Yamadori Bonsai Digs

[Smotzer]

This is the time of year down here in Texas to dig wild trees for quality bonsai and I’ve been hard do at work finding the best trees I can that can be show quality trees in ≈5yrs.

Enjoy this amazing Juniperus ashei I dg last Saturday!
good movement and a natural shari and jin deadwood:

digging the big ol’ rootball. Dig as big as you can if you can! Recovery will be easier!

after 2 1/2 hrs it’s out of the ground! Hooray!


And it’s back home and all potted up!


Hope you enjoyed seeing this awesome Tree start it’s process into a bonsai! I’m time the planting angle will change and it will be reduced, wired, and styled maybe I’ll begin that late ‘24 or early ‘25 for this tree depending on how well it recovers!

Now today is time for another dig! And Monday time to rescope out a bald cypress I found years ago and see it I can get it out within the next couple of weeks! I’ll update as I dig new trees and such! Thanks for stopping my and reading!

 

[viper69]

So basically you’re promoting taking from the wild- slumlord
Not to mention the wiring to constrict its growth into a mini tree- poor

 

[Smotzer]

So basically you’re promoting taking from the wild- slumlord
Not to mention the wiring to constrict its growth into a mini tree- poor

Yes totally just mass go collecting from public land so that species go extinct, the ultimate goal
Well ya got me on the second one I do wire to shape them how I want them to grow and there's no way around that, so I'll accept the title here

 

[Smotzer]

Yesterdays club dig I spotted these absolute monster Echinocactus texensis (Horse Crippler Barrel Cactus)! This was a treat beyond measure there can’t be many more this size left as all the ranches rip them out just to do so and so that their livestock don’t get impalled by their ultra sharp still spines!l

these are some old, old growth cacti

had to get a photo with this gorgeous gal!

and an amazing genetic aberration cluster on E. texensis was a real treat!

 

[viper69]

Yes totally just mass go collecting from public land so that species go extinct, the ultimate goal
Well ya got me on the second one I do wire to shape them how I want them to grow and there's no way around that, so I'll accept the title here

At least you are efficient in the tree removal business!
I always knew you were a control monger, first Ts, and now trees!

 

[Smotzer]

At least you are efficient in the tree removal business!
I always knew you were a control monger, first Ts, and now trees!

Hey at least I am, right!?
and hahaha trees came first, then T’s! The sign of a good control monger, is a wel rounded slumlord in many areas of life for oppression!

 

[The Snark]

Paradox alert. I agree with @viper69 but love bonsai's.
That tree reminds me of a friend who populated his yard with bonsai. One of them in the Pinaceae family sent a stealth root down through the bottom of the pot and into the soil around his septic tank. He had rented out his house and it was almost a year before he came back to inspect the garden. He now owns the world largest bonsai.

 

[viper69]

Hey at least I am, right!?
and hahaha trees came first, then T’s! The sign of a good control monger, is a wel rounded slumlord in many areas of life for oppression!

And that’s the most important thing- that you’re right! I’m glad your consistent that’s hard to find in a person! Slash and burn my friend!

Did you sit on that cactus, don’t lie!

 

[The Snark]

@Smotzer If I may? How old would you guess the multiple body Echino is? And could you refresh my memory on how to estimate their age? I vaguely recall they slowly change coloration and develop multiple bodies over time.
They are a problematic cacti since they tend to grow very low to the ground and animals tend to step on them instead of around them. The spines are sharp but very tough and unyielding which enables them to penetrate the horn of hooves - or shoes. Had a person down in the Anza area that was in trouble, unable to walk. Stepped on one and several spines penetrated her sneakers with apparent ease. A curate there called them little green land mines.

I still have reservations of the vegetation depredation. Maybe you can use it as a learning tool as well as a decoration. That plant could be a couple hundred years old. Depending on the cambium layer and water and nutrition availability parts of the plant will die off as seen in yours. A survival tactic of many harsh environment plants.
We had a tree up around 7000 feet in the Sierras growing on top of a rock with roots stretching down nearly 30 feet to reach the soil. A botanical expert guessed it would be at least 500 years old and possibly into several thousand. Sadly it was killed in a severe fire that went through the area. Not a Bristlecone but a relative of them.I always wondered if in it's younger days the soil reached up much higher on the rock or did it partly act like a dendro-epiphyte until the roots found soil?

Echino, Greek, Echinus, Latin. Spiny