Craig Ws Banksia integrifolia at the NBPCA

[PeterH]

I was at the NBPCA display recently and was very impressed with this tree. It was obviously created by a man with sole and a great sense of art.


Peter

[craigw60]

Hi Grant,
Yes I an died about 5 years ago and just to correct lindsay I spend many hours in his backyard in Miles st richmond and it was a north facing garden bathed in sunlight. Yes we seem to have lost a great pool of knowledge with the passing of some of our older growers. Jack Tripovitch is another great Victorian grower who would be well worth researching, he spent a lot of time working with Ted and did a great deal of the early work on the old angophora.

[NBPCA]

Hi Grant,
Yes I an died about 5 years ago and just to correct lindsay I spend many hours in his backyard in Miles st richmond and it was a north facing garden bathed in sunlight. Yes we seem to have lost a great pool of knowledge with the passing of some of our older growers. Jack Tripovitch is another great Victorian grower who would be well worth researching, he spent a lot of time working with Ted and did a great deal of the early work on the old angophora.

Once again thanks for the information and the loan of your two trees. Is there anyway you could get a year of birth and death?

When people new to bonsai come to the collection they commonly say they didn't know you could do bonsai with natives and your trees are a great example of native bonsai

We currently have on display
2 Banksia serrata
1 Banksia intefgrifolia
1 Banksia aemula
1 Callistemon
1 Melaleuca
1 Melaleuca group
1 Ficus rubiginosa
1 Angophora costata
1 Acacia howittii

10 out of 32 trees.

Grant Bowie

[lindsay farr]

Thanks for that clarification Craig.
Ian's lifelong friend and Richmond neighbor, The late Geofrey Goldie told me of how Ian would move the trees around to catch the sun. It was probably facing them to the west late in the day. I also have a pic of a portrait of Ian Edwards by Goldie.
When I locate it I will post.
I remember this tree from my visit to you some years ago.
Delightful.
Cheers
Lindsay

[craigw60]

Hi Lindsay,
Ian took me to visit Geof Goldie a couple of times he lved just around the corner from Ian, he was related to the artist who did those wonderful portrates of the Maori nobility he had a small Goldie on his wall. Geof and Ian were very close friends I am sure Geof would have been very familiar with Ians habits.

[pasquale]

Grant and Craig, thanks for sharing this great tree. 35 years as a bonsai doesn't sound like much compared to Japanese trees but it must put this one well into senior class in terms of Aus natives. Are there older natives in the NBPCA?

just need to convince the right person about changing the pot!

Out of interest, what shape pot would people suggest? The wide basal flare is such a dominant feature it seems to limit the options for pot choice.

[Ash]

I would just like to ask a question about the beautiful broad base of Craig's Banksia integrifolia: Is this superb example the result of cultivation of a seedling or a cutting?

The tropical northern type of Banksia integrifolia were I come from is now called Banksia aquilona and it is a tall and spindly tree with very large leaves compared to nursery stock of the form like Craigs tree. The nursery stock of the superb southern type available up here all appear to be cuttings (!), and in the very limited experience I have had with them growing in the ground they are not developing a swollen base like a Banksiashould. I have had no problems developing a thick base on seedling grown Banksia dentata , Banksia plagiocarpa and Banksia roburbut these species have leaves that are really too large for bonsai.

If a seedling grown plant is the way to go does anyone offer established seedling grown plants as pre-bonsai?

cheers
Ash

[craigw60]

Hi Ash,
Ian found this tree in a nursery as a neglected plant. He cut the tree off at the level of the first branch and took one branch down and the other was grown into the crown. When I first saw Ians banksia I went on the hunt to find one for myself to copy Ians tree with, and eventually picked one up in one of those sand and soil yards. I have now been growing this tree for nearly 20 years and the root base is just beginning to flare out. How long have you been growing your banksias and what root pruning technique do you use ?. It is important to clean out all the roots heading straight down under the tree so the growth is all coming in on a radial around the trunk. This will cause the base of the trunk to swell out.It is also important to feed your banksia regularly as they are hungry beasts.
Regards from Craig

