Opinions on Banksia please :-)

[deejay335]

Hi all, I have had this banksia for a few years now - got it at the local nursery cheap because it was a weird shape which suited me. This year I trimmed a few limbs back to go for a cascade type - my query is whether I should remove the small branch/leaves in the upper section to make it a single branch with foliage at the extreme end, or does the foliage up the top section break it up a little? I am very new to styling and (according to my wife ) I have no sense of style, fashion, art or flare of any type (I have worked in a uniform all my life to save having to choose clothes to wear to work) so I am wide open to all suggestions.

Also you will notice on the trunk (especially evident in the photo with the foliage pointing to the right side of the screen) a few decent vertical splits. I have had this happen to banksias before, prior to them dying. I am open to any ideas and suggestions on that as well; I have separated my banksias out and am giving them less water at the moment as my guess is they are getting too wet?

All comments and suggestions gratefully accepted and will be read!

[Peterji]

Hard to believe you have no sense of style. This is masterful. The splitting of the trunk is a normal feature of healthy Banksias, not necessarily a sign of disease or decline.

[GavinG]

You have enough flair to see the energy in this, and enjoy it - good find. I would definitely keep both masses of leaves. The downwards part of the trunk is relatively straight - maybe consider wiring it and putting one or two strong angles in it (no more) to match the sharp top angle. Search on this site for "banksia" if you are uncertain about what mix to use, how much to water, and how to fertilise.

Gavin

[shibui]

Deejay, I think the cracks in the trunk are normal growing cracks (as the wood thickens the bark needs to expand to accommodate it).Banksias can die for a number of reasons. just because you notice 2 things does not mean one caused the other. All my banksias get the same water as all the other plants but my potting mix is suited to regular watering. Everyone needs to tailor watering and fertilising to their own microclimate, location, potting mix and conditions.
if you remove the small branch in the upper part the tree will be too sparse but design is up to the designer so you need to make your own decision.

[kcpoole]

My vote to keep the upper foliage, and Gavins suggestion of a sharp bend or to below it works for me.

Ken

[deejay335]

Hi all. I was intending to place this banksia in our club show next month. I took it to last months meeting, which was to get plants looked at and ready for the show. It was also for a critique session on these plants and others to be done by the 'bonsai masters' of the club. I eagerly waited for my plant to be appraised, hoping for some pearls of wisdom regarding future development. When the very elderly gentleman was presented with mine he silently spent a minute or two looking at it, then made the hand gestures of throwing it into the bin and wiping his hands, with a smirk on his face. Needless to say I was absolutely gutted, and very dispirited for a while. After the meeting I had a chat with a couple of the more supportive members I am starting to know which did a lot for me (some are on this forum - thanks guys! ).

Two things come from this - I was amazed how devastating I found that simple brush off to my self esteem. I am a 55 year old emergency services worker with what is usually a constitution of bluestone and steel. I think because this was while I was in 'recreation mode' that it slipped past my defences. The point of this ramble is that if you are part of a club, or if someone approaches you for opinions on their work be constructive, be helpful, be supportive. It may have been decades ago, but we were all beginners once. I find it hard to believe that there is not at least some small positive that can't be found in any plant that an enthusiast has spent time on; in my case about 4 years or so with this one. I am not exhibiting this year, hopefully next year I will be up for it.

Second. I took a look at the plant when I got home and looked back at some of the comments made on this original post and that made me feel better as well. As a result I have repotted and tried a different pot and layout. It will remain this way for at least a year, but I am interested in comments as to whether this has improved or diminished the look of the plant. I apologise for the movement in the leaves of the tree, but we are currently experiencing gale force winds in Sth Gippsland and I was lucky to not get blown off the deck, as you can see the open spaces south of me in one of the pics and the next stop is Bass Strait!!!

[Gerard]

Looks to be a coastal banksia (b.integrifolia), I avoid doing much work on them in winter. Wait for it to show signs of new growth, which might be mid November. Then pruning and re-potting are usually rewarded with lots of new shoots.
I would like to see a bend between the two foliage pads but perhaps this section is now too thick to bend. Perhaps cut back to the first pad where it appears to have 3 branches coming from one spot (this will likely result in some ugly thickening at this point)
My strategy would be to attempt a bend slowly perhaps over a few months. If this fails plan B would be to cut back to the junction.
You can wire and bend at this time of year but avoid pruning and potting.

[deejay335]

Thanks Gerard. When you suggest a bend (which may be tough but I'll give it a go) do you mean an upward bend to give another dimension?

