Freeadori

[Appliance Guy]

So my buddy has an ad in the Thrifty Nickel basically saying that we'll come get junipers, boxwoods, cypress, crape myrtles, azaleas. He's been getting a lot of calls. More than we can get too, actually. We have a lot out there still pending, it's just getting the time right. Long and the short of it, we'll be loading up on freeadori over the next few years. Anyway, I'll be posting on this thread as a main thread so we can look back over the years and see how we do.

Keep in mind that these are all free trees that people want to get rid of. Some would probably just live there lives out were they are, but some were going to be destroyed. So, please don't give me a hard time, I'm not here to save every tree. And if I kill em, I will guarantee you I learned from it.

Actually, what I am learning is that just because it was in the ground for 20 years doesn't mean it'll make a good bonsai...

 

[Appliance Guy]

Churchadori

Buddy got the call from the church pastor. These would have been headed for the dump. (And some still should.)

Today, was round one. Only got in a couple hours of digging. Then had to make the boxes to size. We pulled five large trunks. I found one with nice movement. Brian has a nice one that has great taper that I think he's thinking a semi-cascade. One that I was excited about had some rot. We have some other small ones.

These had been planted and just left there for 20 years. Thousands of shoots that rooted so we'll select some choice smaller pieces on later trips. We figure, get the big stuff first.

Got late, more pics later...

 

[Appliance Guy]

 

[edprocoat]

App guy, its not a good idea to cut off so much foliage on a Juniper variety. The tend to get their life energy from their foliage more so than their roots. In many circumstances removing that much foliage will kill one, and usually when you remove all the foliage on a branch it dies instead of backbudding. And maybe its just the pics but it does not look like you got any roots either.


ed

 

[Appliance Guy]

Hi Ed, thanks for the reply.

Ed, maybe you can help me. On this plot, the main tree trunk is void of foliage. These junipers were not maintained and now the branches have extended out a considerable distance and all the foliage is on the outside. To collect a tree would have branches that are 7-10 feet away from the trunk. To add insult to injury, there just isn't much of a rootball to collect. I've tried to carefully get as much of a rootball as possible, but it seems like there's just not anything there. The ground were are collecting on (and most of my area here on the beach) is sand. I too have concerns about survivability, but I don't know what I can do. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm kinda having difficulty collecting wild specimens. It seems like there's not much soil left with the roots, and all I get is a dang stump.

My plan is too just collect them and let them be for a couple or several years, hoping they'll recover. I've been reading as many threads as I can on junipers and I know that foliage is very important for a healthy transplant. But it seems like the collectable specimens have foliage that is far from the trunk

I'm trying to size the pot/box to the proper size. I understand that too big of a box can be a bad thing. Being that these are not bonsai ready and, in fact, may not even survive, I am reluctant to specd good money on grade A soil or akedema.

Any advice or suggestions appreaciated. I have a long way to go in this hobby and am willing to learn from my mistakes. But I figured I have to start somewhere.

Tim

 

[drew33998]

I didn't see a lot of roots either...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

This is how I handled collected juniper roots. Worked great; my buddy only lost 1, so we went 12/13, and will be doing it again this summer!

Good luck, you didn't get many roots, and removed a ton of foliage. Next round, keep foliage, pack the roots tightly into a small box with pumice, and mist the trunk and foliage every hour.

 

[Appliance Guy]

This is how I handled collected juniper roots. Worked great; my buddy only lost 1, so we went 12/13, and will be doing it again this summer!

Good luck, you didn't get many roots, and removed a ton of foliage. Next round, keep foliage, pack the roots tightly into a small box with pumice, and mist the trunk and foliage every hour.

Great link, thank you. I shall emulate your method with round two.

Thanks again.

 

[Wee]

Tim...I dug some Junipers much like the ones you posted here. They were the first shrubs I dug out of the ground after my start in Bonsai....I'm up in the North ga area so I have the opposite problem from yours when it comes to dirt...It's all red clay up here and can be very difficult to get off the rootball. I only dug 3 that day and only 1 has made it. 2 went on the ground and 1 in a training box, it was the only one that made it. Below is a link to some pics I took of them after getting them home.

