by Earl Cormney

Do you dream of your bonsai trees with the appearance of age, broad trunks, massive nebari and lots of character? Ever look at the price of buying trees with these attributes? If you live in my reality, buying a collection of specimen trees is not a possibility. Not a possibility if I want a happy home life. Economic ways to build a collection are through club workshops, buying containerized plant material through local nurseries, propagation by seed or cutting, and collecting. All these are great ways and each has it's own pros and cons.

Imagine collecting a specimen tree. Of all the ways mentioned, collecting is the least expensive and features some of the highest rewards. Collecting allows the enthusiast to obtain large size trunk material at little or no cost. Collecting material from your own geographic region ensures plant material that is hearty in your climate, both for heat and cold. Nature has a way of imparting wild characteristics through survival of the fittest that can give a bonsai appearances that can not be man made. Immediate bonsai results with trunk size and root base can certainly be attained faster than starting with seed or cutting methods.

Collecting potential bonsai trees has other less obvious advantages. Being outdoors and a part of nature is satisfying by itself. Other perks to collecting include the added finds of interesting rocks or landscape material for our yards. I have been on collecting trips searching for bonsai material only to return with a native fern or wild flower for a border. If your potential bonsai doesn't work for your collection, and it is from your climate, you can always add it to your home landscape.

As with everything in life, if this sounds too good to be true, let me inform you of the possible down side to collecting. Rarely (actually never for me) do we ever find a specimen tree that can be dug and put into a bonsai container as a finished bonsai. Routinely limbs, apex, and roots need to be added after leaving the field. Collecting can also be strenuous with cutting the tree down to size, digging the root base and carrying the tree to our vehicle.

Most feel the advantages of collecting far outweigh the disadvantages. So if you are interested in collecting, how do you get started? The club will sponsor a collecting trip in the woods of Cave Hill Cemetery on November 3rd at 9:00. Kenny Popp has graciously invited us to collect trees on fifty acres of woodland that will be cleared in 2008. Kenny has been collecting bonsai for over 20 years and has many success stories. Trees that have been used and may be found naturalized as potential bonsai include Hornbeam, Hackberrry, Honeysuckle, Hawthorn, Privet, and Elm. Other materials can be experimented with for potential bonsai as well.

What to Bring:
Sharp Shovel/Spade - sharp shovels dig easier and make cleaner root cuts
Hand Saw
Pruners/Loppers - to cut low limbs or roots
Burlap/Large Plastic Bag - used to hold the root ball together
String or Nails - to secure the bag around the root ball

Collecting:
This is the standard technique that I routinely use for collecting deciduous trees.

1. Find suitable tree - should go without saying. Sometimes you cannot see the forest for the trees and sometimes you cannot see the trees because of the forest. Find a tree with good root base (nebari) and trunk with suitable thickness. All trees, unfortunately, do not make excellent bonsai. Trees with very large leaves will still have large leaves as a bonsai. Ever wonder why you have never seen a sycamore or catalpa bonsai? The good thing about collecting is since there is little to no cost you can experiment with different species.
2. Cut the tree down to a portable size. Usually the tree you want will be over 15 feet tall. Cut the tree down leaving a stump one to two foot size (dependant on future size and current trunk taper). Cutting the tree down to a one to two foot stump is much more portable to carry through the woods and easier to get home if you do not own a truck.
3. Dig the root ball. Since the tree is dormant (lost it's leaves) and mostly removed (remember it was 15 foot before you cut it down) it will not need all it's current roots. I typically dig a hole 3 to 4 times the trunk diameter around the trunk. For a 3-inch trunk you can scribe with your shovel a line 9 to 12 inches around the trunk. Using your sharp spade, dig deep into the soil all the way around the line you have drawn. This will cut most of the lateral roots. Starting on one side begin digging deep and under the tree. You are now trying to reach any taproots. The tree should now begin to move in its hole and either a shovel or hand pruners can be used to cut any remaining roots you encounter. Someone holding the tree on edge while you cut the remaining roots always helps near the end.
4. Wrap the root ball. With either burlap or a large plastic bag, carefully secure the roots with as much existing soil as possible. Cover exposed roots with moist leaves or loose soil. The burlap/bag will help retain moisture so the roots do not dry out. If collecting more trees, place collected trees in an obvious location you will find when you are ready to leave the woods.
5. You are now the proud owner of a collected stump.

After care is important for good success for our collected stumps. The collected tree in fall can be planted in the ground or large container. Planting a stump in the ground versus a large pot will allow the tree to heal more quickly, grow limbs faster, and add a tapered apex. Growing the tree in a sufficient large pot will build ramification quicker and better roots. I like to plant the stump in the ground and after the wounds heal and an apex taper begins I will move to a large pot with bonsai soil. If it was collected in a hard clay soil, replace the poor soil with more suitable soil.

A collected tree usually takes years to be considered a nice bonsai. Training in the ground and growing size pots will shorten the time frame considerably. The satisfaction of collecting an interesting tree from nature and transforming the plant into a great bonsai has it's own rewards at little to no cost.