[kcpoole]

sorry to hear the bad response Deejay.
just goes to show a good teacher / mentor is hard to find. invariably the best ones may not be the pinnacle of the art ( whatever it is) but will have great people skills instead.

now back to your tree. Almost literati like and now i would get real creative / ambitious with it.
Wrap with Raffia and wire and see how for it can be bent. My experience is that smaller wood can bend quite a lot with support but have not tried anything too radical. I think it will be weak and prone to crack where old junctions are, so may be able to use that to replicate the first sharp bend you have.

my Virt lost the first clump of shoots but I would only remove any of them after you have confirmed the radical bends above are successful. And then you could lose them all but probably better to keep one as a back branch ( no more than 1 tho.

if you do attempt the bending, the please post so we call all see . If it fails, then you can cut back hard to the first set of shoots and work with them

Ken

[Josh]

Hi all. I was intending to place this banksia in our club show next month. I took it to last months meeting, which was to get plants looked at and ready for the show. It was also for a critique session on these plants and others to be done by the 'bonsai masters' of the club. I eagerly waited for my plant to be appraised, hoping for some pearls of wisdom regarding future development. When the very elderly gentleman was presented with mine he silently spent a minute or two looking at it, then made the hand gestures of throwing it into the bin and wiping his hands, with a smirk on his face. Needless to say I was absolutely gutted, and very dispirited for a while. After the meeting I had a chat with a couple of the more supportive members I am starting to know which did a lot for me (some are on this forum - thanks guys! ).
Thought I recognised this tree


Two things come from this - I was amazed how devastating I found that simple brush off to my self esteem. I am a 55 year old emergency services worker with what is usually a constitution of bluestone and steel. I think because this was while I was in 'recreation mode' that it slipped past my defences. The point of this ramble is that if you are part of a club, or if someone approaches you for opinions on their work be constructive, be helpful, be supportive. It may have been decades ago, but we were all beginners once. I find it hard to believe that there is not at least some small positive that can't be found in any plant that an enthusiast has spent time on; in my case about 4 years or so with this one. I am not exhibiting this year, hopefully next year I will be up for it.
I have to agree totaly, when I first starting looking for a club I attended a club for the first time and was a workshop. I watch as another new member presented his pride and joy (a stick in a pot). The person pulled two leaves off handed it back and said stick it in the ground and went onto the next tree. This person had no idea what he meant by stick it in the ground, aren't bonsai meant to go in a pot was his comment The look on his face told a sad story, yes, not all trees presented are the best but a few words of encouragement go a long way. I think some experienced people have forgotten once they knew nothing either.


Second. I took a look at the plant when I got home and looked back at some of the comments made on this original post and that made me feel better as well. As a result I have repotted and tried a different pot and layout. It will remain this way for at least a year, but I am interested in comments as to whether this has improved or diminished the look of the plant. I apologise for the movement in the leaves of the tree, but we are currently experiencing gale force winds in Sth Gippsland and I was lucky to not get blown off the deck, as you can see the open spaces south of me in one of the pics and the next stop is Bass Strait!!!

I think the new planting angle works well. If you can get some movement into the trunk between the two pads would be good, maybe drop the second pad down a little. Wire the branches out so they start to form the structure of your pads as well before they get to thick. Now all you need to do is prove him wrong and make something special out of it to show next year at the show Good on you for persevering

[Boics]

I'm positive that some good can be made out of this zany tree.

My thoughts are semi cascade.

Perhaps try and make an apex out of the 1st branch cluster (from the base).
Totally agree with Gerard that one should remove all the superfluous branches at this point.
Picking one as a new leader and working towards ramifying this with an upwards bias (foliage pointing left or right doesn't look natural).

From this point you could look to do similar with your 2nd cluster and end up with a lower tail/leader which could continue working lower with foliage clusters.

Keep us posted - I like the acute angles on this tree and find it interesting.

[GavinG]

Ken's idea is seriously crazy, but it might not be easy to get such acute bends. Like he said, wrap with raffia and see how far you can go. Have fun!

The "expert" may be better with trees than humans. It happens. Just move along, and learn where you can. I can't even keep the damn things alive, so you're ahead of me at least.

Gavin

[deejay335]

Thanks for the replies folks. I like the computer work ken has done on the pic and the idea is good. I will chase up one of the older members at the club who mentioned something about 'working' the trunk by flexing it in all dimensions for a period of time before wiring - I think he said he had seen someone in a Geelong based club do it successfully, it was all about loosening the support structures at a cellular level making the trunk more flexible. Once I have found out a bit more about that concept I might give it a try as the trunk is pretty firm on this tree. Anyway, definitely inspired to try and will keep pics up.

[Mount Nasura]

This has been an interesting read, funny how much of ourselves we invest in these creations, which is why we can easily be deflated by negative feedback. I think you've got a superb little tree here, A modern literati? Is thats a contradiction…a modern bonsai? I would like to find out more about this movement prior to placement. It gets me thinking about repetitive movement of the section intended for a period of time sort of like building up flexibility or warming up, then setting the branch. great post.

[JaseH]

Hey Deejay, I was at that meeting and remember this tree. I also remember thinking it was a bit harsh of the 'expert' to dismiss it the way he did. Although a bit of a shame you didnt get any decent advice I wouldnt read too much into it. Some of the guys doing the critiquing were very good and helpful, I think you just got the wrong guy on the night! No doubt he knows his stuff and is very experienced - but I guess that doesnt always translate to being a good teacher/mentor and this material possibly wasn't his forte. If you had another guy on the night look at it I believe you would have got much more useful feedback.

I like some of the suggestions in this thread and look forward to seeing it develop!