Eucalypus Red Gum?

[irish]

Hi.

Well iam new to Bonsai, my wife gave me my first Bonsai as a Christmas present this year. (Chinese Elm) and after reading this great site, i have decided to start going hard on natives tree's, mainly native Eucalyptus. Now i have been a mad keen Murry Cod fisherman for over 30 years and have seen some amazing river red's in my time along with Gray Box, Yellow Box etc...

Now i have found a nursery only 100ks from my home that has natives i rang them and said do you have any River Red Gums, there response was, of course we do what type? (species) my reply was

What....tha

Well this is were i need some help. In my mind i know what i will create, time is on my side (old rolling stone song) so what species of native Eucalyptus do i need to work with.

My main desire is to create a River River Red Gum give or take 20 years

Any other native Eucalyptus... time for me to become Bonsai native carouser, in time

Regards.
Irish.

[Petra]

Hi Irish, and welcome.
Australian natives are easy to work with,as they have growth spirts every six weeks. They will keep you busy.As far as choosing goes get the ones you have in your local area to start with. You will enjoy working with them and then branch out to try other varieties nearer to your area. Have a peek at this great site bonsaisolutions.com.au Some good stuff there you'll love, with heaps of info such as, The importance of timing in bonsai. Please dont forget to get before and after shots, of your progress, to share with us all so we can see how ya go. cheers!

[kcpoole]

check out this thread from Fly about his River Red I am sure he mentiones what variety somewhere there

viewtopic.php?f=104&t=449&p=88283&hilit=red+gum#p88283

[FlyBri]

Now i have found a nursery only 100ks from my home that has natives i rang them and said do you have any River Red Gums, there response was, of course we do what type? (species) my reply was

What....tha

Well this is were i need some help. In my mind i know what i will create, time is on my side (old rolling stone song) so what species of native Eucalyptus do i need to work with.

My main desire is to create a River River Red Gum give or take 20 years

Any other native Eucalyptus... time for me to become Bonsai native carouser, in time

Gday Irish!

In my limited experience, River Red Gum refers to Eucalyptus camaldulensis, which is the Euc that I work with the most. I also have had some luck with Yellow Box (E.meliodora) and Wallangara White Gum (E. scoparia).

Let us know how you fare.

Thanks.

FlyBri.

[plantmanky]

Hi.

What....tha

My main desire is to create a River River Red Gum give or take 20 years

Regards.
Irish.

Hey Irish,

Or as we say in Kentucky HOWDY!!!!! I believe that your River Red Gum is Eucalyptus camaldulensis. Here is a link to an article on them that you might check out to see if that's right.

http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/CA256F310024B ... ed+Gum.pdf

Hope that helps,
Randy Davis
American but Aussie native fan

[RickE]

Hey Irish, good to meet you. Sounds like you and I share a similar interest as i recently joined this Community with the specific intention of learning how to create native bonsai from RiverReds. I have looked and marvelled time and time again through the threads already on this site, after which i am left wondering a few things which i hope someone could assist ( both me and Irish ) with??
Like Irish, I have access to both nursery stock Reds as well as some growing in the wild. I am left confused as to EXACTLY when to collect / defoliate /wire / repot. Please, could someone take the time to briefly outline a basic and simple guide as to the seasons/months in which to do the various stages of work?? Apologies too, to Irish, I was going to write this request today, but saw yours pop up and it seemed an ideal opportunity to get some help together!! Thanks to all, i really love this forum.

[shibui]

Rick, You may continue to be confused. Because few growers have been working with many natives for so few years, eucs included, there is little definitive information available. Hopefully some growers with a bit of experience can give you some ideas from their experience but do not be surprised if opinions vary according to which part of this huge country they live in.
Australian Plants as Bonsai Study group (APAB) have been trying to collect this sort of information for the past few years and sort out the sort of general guidelines you are after but in many cases the information is conflicting.
As Greth said previously, if you go ahead with growing eucs you will be a pioneer so please keep good records and photos and post your results to add to the meagre store of knowledge on growing natives as bonsai.

[irish]

Hi.

Thanks everyone for the reply's, greatly appreciated. I am going to the nursery this coming Saturday to have a look at what they have, spoke to the owner today and he stated that he has about 5 of each of the following in stock. Eucalyptus Camaldulensis (Red Gum) E. Meliodora (Yellow Box) E. Ssoparia (Wallangara White Gum).

Tried for E. Citriodora (Lemon Sented Gum) but in this region (Junee south west slopes NSW) the frost knocks them around a bit. Asked about Callitris Preissii (Native Pine) but had none in stock. So going to have a crack at Casuarina Glauca (She Oak)

All the plants are in 6 inch pots, price $5 each.

Regards.
Irish,

[irish]

Hi.

Forgot to mention Casuarina Cunninghamiana (River She Oak). Caught many Murry Cod from under these trees.

Regards.
Irish.

[Roger]

Hi Irish
Great to see another person heading into Aus native species as bonsai, or at least as miniature trees in pots! Your experiences from out at Junee will be extra valuable as there are not many records from that part of the country.

The advice already given will certainly get you started, and a good chance to get a bit of experience under your scissors. There is quite a lot of info on this site, so a bit of searching and you will get some of the basics to get you set up and going.

A note on C. glauca. It grows well as bonsai, though it is one of the 'coarser' species with respect to it green branches. When you get to fine tuning its styling, it may not be quite in the delicate or sophisticated class, but it will be full of character and give you room to experiment and be artistic rather than just a copier of someone else's style. The C. cunninghamiana is a great tree for bonsai culture. Remember to put whatever shape you want in the trunk and branches within the first year or so as the wood becomes very hard later and nearly impossible to bend. Both species shoot prolifically from old wood, including the whole length of the trunk even after many many years of life.

Eucs can be challenging. FlyBri's notes on this forum are 'gold'. Check them out. A general issue is that of forming primary branches. If you prune new growth often when the branch is young (less than 1 year and say 1-3 mm diameter) you may end up with the branch dieing and the tree shooting new ones somewhere else. If you shape a branch and let it grow for 1-3 years, you can then cut it back and will likely get new growth on that branch rather than losing the branch. Progressive clip and grow is a good way to go. Others may be able to fine-tune this observation of mine.

Cheers
Roger