Scouting for Trees

I like that as a final projected height.

I chop em about the same....with the skinny ones a bit lower....

So the high one is about 8in after chop.
6 in rough medium... 4 inch apex..?

About 18-24 Inch final.....ish.

Sorce
 
I'll get actual measurements later today. I think a 24 inch bonsai with the big trunks on this might mean a stockier tree, which isn't bad. At 36 inches tall bonsai, could be nice as well.
 
I would NOT plan ANY final chops beyond the higher rough cuts for now. I always leave at least a foot of "unwanted" trunk on everything I dig.

The final height depends on many things that are to far down the road at this point to predict. The more room you leave for new buds to pop, the more choices you will have for a new apex. Planning the final height of the tree when you collect not only blinds you to other options, but can also wind up being pointless as the short trunk you've made dies back, etc.

FWIW, even with a cedar elm, you're looking at more than a few years growing out the next portion of the trunk, getting it to match the original one in diameter. Second and third chops are down the road too, which will add onto the "final" height.
 
I went back and could find the tree. It must have uprooted itself and ran far far away or the heat got to me. It was 68*F, and sun hot against the cheek of my face. Didn't think to bring drinking water. I'll search for the elm clump again later.
 
It sounds like you're just getting started with collecting trees. FWIW, there is such a thing as taking on too many. I'd let this one sit for a few years where it is, until you have the collection/recovery process down. No sense in losing it just because you have 30 other trees to tend to...
 
rockm said:
It sounds like you're just getting started with collecting trees. FWIW, there is such a thing as taking on too many. I'd let this one sit for a few years where it is, until you have the collection/recovery process down. No sense in losing it just because you have 30 other trees to tend to...
Click to expand...
Completely agree with you.
 
A rule of thumb when collecting new species or something you're not quite certain about like a great trunk--dig the less that ideal tree NEXT to it to see if you can get it to live, THEN after you have for a few years, come back to the more ideal tree and get it. No sense in wasting the better trunk on learning basic stuff.
 
I've actually dug up smaller Elm and Hackberry winter 2015 around Jan and Feb. Not saying I'm proficient after just a year. I think it'll take some more years to get great by the advice of you and others who've traveled the path and getting my hands dirty.

Here's one small hackberry from last year grown in perlite and bark. It had but a few roots when I dug it up. The shape is confused but I'll get it sorted out when it starts growing again.
20160124_170639.jpg
 
Didn't get to go out to the woods, but saw some nice trees to study. It's still winter but it was 78*F!
20160130_153502.jpg20160130_153833.jpg 20160130_153332.jpg
 
One root that I kept from collected cedar elms. I threw away a lot. Didn't want to be a hoarder. Anyways, just wanted to see to believe. This one is about 2 inches in diameter and looks like it's budding.
20160224_145749.jpg
 
That's basically inertia. The thing was in the process of budding out when you cut it, it will eventually use of what's left of its resources and die off, kind of like a garden hose continues to run after the water is turned off.

You might bury the piece and keep it moist. It MIGHT push some roots and survive. CE are tough as nails.

Congratulations on the hackberry ;-). They're tougher than cedar elms. My sister in law in Dallas sent me a hackberry (sugarberry celtis Laevigata) sapling eight years ago. I planted it out in my backyard here in Va. It regularly loses ALL of its branching from winter freezes, but grows a new set every spring/summer. I've chopped it back eight or nine times. It's a weed.
 
My cedar elm buds starting to swell. Ones chopped only one that was placed in a heated greenhouse has budded and leafing out. No movement in hackberry still. Crape myrtle buds swelling and leafing out.

Here's the largest of my crapes along with a couple of smaller ones. I call it Back Breaker! Heaviest trunk I have. Probably my most complicated material, for me. I have it in mostly pumice. All were removed from fenceline. There's one out there about 3 times bigger. I like the deadwood and hollows. Take many years to refine, methinks.
20160303_165437.jpg
 
Same elm from few posts up. Don't think anyone would mind me posting more pictures. I have since selectively removed some of the young branches.

20160305_173555-1.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Javaman4373
Scouting for collectible material in the spring
Replies
3
Views
396
19Mateo83
19Mateo83
ForThemWhatCare
Hunting, Scouting, Free range tree collection
Replies
11
Views
1K
Gabler
Gabler
GreatLakesBrad
Hornbeam Scouting -> collecting Spring ‘21
2
Replies
39
Views
4K
Mikecheck123
Mikecheck123
Atom#28
Google Earth for Yamadori Scouting?
2
Replies
30
Views
3K
sorce
sorce
Atom#28
Yamadori scouting: what did I find?!
Replies
17
Views
2K
Tycoss
Tycoss
Back
Top Bottom