Araucaria bidwillii

[MattA]

Hey Roger,

Despite the spikey nature I love them, the fun is to see how few times I can be spiked when I want to do any work. They really aren't that bad until the prunings dry OUCH (Note to self, do not leave prunings in the garden).

Having only seen a few as bonsai & all grown in a naturalistic style, once you leave the box, its open slather as to where you can take them. Pruning is something that I am still trying to work out, learning to read the growth is key in any tree & no different with these. Repotting is another issue that will take a bit to work out, my only experience was doing the group planting in January, they handled it fairly well. This little fella will have to survive digging in a few years time, by then I may have redone the group & have a better idea what I am doing.

I would love to see some pics of Mary's cunninghamiana & particularly keen hear the routine she had developed for it.

Matt

[EdwardH]

A mate of mine grew one from seed for close to 20 years. He trained his like an informal pine. It looked great. Those leaves however are deadly. He found that they handled all the basics like any other tree. He didn't bare root though. He offered the tree to me when he stopped doing bonsai but I knocked it back at the time

[MattA]

Hey Edward,

Like your mate, everything I have tried with mine is handled no problem. The next thing to try is how they handle growing below the horizontal. I bare rooted the trees in my group, reducing the roots by well over 75%, they took a while to re-establish but otherwise no worries.

Shame you didnt take the tree, I would have loved to see a pic & hear your own experiences with it. I equate the leaves with working on a needle juniper or pine, infact compared to the juni i will take a bunya anyday

Matt

[Roger]

I was afraid someone would ask and I'd have to go looking!

here is one from 2007.

[Roger]

Matt
I don't have the details of Mary's methods, but maybe Grant may have them.

[MattA]

Mary's Aruacaria cunninghamiana

From the roots to the 'multi trunk' habit work to really show off a truly great bonsai. I have seen old bunya with this habit, cut down or die back they always push up again. Branches are expendable & replaceable, trunks stand true. Can we push this to our advantage like we have learnt to do with other species 'habits'....

I would very much appreciate any information Grant may have on its care while at the collection, any extra history would be even better.
(See what happens... its the photo all over again)

Contemplating the job of trying to wire one of those new 'trunks' on my baby. I dont mind the odd spike while pruning but that is a whole other level of torture.

[Roger]

Matt
While working on some 'ugly' araucarias at the National Collection, I found that very thick leather gloves were a help. Also, if you wire rather loosely, you avoid having to grasp the trunk/branch tightly.

Also, a thought is that one of the 'natural' features of these species is that the trunks are very, very straight. Wavy sine waves of informal uprights don't figure in the language of these species, so you might be able to give that kind of styling idea a long holiday and forget it. Gentle wiring to encourage a new leader into an upright alignment quicker than might other happen would help, but otherwise you can just leave it to grow straight.

Cheers
Roger

[MattA]

Big welders gloves that come up to your elbows & still trying to avoid touching the tree too much

Sine wave trees don't do it for me regardless of species, except for contorted willow I don't know any that make regular curves like that. Wiring the new grow upright isn't needed due to its strong natural form, but, if some of those 'uprights' became the primary line of a branch.....

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all,

I was in Sydney today but will be back in the collection on Sunday. New Years and Christmas shifts are all over the place.

Mary did a newsletter article where she trimmed off all foliage and I think rootpruned/repotted drastically the tree.

I will dig up the article info when Iam back at the office.

Grant

[NBPCA]

Old Prickly is the nick name of this tree by its owner.

Hoop Pine - MW - 2009-5-6.jpg

This photo was winter 2009.

It turned out to be a vigorous grower that we became more adventurous with as to how much or hard it could be trimmed back. It budded back quite freely which meant we could have gone in harder.

After 1 year on display it went home and Mary took off 95% of the foliage and regrew from hardly anything.

It was very spiky to handle and we all wore gloves when handling it.

It was very popular with both the public and bonsai volunteers.

grant

[NBPCA]

PS, Mary has had the Araucaria since 1966

[MattA]

Hey Grant,

"Old Prickly "
I have only ever come across a few very young Huon pines & found the foliage quite soft, from its nickname & the fact you all wore gloves I guess it must get harden & sharper as they mature.

From my observations with the Bunya's they too bud freely & grow strongly but I am yet to master the timing needed to get the best out of them.

If possible to find out, I would be very interested to know Mary's timing for major works (repotting, major pruning etc) also feeding & any other tips she might have that could be transposed over to my Bunya's.

Matt

[NBPCA]

Hi all,

I have just received a few photos and info on the Araucaria from Mary so I will do a separate thread on that tree.

Grant

[MattA]

The group planting has loved the wet summer here, so much so in late december I gave the apex of all the trees a light trim to try & push some more energy back down to the lower branches. The conjoined pair on the left have started to really fill out, the two smaller trees at rear & right are also starting to get some real vigour, while the central tree lags behind but its getting there.

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[bodhidharma]

That is starting to come together Matt. Although..i cringe at having to prune one, let alone a group. It would look good styled like the Chaemycyparis group i put up here. Oh, by the way, not sleeping mate.