I just happened across a handful of pines growing in red clay.  One particular one has about a 5" trunk, but looks fairly young.  There is excellent movement, and a handful of low branches.  (The other trees either have little movement or are smaller.)

1.) What are the chances of a pine having a decent root mass in red clay.
2.) Would it need to be bare-rooted before repotting?
3.) What is a recommended soil mix for this situation?
4.) What are you doing this Saturday?

Pictures tomorrow ...or the first workday thereafter that its not raining.

Wayne, if ya remember those pines I collected in Spartanburg county off I-26 those were in red clay. Now from what I concluded as to their demise was I did not get enough of the roots/rootball. I found that I had to dig deeper than I thought I needed to to get to the roots. Some I dug down at least a foot before I uncovered any roots coming off the trunk/base. As far as how far to dig away from the trunk I was in the 14 to 20 inch range and I never came across any mass amount of feeder roots. All the pines were 4 feet or shorter in height with most trunks rangin from 4" to 2" thick. After they had died on me I pondered if I had the time over a couple of years to have just cut the roots with a tile spade while they were in the ground to get them to grow roots closer to the trunk. If ya have the time I would do exploratory digging. See how far down ya have to dig to hit any roots and then see how far away from the trunk ya have to go to find any good feeder roots.

My take on a pine with a 5" trunk, depending on the species, I'd give an estimate age of about 5-7 yrs. I give this estimate based on some pines where I work. I began workin there in June 2005. The area the pines are growin was bush-hogged back in August 2005. It has not been touched since. These pines are now on average 10 feet tall(except for the one that got snapped by a powerline truck a couple of yrs ago). They have trunk bases around 5" or so.

Hope this helps Wayne. Best of luck bud

Wayne,
I guess I would ask- Why collect these trees? No taper, nothing really interesting about them, Personally, I would keep looking, find some that have been bush-hogged or trampled, etc. Check the rocky side hills over road cuts, etc. I have collected trees like this in the past, they all ended up in landscapes or on the burn pile when I realized what I had.

John

I'd say its not worth it.  The branching is too thick and too high on the trunk, none of it is really usable.  The trunk has no taper which will make it impossible to even make the curve in the trunk a feature.  You want to collect trees with interesting trunk lines with taper and visual interest.  You also want something that you know you can reduce if need be.  This is no more than a nursery tree that you can buy at any store.  Find something unique with more character.

Tom

Wayne, this can be a great technique and knowledge building opportunity for you. The tree has no cost for you (minus your time) and you can learn valuable skills with pines if you collect this tree. From the pictures John, Tom, and Don are right about the tree...no outstanding specimen. But for me that is a plus as there is no pressure from killing a potential masterpiece. If you kill it there is no great loss. You obviously see something in this tree that appeals to you. Use the advice from Steven and Bonsaikc and go get yourself a pine. The worse thing is you kill a free tree, the best thing is you have a collected pine that may or may not turn out to be a Bonsai. Either way you will learn from this collecting experience. And when you do find a truly magnificent specimen you will have the skill set to collect it and keep it alive! Oh, and of course you will post it for all of us to oggle over. Happy collecting....Don.