Neighbors Cast Offs Call To Me!

Lesley

Every Day now, I drive thru my neighborhood and see cast offs laying on the street! Perfectly good shrubs and trees with root balls intact laying on the concrete, dying because someone decided to change their landscape on a whim, due in part to the lure of warm sunshine and the coming spring! Should I pick up the discards? Will this stuff be good bonsai material or am I suffering from a sickness?

Hi! BonsaiTalk, My name is Lesley and I am a bonsai freak! I actually picked up a crepe myrtle last nite and if my calculations are correct this bonsai?, I use the word loosely, should be 60 inches tall? Or maybe an airlayer? Should I just throw it in the garbage like my neighbor did and seek physciatric help for my sickness? Or, Should I concentrate on my small collection of worthier material? What to do? What to do?

Any comments or advice out there?

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Ladybug

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Adam_MA

If it were me, I would collect any of these discarded trees that look to still be alive and have some potential as future bonsai. You will probably have to plant them in large containers and nurse them back to health, but what better than FREE material to practice on? If you only end up with 1 that starts to look good in the end, you just got yourself a ton of good experience with minimal $ spent!


BTW I'm sure you will get other responses like this, we are ALL bonsai freaks here.. Thats why we come!


Adam

FredL

Gee, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up anything that looked to have merit. It's surprizing what will survive such treatment, especially in cloudy, cool or rainy weather. I've had some of the trees I've collected sulk for months, then suddenly start growing vigorously. I've also been surprized at how many trees will survive potting with much fewer roots than I would have imagined possible.

Of course, the opposite can be true, also. Trees that I was sure I'd done everything right with wilt and die inexplicably. So, my advice would be, don't let it discouraged if some of them don't make it. Others will.

Fred

BrianBay9

I've picked up neighbors discards whenever possible. I've acquired two pyracantha's, a privet, an escallonia, a spruce, and three camellias that way. One privet died, and the camellias may never be decent bonsai, but they've let me practice "collecting" after-care, some carving, extreme branch-bending techniques, etc. I seem more willing to try new things with no money invested.

Brian

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There's a difference between taking your art seriously, and taking yourself too seriously.

Ralph

They are free, the best kind of bonsai. If they die, you don't even feel bad, cause they were the neighbor's shrubs.

Jonny D

A similar thing happened to me whilst driving through York the other day, I saw some men working in a front garden taking out all these old shrubs, wow I thought, unfortunatley i didn't collect them, why you ask.... I was wearing a suit on my way to a meeting, but when'in "civi's" definatley collect any material you think maybe of use, even if not you've lost nothing.

Jonny