AusBonsai

Hello all,

i have the opportunity to collect a number of hawthorn this weekend. The trees are still in flower. I am wondering if anyone can tell me if this is a safe time to collect these trees. Will the survive. I have no experience at all collecting decidous trees but have heard it is better to collect during winter. Please help as I would not want to miss this opportunity. having said that I dont want to kill the trees either.

Please help if you can.

Regards

Steve W

Now is not as safe as winter but you can collect them now, they are very tough. Just make sure you leave no foliage on them when you collect them and keep them really well watered for the first month and you should be fine. They will send out shoots pretty fast which will lengthen well and you will think everything is fine - then those shoots will start dying a bit. Don't worry, when they start getting new growth again after that is when you know they are making new roots and they will be ok.
It is the first dying off that will tell you whether they will survive - if the shoots die completely they probably won't make it but if they start to shoot again before the older shoots are completely dead they will live. You shouldn't lose any though.

You will be fine, rowan has given good advice.

the one I collected at the Goubourn first foilage dying off stage now and this post has confirmed I am OK

although I think it was getting sheltered from another collected tree ( on of the Oaks) and was not getting enough water but have fixed that now I hope

Ken