The
Ethics of Collecting Trees from the Wild
There are
opposing positions on this subject. Both those who defend this
activity and those who oppose it have their reasons for adopting
one position or the other, reasons that will be explored.
Why
obtain material for bonsai from the Wild if it is something
that is not very attractive and, in addition, looks as if it
would be a very laborious task?
Those who
are favour of it have several reasons in defence of their position:
· Many native species, often the best for bonsai training,
are very difficult or impossible to find in a nursery.
· In the nursery, trees are cultivated to grow as rapidly
as possible and generate money. This means that, in many cases,
they will not have the desired quality for bonsai.
· Trees grown from seed or cuttings need decades to reach
a quality similar to that of trees collected from nature. Even
then, there is an enormous difference in quality.
· The character of a tree only develops with age. A collected
tree expresses the struggle for survival through its appearance
and bark. This is very difficult to achieve with nursery seedlings.
· Collected trees have a unique history, written expressly
for each one of them, making them more interesting and desirable.
· Collecting trees from nature can be fun and some might
even go so far as to consider it a sport.
Why
should these trees not be collected?
Those who
oppose this activity also are supported by good reasons:
· In the majority of cases, the trees will not survive
the procedure.
· Even though permission maybe available, it is a license
to kill if you do not know exactly what you are doing.
· Independent of the fact that trees are never collected
in nature reserves or parks, they always come from a specific
biological habitat.
· Collected trees often need years to re-establish themselves
before actual shaping can begin.
· For those who are not experts, many trees collected
from the mountain have too much character. Quite possibly they
will not know how to make use of their potential.
Of course
in all civilised countries, just going into fields anywhere
and collecting trees is forbidden. There is always a property
owner, even though it may be the government.
For that reason, it is essential to get permission for the collection
of plants. It is best to study beforehand where and what it
is that you want to collect. Generally it is possible to obtain
permission, except for trees in nature reserves or parks. If
you explain to the forest ranger or farmer that you are looking
for very small trees of lower quality and that afterwards, footprints
will be erased and holes filled, usually you can count on getting
a favourable response. Often, they can even tell you where you
should begin looking.
They may also think you are crazy, but that is something you
will have to accept.
It is best
to get written permission in order to avoid difficulties that
may arise later on. Many good areas belong to farmers who have
a habitual relationship with trees that often even includes
being bothered by them. Sometimes, a small compensation accompanied
by the promise that holes will be filled is sufficient.
Clearly, you may also find people who think that a fortune can
be made from bonsai. For that reason, it is better to say young
are looking for specimens for your garden. It is a small lie
that harms no one.
The collector
of bonsai may face danger during the hunting season, generally
in Autumn, so be particularly careful in this season.
Anyone who
does not have much experience with trees and does not know with
certainty how and if it possible to keep a collected tree alive
ought not even attempt it, not even with the mandatory permit.
An essential requirement for this activity, in addition to a
permit, is having extensive knowledge and experience, at least
in gardening.
Anyone who does not know the tree and its needs is better off
abstaining. Although the technical term may be 'material for
bonsai', the bonsai enthusiast should never forget that a tree
is a living thing that must be treated properly.
The
base of this Juniper in the Rocky Mountains is more than 12"
(30cm) wide. It is possibly over 500 years old, but, in spite
of that, it can be collected because it is found in a crack
full of humus
Many times
the experienced collector finds a tree that is good itself,
but knows that after collecting there will not be much chance
of it surviving. It is a very common situation since the best
material for bonsai is usually found in locations where the
conditions for survival are very harsh and so the trees are
weak and greatly castigated by nature often with roots that
are very ramified and exposed.
This means that you will not find a compact rootball and the
majority of the roots will break off and be lost in the collecting
process. The best rule is: in case of doubt, leave the tree
where it is.
Logically,
no matter how good the tree may be, do not dig it up if the
season is not right. Most trees that are found by chance and
collected during vacations are not likely to survive.
If you find
several suitable trees, but are unsure if they will survive,
it is best to take only one in order to gain experience and
to be able to collect the others later on.
