New Mexico collecting tips

Cordon

Does anyone have any experience or, tips on collecting juniper and cedar in New mexico? Soils there can be a mix of clay and sand. Usually more sand than anything else. In a situation like that it is likely that the plant would send a tap root from here to the center of the earth looking for water. Are there any rules of thumb as to how deep to dig around a tree before cutting the tap root?

I've been looking for juniper collecting information on the web and in this forum. Often I just keep getting sent back to the same collecting trip with "Mr. California Juniper" I've seen the tips on how wide to dig around the tree "Six times the diameter of the trunk" or "the estimated drip edge". But i haven't read anything on how deep to dig. Any Ideas?

Cordon

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Bart Thomas(deceased)

We have a similar situation here in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.

The short answer is that it's not worth the effort. Survival of the tree is very chancy, as those roots go way down before developing feeder roots. Most folks around here have given up on collecting trees growing in sand for that reason.

Having said that, I'm sure that there are pockets of soil with trees in them as well. These can be collected with care and permission.

Andy Smith, of Golden Arrow Bonsai is a professional collector. You might want to visit his web pages. He also sells a DVD on collecting, including Junipers, mostly in South Dakota.

Cordon

Thanks Bart,

I'm sure there are some pockets of soild. Where i was thnking of Collecting is up on a mesa of volcanic clay/loam, on BLM land. yes I would get permission, but I'll just have to look around more carefully to try and find the best candidate to collect. if I can't find surfece feeder roots, I won't even bother.

Cord