"Isom, Jeff (EM, PTL)" wrote:

Mike,

Please listen to all the advice you've seen in response to your question.


snip

Finally, one piece of advice gleaned from
experience and which no one else gave you....take into consideration how far
and over what type of terrain you will have to carry your prize(s). The
biggest one I collected last spring was, of course, the longest from the
car. It took my son and I a couple of hours to carry it back to the car and
we were both ready to drop when we finally made it. Dirt is heavy! So are
thick trunks. Be prepared.

Good luck - hope you find something nice and, after following everyone's
advice, are able to successfully keep it alive.

Jeff Isom
Cleveland, OH / Sunset Zone 39

Excellent advice about big trees. Taking into account the size may halp you make
the decision as to whether it's worth the effort.

If you're going to dig a big tree (which I wouldn't advise right now) dig it and
turn around and put it in the ground and wait a couple of years until you'll know
what to do with it. If you work on it now right after digging it you may make
mistakes that will be impossible to correct. Collect some smaller trees and work
with them first.

Remember that a bonsai does not become one all by itself. From the "bonsai kits"
that are so prevalent people often get the impression that the seed is planted in a
bonsai pot and it grows up to be a miniature tree with about as much effort on the
part of the owner as that required for a Chia Pet. A bonsai is trained, and
whether the tree comes from the wild, from a garden center or grown from seed the
same is true. It doesn't happen by itself.

The above may seem irrelevant to Mike's query, but I feel it is relevant. A bonsai
does not usually get dug up in nature and dropped into a pot.

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37

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