Was finally able to get out to collect a tree yesterday. Another Black Spruce. This one looks to be pretty old judging from all the lichen growth and dead, downturned branches. I took some pictures of the collection process and once again you can see how most trees in my area come out with compact roots. I just use a sturdy garden trowel to dig and secateurs to snip the roots away. It didn’t have a tap root to speak of. The root ball just lifted out all together.
I cleaned up the root ball at home being careful not to disturb it too much. I built a 13"x13" grow box to plant it in. It’s anchored at 4 points and doesn’t wobble. The substrate is fir bark (it’s the only thing I can get shipped at a reasonable price in my remote location. Pumice is way too expensive.)The box will remain on the ground for the entirety of the tree’s recovery.
Nice spruce glad to see you here . Would love to collect a black spruce . But I have gave up looking for know . There just to tough have to go farther north . I presume hard to do without a location .
Up in my neck of the woods they are the most predominant conifer.
I avoid the swamps when I look for them. In my limited experience, the best spots around here tend to have a layer of organic soil on top of sand. The roots don’t go very deep into the sand (no O2?) and grow laterally in the organic stuff. They are very easy to extract and often have good compact roots.
As you can see this one survived. It put on a bit of growth during its recovery. This season I’ll fertilize and depending on how it responds I’ll likely do an initial styling of it this fall.
