Ground growing

[wattynine]

Just a few pics, not quite up to date as there are now 34 trees planted.
The idea of the sieve came from Ray M's colander idea, just with a twist and I was looking for something that would give me a broader nebari.
Rightly or wrongly the trees are in the ground and growing strongly.
the selection of trees so far;
Casuarina about 15
Ficus various x 3
Guava x 1
Tamarind x 1
Burdekin Plum x 4
Small Leaf Bauhinia x 4
Kapok Tree x 1
Juniper x 2
Temple Bell x 3
Melalueca various x 3
Townsville Mystery Tree x 1

The bed was started about two years ago when I came across some free sleepers, since then I have been filling it with all the garden scraps from trimmings and then around three months ago I filled it with blue metal (crusher dust). The choice of blue metal was based on the fact that so many trees come up of their own accord that it seems to be a great cheap medium to fill a large area.

The process has been as follows;
Hollow out an area the size of the garden sieve 45cm.
Fill hole a little with bonsai mix (scoria, diatomite, pine bark) this was all recycled mix.
Push in the sieve making contact with the medium.
half fill the sieve then pot as normal.

Making a trip to Brisbane this coming weekend, will be looking for maybe some JBP's to put in the ground.
These trees will be lifted in about two years to sort out the root growth and from there decide whether they go back in or get potted up and maybe sold off.
anyhooo if this helps anybody with some inspiration, job done, if not, I've always got the trees in the ground.

Best time to plant a tree - 20 years ago.
Next best time to plant a tree - today

enjoy the rest of the weekend
Watty

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[CraigM]

Very cool, look forward to progress updates.

[melbrackstone]

How's this group of plants going?

[wattynine]

Thanks for asking M. I have been a little "off the grid lately" Cyclone Debbie tore through my property like a biblical event. 1000mm of rain and a dam release put a metre of water across the entire property and through the house. We have been "evicted" if that's the right word, due to mould and sanitary reasons and are still not back in our house and may not be for months yet. Anyhoo... that's not the reason I am here.
The answer to your question is "BOOMING" I will update these probably in September or so as I intend to pull every one, some to put in training pots some simply to sort out some nebari and put them back where they came from. They will of course get a HEAVY trim back and some initial styling. Remember these trees have been in the ground only about 7-8 months so far.
I have lost a couple of the tree as everyone of them succumbed to complete immersion for around 8-12 hours so I lost the junipers, and a Mel and something else, not due to over water but because they were ripped from the ground with debris wrapped around them.
Maybe I post something on the other bonsai being flooded as well?
Again thanks for the request of an update.
Here ya' go,

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Hopefully next post will give you a better idea of individual trees.

Watty