So --on freecycle -- I found a what we think is a flowering pear tree ---
The lady will be cutting them down -- but I thought maybe I can grab one of these and make it a big bonsai (the ginkgo needs to grow for a while before I can get my hands on it).....
Will this be something I can work with -- I think the tree trunk is about the diameter I want it to be...
Though I heard these grow fast...
Any thoughts -- comments.... thanks!
Obsessed Silvia
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Gnome
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Silvia,
Collecting them now is going to be your first challenge. Usually deciduous material is collected earlier in the season but since they are going to be cut down I suppose you have nothing to lose.
Please take the time to read this excellent three part article on collecting from the wild.
https://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATcollectring%20trees%20from%20the%20wild%20W%20Pall.htm
Everything might not apply to you but the more you know the better chances your specimen will have of surviving the ordeal.
Norm
Collecting them now is going to be your first challenge. Usually deciduous material is collected earlier in the season but since they are going to be cut down I suppose you have nothing to lose.
Please take the time to read this excellent three part article on collecting from the wild.
https://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATcollectring%20trees%20from%20the%20wild%20W%20Pall.htm
Everything might not apply to you but the more you know the better chances your specimen will have of surviving the ordeal.
Norm
Silvia,
What Norm says is true. However it is possible to collect deciduous this late in the season. The key is to take a root-ball as big as you can manage. Also it needs to recover in a shaded area till early fall.
Don't bare-root the tree if your putting it in a pot. I would suggest, if possible, to put it in the ground till next spring. Then re-lift it next spring and pot it. This is the best option of all. Your tree will be weak and its chances are much better this way...especially down south in GA
What Norm says is true. However it is possible to collect deciduous this late in the season. The key is to take a root-ball as big as you can manage. Also it needs to recover in a shaded area till early fall.
Don't bare-root the tree if your putting it in a pot. I would suggest, if possible, to put it in the ground till next spring. Then re-lift it next spring and pot it. This is the best option of all. Your tree will be weak and its chances are much better this way...especially down south in GA
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applestar
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Personally, I think flowering pears are unkillable (is that a word? I'm getting a spellcheck error 
). When I cut down my rogue tree and my neighbor cut down his "split and dropped big branches" nuisance tree, I used the big trunks and branches as garden borders. The trunks that I forgot to position up-side-down, as well as the branches laid on the ground as raised bed border all sprouted new shoots that tried to grow. 
I have a few seedlings from my rogue that I'm keeping around to possibly dig up later (I'm waiting for the caliper as well as to confirm fireblight resistance). My rogue was fertile and produced a lot of fruits, so if the trait was passed on to its offsprings, I should have some very interesting fruiting bonsai trees someday
Hmm... maybe I should let some of the root suckers from the original rogue grow out so I could dig those up.... 
). When I cut down my rogue tree and my neighbor cut down his "split and dropped big branches" nuisance tree, I used the big trunks and branches as garden borders. The trunks that I forgot to position up-side-down, as well as the branches laid on the ground as raised bed border all sprouted new shoots that tried to grow. I have a few seedlings from my rogue that I'm keeping around to possibly dig up later (I'm waiting for the caliper as well as to confirm fireblight resistance). My rogue was fertile and produced a lot of fruits, so if the trait was passed on to its offsprings, I should have some very interesting fruiting bonsai trees someday
Hmm... maybe I should let some of the root suckers from the original rogue grow out so I could dig those up....