AusBonsai

hi all
i live in the stanthorpe qld region granite country well rock farm actualy and have many wild bonsai figs and apple trees the appla trees grow wild here as its been a apple area for over hundred years and the crow take them into the bush and shari out the seeds you get the picture some are very very old with moss up to 5 inch thick are they any good to pot up as we have many hundreds growing on rock we also have cypress pine growing on rocks would be interested in taking someone for a hunt for them to show me what to take and what to leave my email is admin@stanthorpebowl.com.au also if you were interested in coming you can stay with us at our farm for the night as its very rocky and you will get very tired from the hunt

Thats awsome - pity i live in Sydney

My wife has family and Tenterfeild and Glenn, next time we are up that way i might have to look you up

Sounds like a lot of fun

Sean

after looking at some of your photos off your larger bonsai in pot stands section wow i have even more them we thought i alwas thought bonsais were ver little plants i now off one up the back that about 3 foot tall to the top if leaves and as wide as a keg of beer growing over a rock wow you people have some nice plants well done

Wild bonsai hunting can be exciting, and you seem like you have a lot of material - good luck!

Some pointers: Dig the apples just before the leaves open, late winter. Bare-rooting should be OK with them.

Are the figs native figs, or kitchen figs? If they're the native figs, they're extremely tough, best dug maybe around November, cut the tops back hard, put them in a free draining mix, keep well watered. Kitchen figs have very large leaves, and might not be worth the effort, but then again, someone else may disagree.

If you aren't growing bonsai already, dig young, boring trees, and learn how to keep them alive, and how to prune them back, (and when) and how to shape them -there's a lot of information on the site Wiki. Then dig the interesting ones in a couple of years when you've got a bit more experience. Trees die quite easily...

When you dig, look for interesting shapes in the trunk, close to the ground - in the first 50cms or so. Try not to dig anything straight. Trees that have been beaten up by traffic/cows/kangaroos/floods often have complicated shapes that look good when you put them in pot. It will take you some/many years to train the branches and leaves into a shape that looks good. If the trunk has something happening, it's worth putting the time into it.

Good luck!

Gavin

thanks mate

trying to work out how to get photo also colected some tree burls today to make some pots do they work as pots the main fig here is morton bay fig and one someone call indian fig and we have lots off strangler fig most off the apple trees have apples at the moment and the cow have kept them well pruned also the moss can you tell me why ot grow so big we have patches that is 4 to 6 inches thick
shane

Hi Shane that is a great offer i have sent you a pm.