Thanks, Jeff, for the daily update posts.  For those of us who cannot be there they are much appreciated. 

Bright little Tree there! Not bad!

Thanks for the Idea of ash trees sappling roots as I have many around my home.

I look forward to your future posts.

Dan

Do you have to prepare the roots in any way first? Boil them in glycerine, dry them out, etc. I'm just wondering, as other wise they might become brittle over time (at least you'd presume).

I'm going to quote the relevant paragraph from the handout about this:

"Clean"

"Returning home I begin the process by dumping my box of trees in the drive or yard. With the pile of plants spread out I take a sharp pair of wire cutters and snip off the top of the plant below the leaves. The remaining 'trunk' of your tree can be shortened later before planting on the layout. The extra length gives a good handle for building on the framework of the root structure branches. Use your garden hose to rinse off any remaining clumpps of dirt. I also use a bucket of sapy water swirling the roots in it for a few minutes making sure alll traces of soil are removed. A final spray from the hose will clean any remnants of soap and dirt. A light mist is all it takes. I don't recommend doing this in the sink because all that dirt can quickly plug up the drain. Besides there may be someone in the house that willl strongly object should you be discovered washing your 'trees' in the kitchen sink! Let them air dry for several days, either by spreading on newspapers or hanging from a clothesline with spring type clothes pins."

That's it - and the trees he said were something like 10 years old still looked pretty good to me.