Lilac dig

Lilac Dig

Someone answered by craiglist ad, but didn't send me any photos, so I took the chance and went out there.  She showed me around for 15 minutes pointing out all manner of things but is was all spindly, or ill suited for bonsai.  The best things were two lilacs. The sandy soil made for quick digging.  After a half dozen wacks with my pick ax I was able to pull out each one.  The leaf size will be an issue, and it would have been better to collect one with more girth, but these were the best available.  

l.o

Above is the first one.  It was storming outside so I worked in the shed.  I left some leaves on each of the branches that I kept.

This second one has a nice wound that adds some visual interest.  There where roots at three different levels.  I trimmed the small roots on the trunk and reduced the larger roots in the middle.  The lowest ones I cut off with a flat cut through the trunk.   

It seems to have enough roots to be OK, and some gentle movement in the lower trunk.

Here they are potted up.

Update: June 2018 

The "escaped rottweiler puppy incident" had these two trees tipped over and all the soil removed.  Along with that one of them (left tree in above image) has been repeatedly had its trunk base chewed by squirrels.  

Here is the one that  survived in mid-May of 2019

Below: Oct 2019

After only putting out that first flush of leaves and not growing much despite heavy feeding, I was surprised to see this new growth layer in the growing season.  Next year, I may try defoliation to reduce leaf size.