[craigw60]

Hi Pasquale,
When I fisrt got the banksia it was in an oval pot glazed in an aqua-marine blue and it looked really good the blue colour blended with the pink tips of the new growth nicely. However the tree outgrew this pot and I moved it into the biggest pot I had in the shed. The pot it is in was given to me by Ian to put a wisteria in.When I do put it in another pot I suspect I will go for something similar to its original pot.I really like to put my natives in glazed pots because they have such a lovely colour range in both bark and foliage.
Regards from Craig

[Steven]

It is also important to feed your banksia regularly as they are hungry beasts.

G'day Craig,

Can you please elaborate on your feeding? i.e. frequency, dilution and type used.

Thanks in advance,
Steven

[Ash]

Thanks for the advice Craig- it is a grow technique that has worked!
cheers Ash

[NBPCA]

Grant and Craig, thanks for sharing this great tree. 35 years as a bonsai doesn't sound like much compared to Japanese trees but it must put this one well into senior class in terms of Aus natives. Are there older natives in the NBPCA?

just need to convince the right person about changing the pot!

Out of interest, what shape pot would people suggest? The wide basal flare is such a dominant feature it seems to limit the options for pot choice.

Sorry everyone its been really busy this morning.

Re age of the bonsai in the collection.

There are trees up to about 60 years in the collection. The oldest native is Teds Angophora, the next oldest would be probably Pups Melaleuca and Callistemon and the two Banksia of Craig.

I can't see any reason why even plants like Acacia won't live a long time if not indefinately

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

In my private capacity I will talk about Banksia integrifolia.

I probably grew about 10,000 Banksia integrifolia from seed over a period of 15 years after I discovered they made great bonsai. However all the ones I grew from seed had a smoother trunk and never corked or flared as much as one other. I originally purchased 4 banksia but one was a little different.

B integrifolia var integrifolia with smooth bark below

B integrifolia in new pot Feb 2009.jpg

However the other one that I bought that had a flared base and corky bark. After some research I believe it may be a variety.

B integrifolia var compar below.

B integrifolia var compar.Feb 2009.jpg

The trees are essentially the same age but there is noticeable difference between them and I have since always grown the B i compar from cutting and it of course produces clones of my Banksia.

It may not be perfectly visible in the photos but it is certainly noticeable up close.

Grant Bowie

[craigw60]

Feeding Banksia
The poor victorian growers will be very sick of hearing me going on another tirade about feeding so they are excused from reading this.
I love seasol and feed my trees with it once a week 1 and 1/2 caps in a 9 ltr watering can both roots and foliage. The thing with liquid feeding is that it only produces a short flush of growth so you need use it on a regular basis for good results. I also use some b&b about 6tsp in small piles around the edge of the pot.
The thing about feeding is that you also need to pinch a lot as the trees will grow. Banksia will produce long internodes very quickly if you don't pinch them out while the shoots are still very young.

[Grant Bowie]

Feeding Banksia
The poor victorian growers will be very sick of hearing me going on another tirade about feeding so they are excused from reading this.
I love seasol and feed my trees with it once a week 1 and 1/2 caps in a 9 ltr watering can both roots and foliage. The thing with liquid feeding is that it only produces a short flush of growth so you need use it on a regular basis for good results. I also use some b&b about 6tsp in small piles around the edge of the pot.
The thing about feeding is that you also need to pinch a lot as the trees will grow. Banksia will produce long internodes very quickly if you don't pinch them out while the shoots are still very young.

SHOCK and HORROR CRAIG!!

There are some people out there who are convinced for some reasopn that Seasol kills Banksia. Lucky we didn't know that or we would have some dead trees!
I think you would have to beat a banksia to death with a large barrell of Seasol to kill them. I have found them pretty tough once you know what you are doing.

I humbly beg your opinion on Banksia and Seasol.

Grant (private person speaking) Bowie