Casuarina ?

[MJL]

Hi can anyone help with an ID of this type of casuarina please. I purchased seedlings in Geelong in late 2016.

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I am not really sure how to cut them back. When I reduce height- new shoots sprout at rather aggressive angles near the cut ... on that note, how low can I go when reducing the height of the trunks? And if I go low- won’t it look odd when new growth sprouts at weird angles?

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Bonsai teaches me patience.

[Raging Bull]

Hi MJL,

"new shoots sprout at rather aggressive angles near the cut ... on that note, how low can I go when reducing the height of the trunks? And if I go low- won’t it look odd when new growth sprouts at weird angles?"

Those shoots are all actually branches, so you can pick which ones you want to keep and remove the ones you don't. They stay quite flexible for some time, so as soon as they have gained a bit of girth but are still green and flexible wire them into position. After trunk chopping I would leave all those shoots for a while until the tree has settled down and recovered, then start removing some unwanted shoots. Sorry, can't help you with the ID of your Casuarinas. I have several that I've dug, but like you I don't know what type they are. I've tried counting the leaves, which are the tiny pointed bits at the end of every segment, but even with a strong magnifying glass I haven't been able to . If you can count the leaves on yours you can then Google the ID, and the number of leaves gives a good idea as to the ID of your casuarina.
Cheers, Frank.

[Rory]

Hi MJL,

It’s so hard to identify casuarina without a cross section of the leaves at a join.
If you are determined, you’ll need a magnifying glass and count the leaves at the join. Then google it.

Otherwise just from visually looking at your material, from my experience it is similar to Allocasuarina littoralis.

You will find that over the years they’ll shoot tandonmly from all over.
Casuarina always have random branches so don’t sweat it.
When the growth is a new shoot, you can just anchor the branches upwards and easily get upward growth.
This casuarina regardless of formal identification will develop thick rugged bark over time, so the sideways shoots will eventually be enveloped by the entire design I’d you bend upmow. I usually bend them sooner than in your photo, but casuarina will present endless options to you over time.

Have fun.

[MJL]

Hi All,

Can I repot these Casuarinas at this time of the year? All seem pretty healthy and thought I might take the opportunity to report them if I can find the time in the next week or so.

Cheers in advance.

Mark

[Ryceman3]

Yep, you can repot now for sure. If I was going to have a stab at ID I’d go with Littoralis too. I know they grow pretty abundantly on the Bellarine near Geelong and I have picked up seedlings from down that way myself a few years back. Very easy to look after and they make good bonsai!

[Rory]

Hi All,

Can I repot these Casuarinas at this time of the year? All seem pretty healthy and thought I might take the opportunity to report them if I can find the time in the next week or so.

Cheers in advance.

Mark

Hi Mark,

If you do it now, KEEP THE WATER UP.
Looks like Its going to be a hot xmas, so make sure you keep the water up to them until they recover and put out new growth. Don't keep the soil permanently damp, but just don't let the soil get quite dry.

And with casuarina after a root prune and repot, I usually wouldn't cut back new growth for at least 2 seasons or more preferably.

[MJL]

Thanks Rory and R3.

So .... perhaps I would be better to cut back growth now and repot in Autumn or Spring. Just thinking that if I can’t cut back for two years - perhaps better to push growth back down the trees now?

And could I cut back to here....

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Bonsai teaches me patience.

[Rory]

Thanks Rory and R3.

So .... perhaps I would be better to cut back growth now and repot in Autumn or Spring.

Oh sorry, I may not have explained myself properly, now is a great time to repot. Just don't let the soil dry out is all I'm saying.

[MJL]

Hi Rory,

No need for you to say sorry! I am the daft one! Just to check - if I decide too... can I cut back to the red marks in the photo's above to shorten the trunks?

I will re-pot today.

Cheers,

Mark

[Rory]

Hi MJL,

Yes, you can cut now and repot. Personally I now prefer to leave foliage on nearly all trees after a repot. But with material this young, as long as you don't have root problems and are using good drainage, then it should shoot back anywhere. Though I remember in my trials about 5 years ago of littoralis, I did occasionally lose a few seedlings from cutting off too much root.
The most important thing with Casuarina is to allow the new growth full sun. If the new shoots don't get sun, they will get weak sooner than old hardened growth.

[MJL]

Thanks Rory! Watch the progression series shortly. Hopefully you don’t roll your eyes and say “What was he thinking!”


Bonsai teaches me patience.