Locations
can be found where, by collecting the trees growing there, you
are even saying them certain death. Such would be the case for
example, with those places where highways or roads through the
forest have been constructed or widened, where ski-lifts are
constructed or under lifts or high tension cables under which
all types of new growth is regularly destroyed.
As you may have read, even though it does not have to do directly
with bonsai, there are organisations dedicated specifically
to saving trees.
They may
also be found in pasture land where trees are regularly cleared
or in gravel pits and quarries that have to be enlarged.
So, therefore, these are locations where you can collect trees
that are practically condemned without feeling guilty.
The chief
objective of one who intends to collect a tree ought to be keeping
it alive. The chance of survival of the tree depend on:
· The experience of the enthusiast
· The type of tree
· The special conditions of the location
· The preparation of the tree
· The tools used
· The season of the year
· The amount of rain in the location where it is to be
collected (it has to have rained in previous days)
· The difference in climate between the place where it
was found and the location where it will be placed (the greater
the change, the more danger for the tree)
· Care after collecting
Tools
for collecting trees
The serious
enthusiast has the proper tools. A strong, sharp-edged shovel,
long-handled pruning shears, pruning scissors, a strong pickaxe
and a collapsible saw are needed.
Sometimes heavier equipment is needed such as a block and tackle
or a chainsaw.
For trees
that are found on large rocks or on walls of rock, climbing
equipment is necessary. A rope at least 75 feet (25m) long can
also be very useful. Trees can be lowered with it and it can
also assure one's safety while working on dangerous terrain.
In addition, a large quantity of wet cloths will be needed for
wrapping the rootball as well as large plastic bags.
A backpack
with an aluminium frame in which larger trees can be placed
will often be indispensable for long trips. There are special
devices designed for hunters enabling them to transport a large
amount of game over difficult terrain. Obviously, these can
also be used for large trees. A large knapsack will serve for
carrying most of the tools, but will usually be too small for
a tree.
Several
bottles or a large container of water are important for the
one undertaking this task and also, perhaps, for the tree. Bringing
along a camera is a good idea.
Collectors
often travel through areas little frequented by other people.
A small accident that generally is not very serious may become
a tragedy.
For that reason, a first aid kit should always be carried. Carry
a mobile phone with emergency telephone numbers. If you are
accompanied, it is always advisable for the others to also carry
a mobile phone or walkie-talkies.
In view
of the list of tools, it is understandable that some people
look first for a road for their cars and then a suitable tree.
But do not be discouraged yet.
The
expertise is in finding, not in looking
Whoever
goes into the mountains in search of 'ready made' trees to be
used right away as bonsai is going to be very disappointed.
With very few exceptions, there are no trees out of doors that
can be transplanted directly to a pot and classified as bonsai.
At most, good raw material can be found, that is, material with
more or less interesting shapes that provide starting points
for the experienced enthusiast. In truth, the most worrisome
and complicated trees are very often the best ones. For that
reason, only an enthusiast with sufficient years of experience
will be capable of finding truly great material, because he
will be able to see on the site itself the basic shape and will
know how to decide if the tree can be used or not.
The expertise
is in finding, not in looking. This means that there is not
much likelihood of success if one goes searching with the firm
expectation of finding a pine pre-bonsai that would be ideal
for the 'formal upright' form passing by all the deciduous trees
and even pine trees that might lend themselves perfectly to
being shaped in other forms.
There are
some people who go into the forest to look for mushrooms and
always find more than the rest of the group. There are fishermen
who always catch more fish than all their companions. There
are bonsai enthusiasts who find many more good trees than an
entire group.
What do these people have in common? They know secret or even
several that the others possess, but the likelihood of having
such persons as instructors is slight.
Then how
can you discover one of these secrets? Clearly, everyone will
think that the secret is in knowing the right location. Well
no, the secret lies in recognising guidelines which works as
follows:
The bonsai
enthusiast goes walking through the field and at some point
in time finds a tree that meets all the requirements for being
good bonsai. A suitable location has been found; where there
is one, there will be another close by.
