Collecting Birches

muddslinger

I've been scouting out trees in preparation for collection next spring. So far I've just been tagging and taking notes. I plan to do partial root cutting this fall. This will be my first attempt at collection.
I've found several nice little birches and was wondering if anyone has some advice for collecting them. I've read that, when collecting you should do some heavy pruning to compensate for root loss and the best time for collecting is in early spring just before bud burst. I've also read that you shouldn't prune birches when dormant or in early spring as they bleed like stuck pigs. I'm going to have to do a trunk chop on most of these trees, as they get pretty tall before they start to get white bark.
Should I do some pruning now, then do the partial root cut in a few weeks and dig up in spring or what? Should I wait to do any trunk chopping until I have them transplanted and established?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kevin

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pdbbonsai

You got the collecting part right, however I know nada bout birches, specifically paper birch...

you should consider research on the species as bonsai as well.

good luck

Paul

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muddslinger

Thanks Paul,

I've been trying to research birch as bonsai for a couple of months now. It was a little birch that sprouted in an old houseplant pot on my deck that rekindled my interest (obsession with) in bonsai.
I've bought several books and spent many, many hours searching online for info on birch as bonsai and birch in general. I've found two articles that had more than a paragraph on birch as bonsai, (that's where I read not to prune when dormant), but nothing on collecting.
If anyone can recommend a good source of info on this subject I would be eternally grateful.
Thanks,
Kevin

conor

I collected a medium sized birch last spring. It was quite successful and I was happily surprised when the unusually small leaves opened. I just dug it up, trying to maintain as much of the rootball as possible. When I got it home reduced the the branches by a bit and planted it in a partially shady, cool part of my garden. Seeing how healthy it was, I took off quite a bit of the trunk after it's first initial burt of growth and it didn't seem to bleed much. It is now doing well and will probably be put into a bonsai pot ext spring.

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muddslinger

Hi conor,
Cool, that's encouraging! I've staked out several and did an experimental trunk chop on two of them in the late summer. I'll do a partial root chop on all of them as soon as leaves drop, then take 'em away come spring.
Do you have any pictures of your birch?
Thanks,
Kevin

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