Serrata air layer

[Jiro]

Hi everyone,

I'm contemplating air layering this serrata at or just above the 2nd branch (which I will remove) and then digging up what's in the ground for a bonsai starter.

It was planted about 2 years ago and unfortunately copped a whack from the whipper snippet. Hopefully that can be carved out into a better Shari feature.

My questions are:

How well do serrata take to air layering?
Should I use 3g/L or 8g/L hormone gel?
Is summer a good or bad time to air layer a serrata?
Is that a good or bad point for the air layer? Should it be higher or lower?
Should I just leave a nice tree in the garden and get a new piece of stock to work with?

I'm hoping the picture uploads as I seem to not have much luck posting pictures on this forum.

If I proceed with the air layer I'll post updates.

Thanks in advance for any advice given, much appreciated.

[shibui]

I have not tried layering banksia but my feeling is that it should work.
I generally use the stronger 'hardwood' gel on layers because you'll almost always be working with older wood.
In general, layering is best when the tree is active so I think now would be a great time.
Not really sure whether it is worth the effort to layer this one apart from the experience. The lower damage does not look bad and I think it should heal up pretty quick if it is allowed to grow over summer. I would probably concentrate efforts on the lower trunk for now.
Banksias sprout freely from old wood so when you cut this the base should explode with masses of new shoots. Also relatively easy to transplant. I have moved several self sown integs out of our garden and have not lost any so far. Late spring and early summer while they are active seems to be the best time to transplant which reminds me I still have a couple that should be dug soon.

[Raging Bull]

Hi Jiro,
I tried an airlayer with the top of an old Serrata. I had the split plastic pot with Sphagnum moss on it for over 6 months and it finally put roots out. A couple of months later when I thought the roots were big enough I cut the layer off and planted it, but it slowly died. Don't know what went wrong, it was well looked after, but it was always a bit straggly in the garden, so maybe that was the last gasp. Hope yours goes better.
Cheers, Frank.

[Jiro]

Thanks Neil That is some good info.

I'm still undecided, it's a have my cake and eat it too type situation. I love the plant as it is in the garden but the base and nebari look like they would make a superb bonsai. I was hoping an air layer to keep the top half of the plant and put it back in the garden.

I might just have to get a couple couple more banksia and plant them out specifically for bonsai rather than leave a gaping hole. That being said, it's a rental property and I'm quite sure they will cut everything down when we leave as they did that to what existed of the garden before we moved in. So at the first inkling that we are moving it's coming out!

Raging bull,

That's a shame mate, and that is my concern with this plant. However, it is very healthy and growing at a rapid rate. I just don't want to destroy a perfectly healthy and happy plant.
Thanks for sharing your info, it definitely helps in my decision.

[shibui]

Whether it is worth it or not depends on a lot of factors.
Time and effort V cost: Layers usually take around 6 months, often longer. You'll need sphagnum, hormone, wrapping and appropriate tools and the layer may not take. Or $3 for a small banksia in a tube that you can plant right now. It could be bigger than the existing plant by the end of summer. Down here, autumn is too late to transplant banksias so, if you want to use the lower trunk of this one layering will defer development of banksia bonsai by a full year at least.

A cheap tube seedling can be root pruned right now with far less shock than transplanting this larger one and may even develop faster in a good grow pot (banksias thicken quickly even in smaller pots). The existing trunk has little taper and no features apart form line trimmer marks. When cut down it will still have little taper and few features, just shorter. In my experience, developing trees from small seedlings in pots gives much better results in the end.

Develop skills and experience V time and cost: Once mastered, a skill is for life and can be used over and over. You can pay for a hort course to learn skills or develop them over time by trial and error for little cost.

Value of the satisfaction of having done something incredible like propagating new life is not able to be calculated.

I was not trying to talk anyione out of layering. You just need to weigh up all the relevant factors and decide whether the process stacks up.

[Jiro]

Thanks Shibui,

I think I might leave it where it is and get some tube stock growing in some tubs as a bonsai project.

The decision has half been made for me as some high winds last week snapped our silver prince gum clean in half. The gum was planted about 3 or 4 years ago, it was about 1.2m high at the time and maybe an inch at best in diameter at the base but the apical tip had been cut by the nursery. This meant it grew two tips from the cut point that both shot up to about 5m since planting, which formed a y junction. Maybe I could have had a bit better foresight and pruned it a bit but I was blinded by my desire to develop canopy rapidly for shade and to block out the domineering Mcmansion looming behind our back fence (it replaced a beautiful 1920's California bungalow ).

Anyway, the sheer length but lack of width (both stems were probably 4-5 inches in diameter) meant the y junction was a serious weak point and snap, one came clean off the other slowly came down over a couple of days. She still lives but it will take a few years to get back to where it was.... our garden is severely diminished and I'm now fairly reticent to reduce it any further. We are western facing so any shade or greenery to form some kind of micro climate is a must.

[shibui]

I assume Silver prince is E. caesia (silver princess) in which case it is in the mallee family and will usually sprout from the base if damaged. Growth is usually quite sparse and being far East WA wheatbelt does not always do best in East coast but it should grow back quicker with established root system though even that won't give immediate shelter you obviously desire.
Banksia seedlings should give a great result - probably better than the garden tree.