Larch yamadori and sandy soil

Deb

I was walking in the woods a couple days ago, and I came across a tiny little larch tree. The color was so lovely and fresh and its needles so tiny and tight compared to the potted larch that I have at the house. As it was growing right in the horse trail that I have been developing I could not leave it there because it would surely get trampled (horses don't care much for bonsai, or larches), so I dug it up. The interesting thing that I noted was that the soil is a few inches of forest loam over pure sand. So when I potted it up at the house, I made a point of taking some of the forest sand with me and mixing it into the soil mix that I have at home. I figure that if it was growing so well in nature in that kind of soil, I should stick with what works. I just added a bit more soil because of course, it is potted so it will dry out faster than the forest environment would.

I know that this is proably not the best time to do this with a larch, but the horses big feet on that trail sort of preclude waiting around til a more suitable season.

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anttal63

i love the larch too deb i wish you luck with it.

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Antonio . . .
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Deb

I was on that trail with my horse yesterday, and I noticed in passing another larch that is about three and a half feet high (but off the trail) and I was thinking that I would go back there at the appropriate time and remove it and plant it into my yard, but then keep it the size it is, while at the same time beginning to train and prune appropriately. Now that I have a choice in the matter, what is the best time to move this baby? I would think that after the needles drop right? Another fabulous thing is that with the soil being so sandy, any trees that I am removing for landscaping are coming out so easy. Interestingly, the loam holds the root ball together but the sand lets the very bottom roots come out easy. Aren't I lucky?

Cathie

Roadside larches don't always transplant well, and sometimes just give up all at once within the year, so be prepared for unexpected losses. But as there are so many here, you'll have more choices, but do try to simulate growing conditions (not far from water, for instance) and keep lots of what it was growing in.