Large juniper dig...

Brian

 

[Vin]

..and mist the trunk and foliage every hour.

I hear this often and wonder how one can accomplish such a thing without the help of some kind of timer attached to a faucet. I leave for work at 7:30 A.M. and don't return until 6:30 P.M. Can you briefly outline what you use?

 

[Appliance Guy]

Tim...I dug some Junipers much like the ones you posted here. They were the first shrubs I dug out of the ground after my start in Bonsai....I'm up in the North ga area so I have the opposite problem from yours when it comes to dirt...It's all red clay up here and can be very difficult to get off the rootball. I only dug 3 that day and only 1 has made it. 2 went on the ground and 1 in a training box, it was the only one that made it. Below is a link to some pics I took of them after getting them home.

Large juniper dig...

Brian

Shoot, I'd be thrilled to have those roots and that much foliage. I swear some foliage was a good 10-12 feet away. In fact, they had layed some roots. We are gonna transplant some rooted cuttings and give them a try too.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[drew33998]

I hear this often and wonder how one can accomplish such a thing without the help of some kind of timer attached to a faucet. I leave for work at 7:30 A.M. and don't return until 6:30 P.M. Can you briefly outline what you use?

Vin, I bought a $30 digital timer from Lowes that you connect to your hose bib. I used it for my garden last year and the batteries are still alive. You can set the timer for multiple time of day watering, as well as the length of time. If you use this coupled with a mister I am sure it would get the job done.

 

[Vin]

Vin, I bought a $30 digital timer from Lowes that you connect to your hose bib. I used it for my garden last year and the batteries are still alive. You can set the timer for multiple time of day watering, as well as the length of time. If you use this coupled with a mister I am sure it would get the job done.

I didn't realize you could set a timer to come on and off every hour for that many times during the day. I'll look for one this weekend. Thanks!

 

[Appliance Guy]

OK, so Brian and I went to the church for round two. Got another trailer full. I'm starting to learn that collecting is a quarter of the work, half is building wooden boxes, and the remaining quarter is potting. I think we build over 10 boxes so far for this project. We might get one more load in before they simply yank all of it out and dump it. So we did a couple keepers out of the deal. I'm surprised that I don't have pics of them potted, but yes they are potted and are just kinda hangin in there. I'm hopin I didn't kill all of them.

 

[Appliance Guy]

More pics...

 

[Appliance Guy]

Had business in New Orleans. Gave a buddy in Baton Rouge a call to see if he wanted to have a dinner. Got to asking about cypress. He said he had a dozen in a five gallon bucket for the past year and a half that he never planted. Freebies...

 

[Appliance Guy]

Sheesh, more freeadori.... Brian and I helped two club members that needed some manpower transplanting some maples. Got some maples and cherry blossoms in the deal.

 

[Appliance Guy]

And in case ya missed it, here's a vid Maple Land. She has over 90 cultivars and thousands of trees!

 

[daygan]

Wow. Way to be proactive about getting unwanted trees. I wish you well with the material you're collecting - some of them look like they have some good potential!

 

[Si Nguyen]

Way to go! I remember when I first started doing bonsai in the 90's. I was gung ho about collecting freebies like this too. It is exciting! People do give away their yard trees if you asked nicely. Most of my bigger trees are gotten this way.

Some suggestions: If you have enough space in your yard, then the quickest thing is to build a planter box. Just get some 2x6's or 2x8's and build a simple 4 sided box. Dig down a little if you used 2x6 lumber. Keep it shallow for better drainage. Fill it with cactus mix from HomeDepot. Cactus mix is the cheapest and safest thing to use when you don't have time. Stake your new stumps into the box so they don't move. Cram then in tight. Mound the cactus mix high over the stumps if you need to cover the roots. Mist the foliage often (2-3 times a day) but don't water the soil too often (once a week or less). After 2-3 years you can dig them up and put them into individual training pots with proper bonsai soil mix. With a planter box, you could build a simple loop frame house to cover them with plastic sheets if you need to. Cool shade and increased humidity is good.
Good luck!