It is not
a question of knowing an especially good place, but of finding
each time a location that, even in areas where you have never
been before. If you go looking in another location and by chance
find another pre-bonsai….well, you can start to draw conclusions.
What do
both locations have in common? What is the reason for the trees
being so small in both places?
If, for example, in both cases it is a location that is close
to an area of wild pasturage, where in winter deer come to nibble
the shoots of small beeches, you have found a clue. It follows
that you will have greater possibilities of success if you go
to places where there is pasturage for livestock.
Whoever
repeatedly enjoys this type of success will recognise that there
is a whole series of clues like this that narrows the search.
Acquire more knowledge about trees, open a dialogue with them,
understand them better and you will find more and more suitable
specimens to be worked on and to be converted to bonsai.
Where
can you look quickly?
Start in
a place for which you have a permit for collecting trees or
a least, where the possibility of obtaining it exists. There
is no sense in looking for the best pre-bonsai in nature reserves
if collecting there is not permitted.
Where
are the best possibilities?
Generally
in areas that are considered extreme. That is , places that
offer places that offer a species minimum necessary for sustaining
life, the limit. If a tree is found in a location where there
is little available to keep it alive, but too much to cause
it to die, it will remain small, grow compactly and will develop
an interesting shape. A location that can be called extreme
will often depend on the species. A pine tree continues growing
strongly in practically pure sand, while the same soil causes
great difficulties for a beech tree.
Consequently, a beech that by accident is growing in a soil
of pure sand can be very good beginning material. For the pine
tree, more conditions need to be lacking, as for example, a
greatly exposed location on a very inclined slope in the crack
of a rock.
High areas
generally offer more possibilities for success. But there are
a large number of slag heaps, quarries, embankments, quagmires,
declivities with steep slopes, banks of streams that become
torrents in the Spring, rocky terrain, large stones covered
with plants and coastal regions, that is, almost any places
that the farmer calls 'uncultivated'.
The main
problem is that trees collected from these areas have the very
great disadvantage of being very weak. Consequently, the likelihood
of their survival is very slight right from the beginning.
For the
survival of a collected tree, locations that are much more favourable,
that are actually good for the growth of the species, but where,
due to environment causes that occurred a single time or over
many years, trees cannot develop naturally. This may be the
case along the edges of roads where vegetation is regularly
cut down, pastures where animals nibble the shoots and branches
or where even the trunks of small trees are broken or the farmer
cuts back the vegetation, edges of forests where deer nibble
the new shoots in Spring and the renewed growth in Winter, slopes
left after avalanches where damages is repeatedly done, but
without the trees finally dying, military training areas where
trees are constantly broken, but not killed.
All these places, with the exception of avalanche slopes, have
various advantages. In most cases it is possible to obtain permit
for collecting, since it is ethically sustainable to collect
a tree which if not collected would not only suffer, but also
would be unlikely to survive. Since the trees are growing in
good soil and are relatively young, they will have a healthy,
ample rootball that is very helpful to their survival after
being collected.
Inexperienced
enthusiasts usually think that most good trees are found in
very hidden away and untouched areas. They are completely mistaken.
Man, with his machines and animals is the best generator of
raw material for bonsai. The best trees are found especially
along roadways or even in towns. Fantastic specimens can be
found in places where for decades a hedge has been pruned, where
someone has pruned away the trees in the garden, where many
years ago livestock passed through the thicket, nibbling on
it, where someone for several decades has kept small trees in
pots or in a cemetery where a shrub was kept small. Logically,
a permit cannot always be obtained for removing the tree, but
nothing is lost by asking.
The best
time to look for trees is when it is not possible to collect
them due to the season, since you will not be tempted to carry
them off and you will not take the first one you will find.
Since, for the tree to be collected with any likelihood of success,
you only have a little time in Autumn and a few weeks in the
Spring, there is a great deal of time to make a selection.
Part
Two>>
