OK, you got me!
Cheers
Elmar
Ok thanks. only ever wire the younger shoots before they lignify, Never had any go below the horizontal and so far no issuesGrant Bowie wrote:I just avoid using wire on Banksia; to try and get a more natural feel and look.kcpoole wrote:I agree that Banksia are awesome trees as Bonsai.
They can be grown as mame or small shohin to larger sizes as the leaves reduce really well. ( at least on B. integrifolia that I have)
The trunks and bark are awesome too.
Easy to propogate via Cuttings or layers
Unlike grant I find they wire easily ( care to elaborate on that Grant? ).
They are in my list of easy care trees, and I cannot think of any reason why anyone would not have one
Ken
If you do wire you do it very lightly and avoid wiring down branches as they lose vigour.
Grant
I have my larger ones in full sun. the smaller ones are in Dappled shade of Gum trees.bonsaibuddyman wrote:Yeah, I found this too. When I started wiring my banksia I tended to lose branches. I have never had any success at all with the species in general. I have tried Integrifolia, serrata, marginata and spinulosa. I would eventually lose all of them. I absolutely love banksia and think they look spectacular as bonsai. I am very jealous of people that grow them well, and seeing a few of Grant Bowie's was what inspired me to try them again, but I still lost them, and got frustrated at continually losing them that I gave up. I guess I should probably try again, but I think maybe the humidity and lack of sun doesn't help where my bonsai are. I planted a few Integrifolia at the front of our house for the garden that are doing very well and attract beautiful native birds, so the humidity can't be a problem for me, it must just be me and either watering or cutting back too hard that is the problem.Grant Bowie wrote:I just avoid using wire on Banksia; to try and get a more natural feel and look.kcpoole wrote:I agree that Banksia are awesome trees as Bonsai.
They can be grown as mame or small shohin to larger sizes as the leaves reduce really well. ( at least on B. integrifolia that I have)
The trunks and bark are awesome too.
Easy to propogate via Cuttings or layers
Unlike grant I find they wire easily ( care to elaborate on that Grant? ).
They are in my list of easy care trees, and I cannot think of any reason why anyone would not have one
Ken
If you do wire you do it very lightly and avoid wiring down branches as they lose vigour.
Grant
What about the "ericifolia" as worked on by PeterH (viewtopic.php?f=69&t=7847&start=0&hilit=banksia+peter), where would that fit into your extensive list?Grant Bowie wrote:Marginata is one not suited for high humidity areas, so Central coast or coastal suburbs of Sydney may struggle to keep them alive..
B integrifolia should do fine most places; mountains, plains or coast, Tasmania , Byron Bay even Perth. There are 3 varieties so you might wish to choose the better one for your area if you can.
B serrata is replaced by B aemula as you go north to Brisbane and further north; so if you are in a high humidity area I would recommend B aemula or B paludosa rather than serrata.Melbourne seems to be close to the edge of the natural southern range for B serrata and there have been some failures of old B serrata in Melbourne.
Still can't think why B marginata would struggle where Shibui lives!
Grant
Ericifolia can grow up in the mountains(Mount Banks funnily enough) in the Blue mountains and right up the coast towards Brisbane so should do fine in a variety of climates. It also does well in pots in Perth.CoGRedeMptioN wrote:What about the "ericifolia" as worked on by PeterH (viewtopic.php?f=69&t=7847&start=0&hilit=banksia+peter), where would that fit into your extensive list?Grant Bowie wrote:Marginata is one not suited for high humidity areas, so Central coast or coastal suburbs of Sydney may struggle to keep them alive..
B integrifolia should do fine most places; mountains, plains or coast, Tasmania , Byron Bay even Perth. There are 3 varieties so you might wish to choose the better one for your area if you can.
B serrata is replaced by B aemula as you go north to Brisbane and further north; so if you are in a high humidity area I would recommend B aemula or B paludosa rather than serrata.Melbourne seems to be close to the edge of the natural southern range for B serrata and there have been some failures of old B serrata in Melbourne.
Still can't think why B marginata would struggle where Shibui lives!
Grant
There's a couple of possibilities I'm exploring Grant.Still can't think why B marginata would struggle where Shibui lives!