beaver-sai?

zen

Behind my folks place, at the back border of the property there is a creek, somewhere in this creek live beavers, who have trunk-chopped a bunch of trees. Has anyone here ever seen or worked with beaversai before ? I plan on digging some of these up ASAP but i'm just kinda wondering when that might be ? There are some beech some oak some ligustrum and som ewinged elms. Some of these trees, after preliminary work getting them into pots will be for sale for just abit over shipping costs. When ever it's the right time to lift these (?) I'll shoot pics of all of them and try to get a bonsai-auction account going,...to all those who have given me trees (Brian,Pootsie, and Joanie(for loaning me the book) and soon Redpine) will have first pick of the ones that will be for sale for shipping costs,I wouldn't even charge you guys that if I weren't so broke xD. But that is IF you guys happen to like any of the stuff that I will be selling. Oh there is ALOT of material back there, if there are some species that I can start clearing out from back there now or very soon let me know so I can get to diggin.

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RedPine

Hi Zen,

I have never been collecting in your area so I really don't know..but I have seen you ask this "when to collect" question a couple times with out anyone answering.All of the species you listed would be best collected in early spring before they break open buds.Now in my zone 7/6 that is usally like the last week of Feb and the month of March.Maybe try contacting someone from that club near you,those winged elms sound pretty cool.

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Dale Cochoy

"Beaversai"...
'Ol Will woulda liked that...for those that remember the beaver story

Wes, You must have gotten new computer .
Avitar....one of my fav movies
Dale

P.S. How many pieces of "flare" do YOU wear?

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Dale Cochoy
Wild Things Bonsai Studio
Yakimono no Kokoro Bonsai Pottery
Hartville, Ohio

rockm

"I plan on digging some of these up ASAP:

For heaven's sake why? That's the worst course of action for these trees.

First off, I asume the rodent has chewed them down recently? Is there any backbudding form the trunks at all? If not, Leave them be until the year after they sprout. In ground forest trees will simply die once chewed back, or chopped back to a stump and left alone.

That kind of brings me to the second point, the correct time to collect a tree isn't the "third week of February in your area." It's more "when a tree is about to break bud, It's time to dig it up". That time can occur anythime from late Feb. to late June, depending on species and location. Beech here in Va. don't break bud until the end of May, while honeysuckle and wild roase are breaking new growth now.

I would wait until the plant show backbudding and then collect them the year AFTER that. Getting those plants out will proably take some effort. You want that effort to go towards a tree that's alive

Trees that have been topped by rodents take a long time to push new growth through older bark. Newly chewed trunks may not break bud until June. They depend on all of their reserve to do so. A chopped root system can greatly reduce those reserves...

RedPine

Zen,


Here is a 3 part guide about collecting.Good info in it.
http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/AT...0W%20Pa ll.htm






Dale,

36

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zen

Hey thanks you guys, I'll have to read that article Red thanks, a lot of what is back there is only chopped above one or more branches, it's almost like the beavers have access to this site xD. Given that there are branches left would that be OK to dig as soon as the buds swell ? The ligustrums will die back to the ground and send up suckers from the root base, alot of the trees were "chew-opped" this year alot a last year and years past so many already have backbudded and have somewhat long whips growing from the old wood. A couple of the trees back there haven't been chopped but have been grown in very muddy wet conditions and as such have great root flare and many small feeder roots just under the soil surface to develop a good nabari with, and also quite a few low growing branches, the trunks on these are smaller but they would make fine shohin or through successive chops mame size trees.Some of the trees are actually growing IN water, some in a spot that gets flooded on a regular basis so they are kind of stunted. I may try to get some pics of them in the ground where they are now before digging so that you guys can see more what I mean. Oh yeah what movie is that from Red or Dale?

__________________
"Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work."

~ Alan Watts (1915-1973)

http://www.bonsaiswap.com/

eminart

I've only been in this bonsai stuff for a couple of months but during that time I too have realized that where there are beavers there are thousands of trunk-chopped trees. Most of them already have leaders and new branching too. I thought it was going to be my little secret, but you've already let the cat out of the bag. Anyway, just wanted to chime in and say I'm fond of beavers too!

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Craig Cowing

Good advice. I've seen trees that were downed by beavers and they aren't always careful about the bark on the stump. You're likely to get some dieback along the stump if the bark has been damaged.

These trees will recover much more quickly in the long run if you leave them in the ground this year and dig them next spring. You'll get better budding and there won't be any more shock to the trees. You'll be ahead of the game by keeping them in the ground.

Craig Cowing

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Aaron_K

Hi Zen,


I think another question you will have to ask yourself is "are these trees worth collecting?" Just because its a fat old stump that's been chomped down by a beaver, doesn't mean its going to make a great bonsai. Make sure you take time to look for quality material, that has a great base, taper, nebari etc, etc. Collecting just for the sake of collecting will lead to disappointment, will be more effort than its worth as you'll end up with a fat old stump in a pot.

You are also going to need to positively identify the individual trees you are hoping to collect, and ascertain which ones are easily collected, and which will need more tentative measures IE. a trench dug around, root pruned in the soil, back filled with sand or gravel and left for another year before being collected. Those trees will still be there this time next year, so don't be tempted to lift them now, if the chance of survival is greatly improved by doing the above technique or something similar.

You will also need to provide adequate aftercare for the trees, so depending on the size of tree and collected root mass, you may need a purpose built box/container to allow recovery, which may be a year or more until the tree regains full vigour.

You should definitely take the time to read through the link to the articles Wes posted. They are written by Walter Pall and are pretty much a definitive guide to collecting, with lots of food for thought.

All the best,

Aaron

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