Ideas for a Leptospermum

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MattA
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by MattA »

Seems most of the pics posted on the 16th are still not appearing in thread tho are in reply mode :lost: No matter, took this one recently on the bench from a different angle.
pos2.jpg
Will be working on this during a workshop weekend with a couple of mates, looking forward to seeing what they make of it. Maybe even a gentle repot & removal of the troublesome deadwood underneath that currently makes changing the planting angle difficult.
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by Boics »

Cool photo.

I like the tree too.
Coming along well.
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by Steven »

Great photo Matt!
Tree is coming along too.

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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by GavinG »

Repot in winter? How so?

Gavin
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by MattA »

Boics & Steven,
Thanks for the compliment, it coming along slowly :yes:

Gavin,
Gently a month ago viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15260&p=155393&hili ... um#p155393
Not so last june viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11993&p=155750&hili ... um#p155750
The more I work with this genus the more I love them :aussie:

This tree is also on the list for the weekend...A collected Leptospermum trinervium that has raised lots of questions since coming to my garden.
Dscn0425rz.jpg
Looking forward to sitting with its owner to discuss at length... a bit of explorative rootwork will hopefully answer a few of them ;) Will get round to posting more about this interesting piece once we actually know more & have something to share.
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by bodhidharma »

That is starting to look the goods Matt. Maybe have to chop the tall leggy central leader to bring it back to scale. I imagine these guys would back bud like crazy.
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by MattA »

Bodhi, so far I havent observed any back budding on old wood. It will occur on young branchlets ie those that did carry leaves but have lost them due to drought, insect or other reason (I have not tried defoliating as a technique).
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by MattA »

More than a few hours of fine wiring & a better viewing angle. The apex on the left tree has been left as it is still recovering vigour from the last onslaught. It will be a week of crossed fingers to know if I have commited any grievous damage but otherwise I am happy with the progress. Now to decide on a pot.. free form to allow for the deadwood or carve the wood to allow use of a feminine rectangle I got at Ray Nesci's 21st.
final.jpg
The stone was found locally & has more iron oxide in the hollow than any I have ever seen, the pot Mudlark (of course).

Ps. Made a final confirmation of species while at my local native nursery, Leptospermum polygalifolium ssp cismontanum. I picked up 3 of the of the 'Vertical Drop' form for us to play with on the weekend & 3 very different trees were produced. Look forward to seeing where they go in the next few years, a fully cascading Lepto!!!!
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Last edited by MattA on May 29th, 2013, 2:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by cre8ivbonsai »

I do like the idea of the 'rugged' deadwood/rock combo, does it have enough drainage? and would the iron oxide effect the Lepto's health?

On the other hand the Mudlark pot add some sophistication (if that's what you're after?) ... I think it would be a shame to do much carving thought ( :imo: )
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by MattA »

I really like the juxtaposition of a rugged trunk with traditional pots and my personal choice would be either of these 2, leaning heavily towards the one on the right. Elsewhere a friend suggested a slab with the tree growing amongst chunks of similar iron stone, its a visual I like but this tree is thirsty (the only tree in my entire collection to live in a water tray & does so all year round)
pots.jpg
Beside being far too small for horticultural needs I prefer keeping the Mudlark & stone as a union for enjoying at my desk. :tu2:
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by MattA »

I ended up adding 3 more pots to the selection, all very different but I could see all fitting in there own way. After assessing the foliage today I decided to throw caution to the wind & repot. The pot was a tight mass of fine feeder root, after tidying up this is what I have ready to repot.
mayroot.jpg
To help with the decision making I tried the tree in each pot and could see it working equally so that didnt help... then filled the old pot with soil & compared its volume to the others, the variance was only slight & my original choice holds the same as the last pot so I took it as a sign. It works well from both sides so I am even happier.
mayfronta.jpg
mayfrontb.jpg
mayleft.jpg
mayright.jpg
mayoh.jpg
size.jpg
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by bodhidharma »

I like the right hand tree a lot but i think the left hand tree is too straight in the bottom and then the sharp turn, and also the top is very straight. it seems the trees are not complimenting each other. What are the chances of adding some movement to the left hand tree or is it to brittle :?:
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Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by Jasonb »

How convinced are you on that front? Or are you just getting on attuned to that pot size first?
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by MattA »

Bodhi, thanks for your input, I am guessing your using the first pic as front. I very nearly split the 2 due to their differing natures but can't bring myself to do it, the contrast somehow works in person :lost: The older wood is very brittle & hard but with controlled cracking movement is achievable, not sure where I could put any to make them work better together in the lower half, the upper half will be easier dealt with once its strong again.

Jason, the new pot holds the same amount of soil as the old so no issues there. I am not sure which front you are refering to as both work well for me.
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Re: Ideas for a Leptospermum

Post by Biofusion »

ive seen this tree in person, matt is right, somehow it just works in the bark, to be honest, these picture in NO way, do this tree any favours, it somehow is just a great tree. we sat around it, 4 of us, looking for a few minutes in silence, just trying to work it out, its a very though provoking tree, and in the end, i think this tree achieves that label of "a tree that bends the rules" very, very well.

i can wait to see those pads fully developed.
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