Styling yamadori [b]before [/b]collecting

Hi all

I'd like a few opinions or experiences if possible.

Is there any merit in doing preliminary modification on wild trees while they are still in the ground?
I don't have much of a sample base from which to draw an accurate conclusion, but I've been working on a few Tamarix specimens in the desert near my house. Basically there is a brackish water seepage area amongst the dunes that can clearly be seen by the massive stands of smallish Tamarix. Unfortunately there is also a waste-water dump in the same location so it can become something of a health hazard.
Upon removing a few smaller trees to experiment on, I studied what roots remained after extraction. Long anchor roots that dissapear deep into the sand and a loose clump of fine adventitious roots are usually present near the base of the tree. Transplanting to a pot usually involves 100% die-off of the foliage, and a few weeks later it starts budding well and is ready to go. Unfortunately some of the more strategic branches sometimes die off too.

I modified a number of trees without removing them, to compare vigour, recovery etc. with my potted specimens. I've since abused two or three wild trees by ripping all the trunks off, snapping branches and pruning heavily. Every couple of weeks I go and check out their progress and they look fantastic. What's more, on Tuesday I uprooted one of the smaller specimens amd found a very dense bundle of fibrous roots under the trunk. More so than those freshly removed. I sort of makes sense to me that the root system will adapt to what's happening upstairs, and that this may be a decent way of 'priming' yamadori for bonsai use. It's been three days now for the tree in question with no die-off as yet, so I'm holding thumbs for it.

Thanks in advance for any inout. I'll post photos of the next yield, and of the new little starter chaps