AusBonsai

Hi all,

This is my Callistemon Macarthur, which is a cross between the Captain Cook and Little John. I came across it being neglected at the local nursery in March 16 and the lovely lady let me have it for nothing.



This has been such a good tree to learn with, very forgiving and back buds and shoots easily. Here's what it looks like today, with its first bunch or flowers ready to open soon.




Once it has finished flowering, do I keep the bottom growth, or keep some them to develop into branches?


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Lower branches on the left appear to be too close to the branches above so get rid of those to leave some space.
Lower branches on the right could be developed into branching on that side if you want something to fill that space but the tree will also look good with the higher canopy.

There is no one right answer to styling a bonsai. You are the boss of this tree. You need to make the decisions. Whichever way you decide it will be a good tree.

Thanks shibui! I think I'm leaning towards getting rid of them rather than making something off them. Was just keen to hear others thoughts


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First flowers









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This year's spring flowers

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After flower haircut and repot.

Pot from Luke @ Adelaide Bonsai Pottery

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Hi Kelvin8r,

What a ripper thread. It just goes to show that even discarded stock can be a great way to learn - and more importantly- I reckon you’re on the way to a lovely tree. Great that it flowered so profusely. Top pot too!

Cheers,

Mark

PS - Surely with your AusBonsai name above - you’re nickname must be ’fridgeman’ or something similar.


Bonsai teaches me patience.

I agree with Mark in that this has been a very interesting thread.
Good to see your bonsai flower so well and the new pot is a winner.
A progression update each year for the next 10 years please mate!

Nice progression Kelvin8r, I think the new pot style and colour, and the new planting angle takes it up a notch.
New pot may be a bit too large maybe, but you are in Pt Hedland so I get the weather is slightly hotter and a bit drier than Melbourne...
Good job so far!

Great post thank you for sharing. Love the new pot. due to flower size you may need to allow it to get a bit bigger/taller to balance the flower display . Still a really nice tree.
Cheers
Kirky

KIRKY wrote: due to flower size you may need to allow it to get a bit bigger/taller to balance the flower display . Still a really nice tree.
Cheers
Kirky

Nice flowering plant Kelvin8r & I agree with Kirky here, however I do not have this problem as I must own the "super rare" non-flowering type! .
MINE NEVER PUTS ON A FLOWER SHOW..... AARRGHHH!!!

MINE NEVER PUTS ON A FLOWER SHOW..... AARRGHHH!!!

KCAR stop pruning it...

Good job Kelvin8r!

Kelvin8r wrote:After flower haircut and repot.

Hi Kelvin.

Your tree is quite good but it has a couple of problems if we attend to the rules of bonsai: the situation of the branches is not adequate.

1) ichi (ichi-no-eda, first branch) must be the lowest and biggest one.
2) ni (ni-no-eda, second branch) must be opposite to ichi.
3) triangulation must be respected in front, rear, side.
4) you may need a branch in the rear and a branch in the front.
5) because so many branches growing at same level, the conicity is inverted (trunk is wider on top than on food).
6) branches must grow in the exterior of the curves, never interior.

I suggest doing like this. I'm not a guru, of course. This is what I would do with my tree..

A) To arrange conicity, I will let to grow the most possible branches at the bottom of the tree. Only purpose is making trunk wider at the nebari. This branches will be sacrificated and cut when trunk gets ideal shape, so they will be not in next graphics to simplify.



B) cut all market branches.
C) move BACK BRANCH to the rear.

Here a graphic where you can see which branches to cut and which ones to move.



D) I will torsionate main trunk down to reduce the distance between pot and ichi. I will grow a frontal branch just after rear one (market with slashes).



Finally result from the top.



Again, this is MY feeling. You must do as you like the most.

Regards!



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Thanks everyone for the detailed comments send feedback. I'll be sure to keep you all updated on where this tree ends up

Tree is definitely currently too small for the pot, but it's the first decent pot of brought, so just wanted something in it haha.

Also forgot to mention this tree needs some more wiring. I've recently just moved house and can't remember where I packed my wire haha

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