Bunch O Stumps and Saplings

BentBarrel

I talk to a lot of people and know all kinds of people to start with. My wife has a professional job and I am a tradesman so together we know different kinds of people. Many of those people have land or their families have land. Sometimes people talk about this or that and them having to bushhog the field comes up or re landscaping and getting rid of those stupid junipers that are older than Moses so something else can go there. I throw in collecting them so they dont have to dig them out or what have you. Sometimes classifieds list re landscapers that want to get rid of trees and shrubs so checking in things like the Tell and Sell or whatever you have can yield some results too. The apartments next door just dug out a bunch a bunch of cotoneasters that have been there since like 1980 and threw them in a pile to throw out because they needed a dumpster parking spot. I asked if I could have a couple and they didnt care at all, take all you want is what they told me. Try contacting your local forest service and see if they can help locate somewhere to collect at. There are some state programs that the private landowners hold some sort of contract to allow commercial logging. But because of the state run program most anyone can collect small timber (no one but loggers have the resources and the money for the full size trees) shrubs, and grasses. The forest service gave me contacts for some of these parcels ( the landowner generally gets something like maybe deferred property taxes or even income fromtimeber) and the landowners dont care and give you permission to collect trees under 5 feet or 2 feet or whatever it may be. Sometimes you have to pay a dollar a foot or something like that. Just start making phone calls. The worst that can happen is that they ridicule you for calling them (not really). Most people are helpful or try to be when they find out you only want a couple trees at most for bonsai. This saturday Im going to collect some junipers that are going to be removed for remodeling and relandscaping. The housing market is steady and a lot of houses change hands and the landscaping is one of the things that gets changed. I also have the opportunity to get a birds nest spruce and some pines. I likely wont get all of them because I dont particularly want a spruce or the pines but the option is htere from talking to people. Sorry the post is so long but hopefully you will get an idea of where to start. I have written off garden centers and nurseries pretty much. Everything here comes from one place and they are all the same specimens. It took me about two garden center trees to brighten up and start looking at other places to get something that has some size to it. Im sure that when I get more experience at it Ill be able to take a garden center one and make it look better like these guys that have been doing it a while. Until then I will get trees that are destined for the forest in the sky. Thats where I hear a lot of trees beginners will be sending them anyway lol.