Collecting natives

[MattA]

As many here will know, I am a yamadori nutter, I was recently asked if i would share some of my tips for success. I dug my first tree when I was 9 and since then I have dug thousands! I am not going to get into the legal or other issues of collecting natives but will share where what & how I work.

I collect under high tension power lines, this land is constantly slashed to dust so I have no qualms about giving these plants a new life where they will be able to grow more substantially than if left. This is a form of Acacia ulicifolia (Prickly Moses) that I collected last friday, it was growing isolated in the middle of the hardpacked inspection road. Acacia are one species that I have so far failed with so here was my chance to get one with zero root competition and clear digging space to try & get as much root as possible.

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I started by digging a channel with a pickaxe approx 18" from the trunk and approx 12" deep. Then I use my spade to cut in under this solid mass of earth, part of it will crumble & fall away but try to keep as much together as possible (clay soils this is easier but not when very dry). I eventually managed to extract a block with the soil immediately around the trunk intact (I believe this is vital with most natives). It was placed in a tray of water to just below the soil surface for approx 12hrs (until the soil mass is fully wet). A tray was then prepared with a layer of 2-7mm basalt on the bottom and the tree set in the best position for the roots.

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The next stage is to break up the soil mass a little trying not to damage any roots. I used a piece of 4.5mm wire in this instance to poke holes thru the soil till it touched the bottom of the pot. Try to not go too close to the trunk, with practice you get to feel if an obstruction is a root or rock in the soil that you either avoid or push thru.

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These holes are then filled with the same 2-7mm basalt, using the wire to help feed it down into the soil mass. This will help allow water to pass into the clay easier but still allow it to drain thru to the bottom so root rot does not occur.

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The tray is then back filled as per normal (I used 75% of the above gravel & potting mix). Heavy initial watering in is vital to help settle the whole lot into place, gravel & some of the loose soils will filter thru and fill the remaining gaps opened up. Also any real fine material will be washed out of the pot meaning i do not need to bother prescreening or washing anything. While watering the very topsoil was disturbed showing off some beautiful roots with lots of nitrogen nodules, this gives me high hopes for its future.

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I then covered the whole lot over with more gravel & have placed it in a spot getting full sun most of the day. This may seem contrary to normal but I have found that since putting my collected trees back in conditions similar to that which they came from the recovery is quicker & stronger. They are then watered as per normal unless I feel extra care is warranted (usually only consisiting of misting once or twice extra to watering). Once regrowth is starting to push thru i feed with whatever I am using at approx half strength, repeating once more at half strength them up to the same rates as the rest of my trees.

I will update as & when this Acacia decides to live or die, given its 3days on & so far no browning of foliage I am hopeful. This method is a combination of my own practical experimenting & several instrumental articles I found on the net (sorry but I dont have links to any of them) The basics are really very simple, get as large a rootball as possible (the soil mass can be reduced but roots cant be replaced once cut off), KEEP the surface flora intact (weeds etc), only minimally disturb the soil mass to help introduce air & water, use a shallow pot only just big enough (too big/deep & it may stay wet & rot the roots). Full sun (or close to it) is vital to encourage new budding, the warmth on the pot will also encourage rooting. and finally FEED THEM! As one website explained it... If you were sick & a doctor told you to stay inside & not eat you would think him mad!, yet we expect to collect a tree then starve it of light & food & expect it to grow!

My hope is that those who choose to try there hand at collecting of native material please do so responsibly. Collect only what you think has a high chance of survival, collect only as many as you can work, do not strip an area bare, if you wish to collect something that you are not sure of, start with a young plant & work your way up.

Matt

[boom64]

Hi Matt
Great post, thanks for sharing your many years of experience.I can understand Yamadori becoming very addictive.Its a great feeling getting out in the bush ,you never know what you will find.
I have collected a large variety ,many i have no idea what they are ,unfortunatly i lost a few. My biggest problem is crumbly soil ,especially out in the riverina. Its ok in summer because the soil is baked rock hard but in winter it tends to break down easily.
Thanks once again for the post .
Regards John.

