New yamadori hunt

I was driving to get some new cat sand the other day and got to take a trip in the forest too.
I had planned to take up some trees but canceled that and looked for some others instead. In my hurry I came over 2 small trees. Not good looking, but I just had to dig them up. Its an oak and a pine. Any tips of how I should do the best to keep them alive, and future ideas for styling would be greatly appriciated.
The images isnt that good, but you can get some starters.
The oak: (I know its in a very big box ! )



As you can see, I didnt cut it down, it was just growing like that on the mountainside.



And last, the bottom of the trunk. I think its quite thick to be such a small natural tree.



I can take some better pictures tomorrow with something behind it. It makes it blurry to watch when you got so much stuff in the background.


Then it is the pine. Im having problems with this one. Ive tried my best, to secure it to the pot, but it keeps tipping over. Ive pushed a stake into the soil but it doesnt help too much. The tree doesnt have much roots and since it have tipped a bit more over again, Im afraid it might have been killed already. I thought it was a bit interesting. With the jin down on the trunk, where the trunk turns. And It has a "thick" base. Ok bark and not too leggy. Its my first real pine too.
I cant put it deep into the pot, because all the roots it has is just below the soil level. So I have to push it far down do bury them.. I cant see what to do here.



It looks better than on the picture though. Its lying a bit down now, and im aiming at getting the foliage more over the trunk and not to the side.
Im gonna have some problems trying to style this one.

And as said before, all comments are welcome. If you hate it, say so, but please give me the reason.
Sincerely, Storm.

Oh, ye. I did cut the oak, but I didnt reduce the height, just the very long branches.

Not good looking,

Agree.

but I just had to dig them up.

Why? Why would one ever dig up something that has little potential?

Well, I dont have the good eye to find good material. I see people here posting images of stumps and others say great find and what a potential.
they could have just two inches left of the trunk and a new bud and they are off to the right way.
I cant see it. I can see if the tree has this or that, but im new to this. I dont really know entirely what to look for. Maybe I one time would be so lucky to find something ok, and with help from others make look good.
I just need experience. See how trees respond to what I do to with them. How a tree thrives where I place them or dont like how often I water them.
I know I can read alot about this, but for the first thing, I cant really buy many books cause I cant afford them. Practice is good so I can see what Im doing in real life, not just by words.
And I like to have odd trees too. Im not only looking for material that has the potential to be a good bonsai for the rules I am given, but just to have fun, and enjoy them for myself. Ive walked around in different parts of the forests around here for hours, without coming across what I can see as a good yamadori. Ive looked on the places the snow lies the longest, where winds take their tolls, and where there is little sun or full sun. I dont know about anyone else close to me that are into bonsai trees, so Im doing what I can with what I have.
This came out as a bit negative, but it isnt. I just want to give you all a view from my perspective.

Why? Why would one ever dig up something that has little potential?[/quote]

Perhaps a little harsh Jim, I think it was colin Lewis who said: if you can’t see a way forward for a trees future development, maybe it ain’t the trees fault. I think the Oak could make a nice tree eventually. I’m not into Pine so I wont comment.

Storm,
I hope you’re not going out and ripping trees up without the correct procedure and aftercare, If so, NOT GOOD! You need to tie those trees into their boxes to stop all movement. Go to Bonsai4me.com for excellent info on collecting from the wild by Walter Pall.

I think the oak has potential. Everything has potential to be something YOU can like. You will find over the years you will get better at this and you will make even your worst trees into something you can admire. They are just like children, the problem ones need a bit more input sometimes but just as rewarding.
Keep going ,we all start somewhere.

Thanks for the replies.
I dont really think it is soo bad that it seems. I thought you said earlier that we pick trees mostly for the trunks etc, then grow the others later. I could chop it back hard if it survives, then make new branches and work with it. I didnt expect this to be something great early. I dont really mind if its not going to be an award winning bonsai. Just wanted your thoughts. Does anyone have any opinion how to go further with this?
And I dont just drag trees up ofc. I try my best to plan how to care for them, but I dont have too much knowledge yet. Dont get me wrong, I think I need whatever I can get to start getting experience, but I respect nature and all living beings and dont take them up if I think they will die. I do my best with every tree, but as Smithy said, we all start somewhere.
Im off to look for some trees the next days too. I dont know if I will find anything, but im positive that I will dig something up. The place is planned to have a road made in the future, so they will be signed for death anyways.

Storm wrote:Then it is the pine. Im having problems with this one. Ive tried my best, to secure it to the pot, but it keeps tipping over. Ive pushed a stake into the soil but it doesnt help too much. The tree doesnt have much roots and since it have tipped a bit more over again, Im afraid it might have been killed already. I thought it was a bit interesting. With the jin down on the trunk, where the trunk turns. And It has a "thick" base. Ok bark and not too leggy. Its my first real pine too.

I've no experience with pines, don't know what your chances are that it'll survive, but to keep it standing up, run wires or cords from as high up on the trunk as possible to all 4 corners of the pot. You might have to secure the base of the tree the same way to keep it from moving around in the pot. If it lives, this should hold it steady until it develops enough roots to stand on its own. Here's a rough drawing to show what I mean:

I drew them all attached at the same point on the tree, but try to attach each line to a different point or to deadwood if you can, so they don't encircle the trunk completely and strangle the tree.

All that greenery behind the pine makes it hard to see it it has any potential. (Next time you photograph a tree, try to put it in front of a blank wall or hang a bed sheet behind it.) But any tree can be good for practice.

I don't have any experience with oaks but I think I see an idea for that tree. It won't look anything like a natural oak but I think it would have an interesting shape.

What my idea is is to remove all the branches on the right side of the trunk. That would leave you with just the two downturned branches on the left and maybe that small branch coming of the back. Basically the whole tree would end up looking kind of like a stylized number 7 before you build up your secondary branches.

I don't know if I am doing a very good job of describing my idea so I'll see if I can draw up something doing a better job describing this idea.

Thanks for the picture. Ill try doing that. Should be able to work something out.
I Think I get the idea about the "7", but Ill just let it grow now and see how it does.
Ill be more thorough about taking pictures. Shouldnt be a problem to have something in the background on the future pics.
Could get some more of these so its easier to see later today.