AusBonsai

Hi all,
Thought I would share this project. I will be using this at the School of Bonsai when classes start again next month.

HISTORY

• NAME: Banksia Serrata Cape York Dwarf
  PURCHASED: I bought this from Ray Nesci about four years ago. It was a stick in a pot for about $12.
  GROW POSITION: I removed it from the pot to a colander and placed it on the ground. It was in sun most of the day.
  PROPAGATION: I think Ray Nesci is the only one selling these trees. He found the secret of how to propagate from cuttings.
  ON THE GROUND: The tree would have been growing on the ground for 3 to 4 years. It is over 2 metres tall with a base about 10cm diameter.

I intend to use this at the School of Bonsai as a demonstration. Yesterday I thought I better lift it and have a look at the roots. At first I couldn't move it, so the shovel came out and I shovelled down and cut some of the big roots.
I intend to put the tree in a water tray until I take it to the school. To allow the tree to sit flat and the roots to be in the water I removed the thick roots.
I'll add more photos after it has been attacked.

Regards Ray

Will you use the roots as root cuttings?

Are you sure it is 'Cape York' dwarf? As in 'Cape York Queensland'? We don't have any records of Banksia serrata from up this way. Maybe another Cape York. Either way it looks like superb material to work with. Cheers Ash

Correct; there is no such thing.

There is a Green Cape dwarf Banksia serrata from near Eden in Southern coastal NSW. Banksia serrata just does not grow as far north as Cape York.

Grant

Isitangus wrote:Will you use the roots as root cuttings?

Hi Isitangus,
Yes, I will give the roots a go and see if they will strike.

Regards Ray

Ash wrote:Are you sure it is 'Cape York' dwarf? As in 'Cape York Queensland'? We don't have any records of Banksia serrata from up this way. Maybe another Cape York. Either way it looks like superb material to work with. Cheers Ash

Hi Ash,
I double checked with Ray yesterday before posting. This is the name he gave me for the tree. I will check with him some more about the history of this species and let you know.

Regards Ray

Hi Ash,
I have had a talk with Ray concerning the history of this tree. He obtained these trees about 25 years ago at a Trade Day show. They came from a nursery at Yellow Rock up in the Blue Mountains. He never really questioned the owner about the name. As I was speaking with him he mentioned, he wish he had pursued this further. Unfortunately the gentleman who owned the nursery has since pass away. The nursery was destroyed by bush fire. Ray is not aware of any other place you can obtain these trees. He still continues to call them by this name.

Regards Ray

Thanks Ray

I look forward to seeing the progression of this tree. Particularly for the photos too. They give a good record of how trees can be grown on quite quickly in the ground. As a matter of interest, how far into the ground did you plant the colander or did you just let it sit on the surface and the roots made their way down ?

cheers

Stew

Nice piece of material you have there Ray. I was wondering, what is the reason behind the water tray. I can see it is a method you use quite a bit, and I am curious to know why and what the benefits are. Thanks.

I think there may be some confusion with the name. It is most likely sourced from Mount York in the Blue Mountains.

Wimmy

Stewart_Toowoomba wrote:Thanks Ray

I look forward to seeing the progression of this tree. Particularly for the photos too. They give a good record of how trees can be grown on quite quickly in the ground. As a matter of interest, how far into the ground did you plant the colander or did you just let it sit on the surface and the roots made their way down ?

cheers

Stew

Hi Stew,
This one was just sat on top of the ground.

Regards Ray

Raymond wrote:Nice piece of material you have there Ray. I was wondering, what is the reason behind the water tray. I can see it is a method you use quite a bit, and I am curious to know why and what the benefits are. Thanks.

Hi Raymond,
Australian natives love lots of water. All my natives will be in water trays through summer. They will usually drink a full tray a day. As winter approaches I will check how much they are drinking and if they slow right down I will lift them out of the trays.

Regards Ray

Hi all,
Second chapter. This is what the tree looks like now.

I took it to the school today to do the demonstration. Last night I had to reduce the height so I could get it into the car. So, from over 2 metres I cut it back to 1.5 metres. This allowed me to lay it down in the back of the wagon.
When I brought it home from the school I did a little more pruning. It's now about 850mm from the soil to the top. You will notice there are still a few long branches left. As I mentioned before, Ray developed a successful way to grow cuttings, but he has never tried to do any air layers, so I have left some longer branches and will layers these when the weather warms up again.

You will notice it has been put into another colander. With the amount of work done on the tree I didn't want to disturb the root ball close to the trunk. I will wait until there is new growth and remove the tree from the lager colander and cut the roots back. This will most probably be done several times until I can see the tree will survive with what's in the original colander. I will then start reducing the roots from the original colander.
The following photo is a comparison of the size tree this one was grown from.
Regards Ray

Hi all,
Just an update on this Banksia. The foliage has come back very nicely. The tree is going for a road trip tomorrow, up to the Central Coast. I am doing a demonstration/workshop and I am going to put several layers on this tree to see how it responds. I haven't done this particular species of Banksia before. Ray Nesci is also very interested to see how the layers will go. After doing the layers I intend to reduce the tree to an appropriate height to start developing it into a bonsai.
Regards Ray

I did a layer on a banksia marginata, (mini Marge) earlier this year during the growing season. It produced a lot of roots in 10 short weeks and has not missed a beat since being severed