anything beyond moving into a box until 2026.

As I am thinking bout this, I may end up with 3-4 trees of different sizes and soil composition to try and get some data on which ones do best after collecting.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Thanks for your input. The two biggest candidates look like they may have started life as a sucker... not sure if that would affect the location of the root mass or the difficulty in removing successfully. I am going to hike down towards the river later today and see if there are any more likely suspects on the lower part of the property.

I don't know if you're looking at a sucker (which pines don't make) or that you're looking at a ground layer (which pines sometimes make) or at just one huge tap root. I would investigate before committing to a full dig.

Keep in mind that putting the sand back and not digging a tree, is a perfectly fine move to make.