When to dig wild trees?

kalei

I live in southwest Colorado at about 7500 ft of elevation. I want to collect a few specimens from the wild. I will be looking at pinion pines, ponderosa pine, juniper, and spruce mosty. My question is, is now a good time to dig them? Or should I just flag potential candidates and wait for autumn?

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kalei

Ok, after a short walk from my house, I came across this little fella. It is about 2.5 ft tall. It is next to a game trail, and has suffered some abuse from deer, which I'm sure has contributed to its apparant character. The main trunk apears mostly dead from about half way up. It doesn't appear to be in very good condition. Many of the needles are brown. We are in a pretty severe drought here, and the tree is pretty beat up.
Do I dig it now? Or maybe take it some water periodically throughout the summer to try to nurse it back to health, then dig in the fall.
Does it look like a good candidate?
Ponderosa Pine

kalei

Another pic

jackmickelberg(deceased)

Hey!

Go to my web site- I have a calendar that I have culled from numerous bonsai books. It tells When to collect Deciduous, evergreens, when to fertilize, when to wire, etc. It has been an invaluable tool for me, hopefully it will help you!

This is a direct link, but please look around the site and sign my guestbook!

http://geocities.com/jacksbonsai/yearly.html

Capt. Jack

ripsgreentree

Kalei: One thing that you should know is that 90% of trees collected from the wild do not servive. This stastic is directly affected by the experince of the ' collecter/bonsiast' and his/her ability to care for the collected trees. You may want to first find out if you have the ability to keep trees alive befor collecting something from the wild. I say this with all respect and coutesy.........ripsgreentree

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ripsgreentree

It requires an open hand to give and to recieve.

Carl_Bergstrom

Rip makes a good point. One additional way to substantially improve your chances is to bring along someone with some collecting experience....

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In love with trees

Tony

Trees like this should be collected in early spring when still dormant. I doubt that it would survive the shock at this time of year. This one doesn't do much for me style wise but that's just my oppinion. I think you could find something better if you hike down that trail a little further. If you do plan to collect it I'd keep it watered this season and try to improve it's health.

Tony

kalei

Thank you all, points well taken. I do plan on trying to collect some wild tree's, but I will do my best to temper my enthusiasm. Given the time of year, condition of this tree, and Tony's observation on style(just the first one I saw that looked stunted and not growing straight up ), I will leave it alone.
I do have some more questions:
Ripsgreentree- From elsewhere on the board, I take it you work at or own a nursery or farm(at least I think it was you). Do trees taken from the ground that have been farmed survive better than wild trees? If so why? I ask not just in reference to bonsai, but also because I've been wanting to get a permit from the forest service to take some small trees for landscaping my yard. A friend with the forest service said he will show me where there are a lot of small spruce trees growing next to some roads that are going to be removed anyway.
Jack- Thanks for the table, I printed it to keep with my books. Would junipers fall in with evergreens for 'Gather Wild(e)'?
If I do decide to attend the class, I will pass on what they are teaching.
I do still plan on collecting some wild trees for bonsai, but for now I will limit myself to looking for and flagging a very few special ones for later.
Kalei

Jay

Jack, regarding your 'Calender'. I think it is a mistake to use this calender for all. Perhaps it is correct for Miss. or other southern states. It is incorrect for other parts of the USA, or other countries. I doubt someone in Maine would follow this schedule, nor would a person in Austrialia. I think you should let people know the Zone that this chart was prepared for.

Of what little I know of collecting trees, it is hard enough to be successful when everything is done correctly. To attempt to collect at the wrong time only increases the chance for failure.

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A Bonsai student living with his trees at N 44.37 W 77.49...
Think before you act... then think again... no good comes from rushing