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Roots for groundwork

Discussion in 'General Figure Talk' started by kevininpdx, Nov 14, 2019.

  1. kevininpdx Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    I’m working on my first figure in years and I would like to use roots in the ground work. There’s a company that sells preserved roots but I figure digging up my own would be better and cheaper. Does anyone have tips on the types of wild plants that would yield good material?
  2. Forté A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Best one I find is a walk in the local park or forest. Keep an eye out for fallen trees.
    Chris Oldfield and kevininpdx like this.
  3. Tecumsea PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    If you have access to any gardens or gardeners Azaleas have dense matted roots which are ideal
    kevininpdx, Chris Oldfield and Nap like this.
  4. Landrotten Highlander Well-Known Member

    see if there is a bonsai club in your area. They will be cutting off a lot of what they call 'good' roots. In my opinion thoses are very poor roots what Bonsai concerns, but great stuff to use for this hobby.
    In my circle repotting season starts aroung end of February and ends somewhere near the end of May (depending on species, etc).
    I need to repot quite a few untrained trees, so I will be 'stocking up' on useful stuff this coming spring:D
    kevininpdx likes this.
  5. Kevtk135 Active Member

    I just look in my yard for any tree seedlings, and then yank them out before they become too rooted into the ground. I especially like the roots of the Rose of Sharon. For whatever reason, they easily pull out of the ground even when the plant is fairly tall.
    kevininpdx likes this.
  6. DEL A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    My go to preferences are the roots and stems of Ash saplings. For pretty convincing scale trunks use bits of dead Rosemary bushes. Tthese are best and most 'gnarly' when you gather them if your sumer holiday takes you to hotter european countries, Spain, Greece etc I've been using the same lot I collected more thn 20 years ago.
    Ash saplings seed just about anywhere, look along fance lines anywhere near mature trees.
    kevininpdx and Kevtk135 like this.
  7. Kevtk135 Active Member

    Oh, your mention of rosemary just jogged my memory. Pomegranate is another open that gets gnarly pretty quickly. They also have this twisting, peeling to their bark fairly young. Many of these catalog vegetable seed co.s will have a small section of tree saplings for sale and most of the time you can get get pomegranate.
    kevininpdx and DEL like this.
  8. Helm A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Anything you grab, I would nuke it in the microwave for a couple of minutes to kill any beasties that may be in it
    Steve
    kevininpdx and theBaron like this.
  9. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    nuke-from-orbit 2.jpg
    kevininpdx likes this.
  10. Ronaldo A Fixture


    Bunny Boiler:eek:
  11. Ronaldo A Fixture

    Best to use roots from very small shrubs rather than trees as tend to be out of scale .
    kevininpdx likes this.
  12. theBaron A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    I had to dig out some yews and arborvitae a few years ago. I salvaged some of their roots for diorama use. I rinsed them in a bucket of water, to remove the remaining dirt, and let them air-dry. I use small bits at a time, and nuke them before I do.

    Prost!
    Brad
    kevininpdx likes this.
  13. Helm A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    How *****ing big are the roots you're using Ron?
    Steve
  14. Ronaldo A Fixture

    well nuking them ! why they aint gonna eat your figures
  15. Helm A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    They may however eat your cabinet, clothes, even you!
    kevininpdx likes this.

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