Collecting is VERY species dependant. I don't have the magazine in front
of me (it's been returned to the club library) but I'm guessing you are
referring to Swamp Cypress -Taxodium distichum. This is one of those
that can be collected easily with few major roots, so long as it has
some fibrous roots close to the base of the trunk and is given the
correct aftercare.

Conversely, some trees are virtually impossible to collect despite the
very best efforts to obtain as much root as possible. In my experience
Juniperus communis fits this category. Air layering these is the only
way that is almost guaranteed.

Success also depends to a great extent upon your experience and the
aftercare that is given. This is why the advice always given is to
research properly the needs of the trees that you will be collecting. If
you can collect with someone who has experience with the types of tree
in your locality and absorb their advice, this will help.

Many observations have led me to believe that collecting at the right
time of year (also according to the weather in that particular year) is
often crucial. Collecting after a period of rain also helps.

This is also why I always suggest that beginners do not try to collect
anything until they have proved to themselves that they can keep similar
bought stock alive for a few years. Then start by collecting unwanted
garden stock to build up your experience. In this way the best specimens
that are collectable from the wild (a very limited resource) are not
doomed to a certain death in the hands of a novice.

When you are at the stage of feeling confident, and have obtained
written consent, then is the time to try your first wild collect. Limit
yourself to one good specimen and prove to yourself that you can keep it
alive for a year or three.

If you are already an old hand at keeping trees alive in
pots/containers, accept my apologies for "teaching granny to suck eggs",
but this does need repeating so that beginners don't get the wrong idea.
Much skill IS involved and our environment won't stand the pillaging
that would occur if everyone thought that this is the easiest route into
good bonsai.

Cheers

Kev Bailey
Vale Of Clwyd, North Wales

Subject: [IBC] Collecting from wild

I can't help but be amazed at how little roots it takes to collect a
tree
from the wild... except when I try! Bonsai Today Jan/Feb 04 issue. Does
anyone have any really good information on proper technique for
collecting?
I find articles like that very interesting but also vague.



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