AusBonsai

After being inspired by Jow's post "How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries, I tried the technique tonight on a little Casuarina to see what will happen.

The tree is about 12 month old, was approximately 300mm tall and pencil thickness. It has some weird angles on the lower trunk and I was just fattening it up ready for a trunk chop. These weird angles made it perfect to attempt some extreme bending.
This whole project only took about 10 minutes including taking the photos! Following Jow (and others) tips made it very easy to do and the technique is proven (in Japan) to achieve good results in a few years.
Why not have a go yourself?
Grab a range of different tube stock and bend-em into crazy shapes. In a couple of years you will have some great stock to play around with!

Regards,
Steven

That's some nice twisting, should look great with time. I have a one of these it's a 2 yr old, but I think it should still be a good candidate for some funky twists

Few hundred more should do it Steven. I guess I will have to do my own

Nice one Mr Aus!

Given the 'segmented' growth most Casuarinas, I am rather surprised that you did not end up snapping your twig at all. Looks like you came close at one point...
Is this specimen one that is likely to develop deeply fissured bark? Either way, the fast growth and infinitely reducible 'foliage' of She-Oaks generally should give you a great little tree in next to no time!

Thanks.

Fly.

good on ya steven and that is the start of a possibly great native bonsai!!!

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

FlyBri wrote:I am rather surprised that you did not end up snapping your twig at all. Looks like you came close at one point...

Yes, and thanks for pointing out my shortcomings mate There is always someone ready to rub your face in it I guess that's what you get for wiring a 3.5mm section of branch with 3.0mm wire!
Yes, it will have deep fissured bark and should double or triple in thickness over the next year. It was grown from seeds collected from Casuarina growing on my property.

Regards,
Steven

Great start!
Keep us posted.
Jerry

AusBonsai wrote:

FlyBri wrote:I am rather surprised that you did not end up snapping your twig at all. Looks like you came close at one point...

Yes, and thanks for pointing out my shortcomings mate There is always someone ready to rub your face in it

Gday Steven!

Not pointing out your shortcomings so much as I am indicating one of the limitations of the trees in this genus. In my limited experience, it appears that it is nigh on impossible to make extreme bends in She-Oaks without the risk of snapping at some point or other, whether raffia/protective tape is used or not. Of course we know that She-Oaks backbud virtually everywhere, so a busted branchlet or leader here and there shouldn't be too much of an issue.

I think you've done a marvelous job to have only nearly snapped it once!

Thanks again!

Fly.

Great job Steven!

Since you've some experience with Casuarinas can I ask you when the best time is to lift one from the ground in your opinion? The tree in question is an Allocasuarina Torulosa which makes it a bit harder than the Cunninghamiana I've read. A friend of mine has bought a house with several of these at a nice size that he doesn't want, and I'm happy to relieve him of a few.

Hi Steven,
I would be very interested to know how the Casuarina responded to this treatment, a couple of years on. I've got a bunch of new seedlings, so I'm keen to give a twisted mini a go. Would be great to know how it is doing, and any additional tips you may have learnt.
Thanks mate

(edit: phrasing)

This should be a boost to Craig and his Shohin bunjin on viewtopic.php?f=56&t=9614
Good luck to all the twisters and benders!

Lisa

Nice bump Pat, I would be keen to see how this went aswell please Steven.
Cheers Lisa for thinking of me, i have been twisting some radiata ,squamata and shimpaku so i'm keen to know how everyone's twisting is going, some people did some last spring if i remember correctly,.

Hi All,
I was one of many who went out twisting. These were bent and wired out in jan 2011. They have been sitting in a container and bottom fed like crazy all year round. As you can see the roots are getting a bit out of hand ,time for a re-pot and some more wire work.I still do not know if these are Swamp or River She-Oaks?
Cheers John.

Thanks John, they look great,good work mate ,cheers.

Thanks for sharing John, good to know they can handle some serious twisting. They're looking pretty good, nice work, should fill in nicely when they fatten a bit more.