[MattA]

Hey John,

I forgot to mention, late spring thru summer (november-feb in my climate)I have found to be the best time for collecting natives, otherwise while in flower is another good time. Many will recover if dug at other times of year but are slower to get going & until they are well away there is always a chance of root rot (something that also seems very common in natives).

From my varied diggings of natives, in general if you can keep even just a marble sized bit of soil on a root is all thats needed! (not with acacia but most others) I have also had success where the soil has fallen away completely & that was by combining some of the soil from its original location with the potting medium. Its not anything as obvious as the michorizea that occurs with pines but i believe there are similar symbiotic relationships had between many natives & soil micro flora.

Matt

[Damian Bee]

Hi Matt, (Night Owl)

How do you go with older more established specimens with extensive root systems? Do you dig them up or leave them alone? Do they survive if you do dig them up?

[Jarrod]

Thanks for the post. One question, why collect a tree which, at most would cost $5 from a local nursery? and be in good soil maing it easy to transplant into a growing pot?

Have you collected anything old and more established?

[MattA]

One question, why collect a tree which, at most would cost $5 from a local nursery? and be in good soil maing it easy to transplant into a growing pot?

WHY? In the case of this particular specimen... you cannot buy one as 'advanced' as this ANYWHERE! Very small plants & very slow growing (compared to most Acacia)

WHY? In general.... i collect seedlings & whippy sticks to learn more about what i am most passionate about (collecting) without killing many mature old trees that would have otherwise lived on if left alone.

Buying nursery stock is fine if all you want to do is follow what others have researched in the past...or even research yourself (for bonsai atleast, it has already had someone work out how to grow it in a pot to get it to the nursery)

When the first Picea jezoensis were collected from Hokkiado all that was achieved was lots of dead trees... someone had to spend time working out how to get them to survive the ordeal & adjust to potted culture. If noone had bothered we would not see the stunning yamadori that abound in collections. Likewise for every other species we use in this art & think nothing of... at some stage in the past it hadnt been tried & ways had to be devised.

We in Australia are seriously on the back foot, very little has been done with collecting our natives (or if it has been done it isnt shared as widely as every other aspect) and I think a large part of that is that we see the differences instead of the similarities. Casuarina yamadori in Indonesia have it all over our own, not just quantity but quality... not because they have more but becasue they have worked it out!

So I set myself the task of working out how to go about collecting as many natives species as possible.... I am starting to make headway... In the case of the first species I had success with, I am now able to & have collected more advanced specimens & have my eyes on a further few that I am now confident I can collect next Nov with minimal risk of loss.I joined this forum to learn more about using natives & have received immense help from others who had bothered to experiment....I would be remiss to not also share my own limited experiences, maybe someone can benefit from them.

Matt

[MattA]

Hi Matt, (Night Owl)

How do you go with older more established specimens with extensive root systems? Do you dig them up or leave them alone? Do they survive if you do dig them up?

its about the only time my internet doesnt stuff up & take me 5 times longer to post anything (well that & its just so nice & quiet at this hour)

It all depends on the species, if I am at all doubtful about my ability to get it out of the ground & have it survive.. I leave it be.. that applies equally to exotics as natives (except in bushland where exotics get yanked).

In general, to remove a larger more mature example, in theory its simply a matter of taking a commensurately larger rootball, however, this is not always necessary & is part of what I am exploring with each succesive round of collecting.

The one I had the earliest & most success with is Hibbertia linearis (nothing spectacular but one I love very much), I started with a single stemmed seedling and a 15cm ball of clay soil, i now know i can remove almost all of the soil & reduce the rootsystem radically without hassle. Another, Notelea ssp, are so similar to there common namesake its not funny (mock olive) you can bare root, collect with almost no root (let alone fine feeders) etc and it just thumps back as if nothing happened (one of last novembers collected trees is already flowering!). A more recent success is with a local Leptospermum... it NEEDS shade until regrowth has started to mature(unlike most that need full sun to recover), younger plants can be collected with almost no root or soil but older more mature ones need to have the immediate soil around the trunk retained...

As you can see from the 3 examples.. they all respond & need very different treatment, however all have not been that much trouble to collect... my next main native collecting period will be busy with lots of potensai now able to be collected and that makes me very happy... heres to the future & ever growing list...

