Collecting Chat

TreeBay

An Outline for Tonight's Chat on Collecting

I. What is "Collecting?"

--A. Gathering bonsai stock from the wilderness or urban landscape
--B. Synonyms - "Going on a dig," "Digging trees," etc.

II. How to get Started
--A. Club Digs - Like Kofu Kai's Annual Cal Juniper Dig
--B. Neighborhood boxwood digs

III. Where to Collect?
--A. Wilderness Areas
----1. Mountains, Desert, Swamp

--B. Urban areas
----1. Trees removed during remodeling and Landscaping

IV. When to Collect?
--A. Dormancy is best - Late winter, early spring?
--B. Soil must be soft enough / thawed enough to dig

[size=4]V. How to Collect
--A. Scouting potential collecting sites
--B. Identifying material with potential
----1. Interesting trunk movement, scale & size
----2. Foliage appropriate for bonsai
----3. What's available?

Frequent Favorites

Urban Landscape: most anything from climbers like wisteria and bougainvillea to to hedging material like pyracantha & boxwood. Azaleas are also a popular choice

Wilderness: Suitable local species like pine, Juniper, elm or hornbeam from the forest or Bald Cypress, Buttonwood, Water elm from Swampy areas


--C. Tagging potential material in the off-season for digging with colored tape or GPS coordinates? Low-key.
--D. What species is it?
----1. Most trees are collected by digging as large a rootball as is practical. Some readily rooting species can get by with less - like Bougainvillea & wisteria can survive with less
--E. Digging the material
--F. Wrapping material for transport
----1. Moistening the roots
----2. Packing the roots
----3. Securing the root ball
----4. Packing it out to the vehicle
----5. Planting on site?

At home

--G. Potting up
----6. Suitable soils - well draining pumice, perlite, DG?
----7. Suitable containers - plastic mortar trays, ammo crates, large buckets?
--H. Aftercare
--8. Choosing a location for growing - partial sun?
--9. Misting foliage
--10. Wrapping trunks in burlap to preserve moisture
--11. First signs of growth?

VII. Necessary Tools - Gerry Fields' List

1. Permit or permission from property owner

2. Personal Items:

Plenty of drinking water and snacks
Clothing: appropriate for weather, good hiking shoes, hat and heavy duty gloves
Lip balm,
Sunblock,
Toilet paper,
Insect repellent,
First aid kit,
Moistened towelettes,
Wristwatch and
Small hand towels.
3. Backpack for equipment and for carrying trees. Long distance or large trees.

4. Small day pack for holding tools - short distance or small trees.

5. Tools for collecting trees

Pick or mattock,
Shovel,
Hand pruner,
Two folding saws,
Trowel,
Loppers,
Pocketknife or shears
Crow bar
Root hook
6. Packaging materials

Plastic bags in several sizes
Wrapping tape, twine or duct tape to secure bags to trees.
Bungie cords to secure treees to backpack
Pre-soaked (water with SuperThrive) sphagnum moss to cover roots
Large tub and water container for soaking trees at site
Two spray bottles: one to keep roots moist while digging, and one to spray foliage.
SuperThrive, Cloud Cover or Anti Stress 2000
7. Flagging tape for marking trees

8. Supplies if planting on-site:

Pots,
Basic bonsai tools
Fast draining soil (pumice, perlite, vermiculite) for planting tree prior to going home
20-gallon garbage bags
5-gallon buckets
Screens for sifting soil

VIII. Safety
--A. Swamp Creatures (crocodiles & snakes)
--B. First aid for cuts, bruises & falls
--C. Buddy system
--D. Crazies
--E. Phone
--F. Insects
--G. Getting Lost


IX. Links about collecting

Tools for collecting
http://www.lost-oasis.com/bonsai/mi...collecting.html

Mojave Junipers - A dig
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...s=&threadid=777

Collecting Trip
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=3180

Suburban Yamadori
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=2628

Putting a collected tree in a bonsai pot
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...s=&threadid=874

Collecting in North America
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...s=&threadid=899

Collecting Trees from the Wild
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...s=&threadid=971

Safe Collecting - how to avoid a Zap!
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=1948

Collecting in Winter
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=1992

Starting out at Collecting
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...ight=collecting

Collecting - ensuring success
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=2223

Collecting Wild Trees in California
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=2821

Digging up a tree
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=2967

Collecting Time
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=3337

Collecting Trip
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=3180

Bald Cypress Collecting Trip
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=3089

Collected Tree Survival Tips
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=3642

Collecting Time
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=3586

When to dig wild trees?
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...s=&threadid=224

Best soil for collected trees?
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=1413

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dbz12fan

Darn I forgot again. My memory is going down the cr@pper pretty quickly.

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Charles Bevan
Vero Beach, Fl