Matt

[Jarrod]

Sorry to scratch this scab, but collecting seedlings doesn't compare to collecting mature trees, you are able to take far more root on a seedling and not make any major cuts to the roots. Also, why risk the fines for a seedling? Why risk the fines at all? Even if you think you are "saving" the tree, the council and parks people will not look at it the same way.

This is all I am going to say on this matter. I do not wish to get into an argument, i just feel quite strongly about this and do not want Australia to go the same route that Europe is going, and also where Japan has gone so you can no longer go see certain species in the wild anymore.

Let’s develop a sustainable bonsai community in Australia based on home grown trees that might take 5 more years then collecting, but at least we will have a renewable source of stock.

[craigw60]

I am with Jarrod on this one. i love to grow native trees and have lots of them on the boil here but all from seed raised tube stock at $1.50 each they hardly break the bank. When I was younger I tried collecting native plants and lost all of them so would now rather grow them myself.
The casuarina seen in south east asian collection come from the wet tropics so therefore their root systems are more compact and fibrous than ours which mostly grow in semi-arid conditions. We have a fantastic selection of exotic weed trees in this country which are ripe for collection and by digging them you are doing the country a favour.
Craigw

[dannynovo]

Hi Matt,
very informative thread and makes one think...i put a thread in on identifying and Acacia that i sourced from a fire trail where the main trunk was "dead" but the lower branches x 2 had struck root and obviously flourished......the root system in this instance was wirery and minimal, i managed to collect as much clay attached to the root system as possible. i'm very interested that you actually prefer full sun to vitalise your trees.....whereas the concensus is usually shaded for a period of time and feed....i have followed this routine and am happy with the plants progress...but....my question to you is....would my specimens survive the full sun treatment with relative tatty root system at this stage?

Danny

[MattA]

Hi Matt,
very informative thread and makes one think...i put a thread in on identifying and Acacia that i sourced from a fire trail where the main trunk was "dead" but the lower branches x 2 had struck root and obviously flourished......the root system in this instance was wirery and minimal, i managed to collect as much clay attached to the root system as possible. i'm very interested that you actually prefer full sun to vitalise your trees.....whereas the concensus is usually shaded for a period of time and feed....i have followed this routine and am happy with the plants progress...but....my question to you is....would my specimens survive the full sun treatment with relative tatty root system at this stage?

Danny

Hey Danny,

I just had a look at your thread, how long ago did you collect it? how is it currently looking? is it putting out buds/ new growth etc etc. I am most intrigued and will post a reply there sepeartely, somehow i must have missed it. In answer to your question here, if & I am assuming by now it most likely is making new growth, I would most definitely be moving it out to full sun. Some of my collected trees have had "tatty roots" but are still placed in full sun, sunlight is vital to the life of all plants, if you reduce the light you reduce the food a tree can make, it also encourages longer internodes and larger leaves.

My own experience & practice had always been the usually ascribed part shade etc routine that we all learn. About 18mths ago I was at a loss what to do differently with some I had so far failed at and spent weeks searching every obscure scrap i could find on the net..... I found just one article on someones blog or a forum or website that didnt say part shade etc...Full sun or the plants natural needs, an understory tree may still need shade, tho most natives I have found cope very well with full sun regardless of there place within the strata of vegetation. (There are exceptions like the Lepto I mentioned earlier)

Matt

[dannynovo]

Hi Matt,
will respond on here as well.
Collection has been about 2 weeks now, with the trees looking healthy (hope my wife has been watering while i work in Sydney during the week).
when i get home tomorrow both trees will be checked for new growth, fed with liquid dynamic lifter and put in full sun, even though they were found obscured under other shrubs.
As with root growth, i'm almost keen to take out the smaller of the 2 to review any new root growth (with pics).
I'm also intruiged with your view on using in the mix, the actual soil from where the tree came from.....makes sense.
anyway i will be posting a progression series soon......just going to make sure the trees survive first.

Danny

[MattA]

Hey Danny,

If the leaves are still fleshy & green then i would say you have a success. Wattle are the first to drop dead, often within hours or days at the most. I wouldnt be disturbing the roots at all, let the top be your indicator.

Soils are an interesting area in & of itself... the main criteria for me is how the trees respond.

Look forward to your progression thread.

Matt