AusBonsai

I am just wondering if anyone has had any experience with the nsw xmas bush Ceratopetalum. I dug one from a garden last august & while it hasnt died it also hasnt grown. It has reshot in a few places but with minimal extension. It will eventually be a bungin but at this rate its a long way from anything.
From base to tip approx 105cm long & approx 8cm across the nebari. I need to remove a major root from the left side to get it up into this position, but it needs to regain strength & vigour before starting any work. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Matt

Mate, my experience is limited and doesn't extend to pot culture. In the garden they can be pruned heavily but can take ages to reshoot. I remember one from when I was a kid that got a trunk chop and then the stump just sat there until suddenly it began to shoot- seemed like years later, in retrospect it may have only been one year. The Koreshoffs in their book say "Never cut back to hard bare wood. Very slow to shoot on old wood. If reduction is necessary leave one or two pairs of leaves, fertilize well and hope".

By the way, the Koreshoff's also say about eucs..."UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES (their capitals) should the roots, trunk or lignotuber be planted deeper than the original level of the soil, otherwise the tree will surely die." Hence my questions to you on the eucalyptus thread. I never believe everything I read, even if it is in capitals and written by royalty.

I also have Koreshoffs book, took the advice & kept a few bits of foliage in the xmas bush. Noticed when i was putting it back in the garden that its startin to put out more new buds up & down the trunk so maybe its turned its corner. Was waiting for it to make some growth before giving it any feed but i might "fertilize well and hope"

As for burying eucys deeper than orig soil level, 1/ i have found it works, tho they dont remain permanently so, approx 3-4mths (determined by regrowth) and then its back into daylight. 2/ I have a m8 who used to work for a wholesale nursery, it was there regular pratice when potting tubestock into 45ltr bags to bury them deeper than in the tube. I guess as with most things what works for one may not work for another.

hi brogus, i chopped one back from a bout a 10 foot tree to a 30 cm stump,in early november, to fit in my new bonsai shade area,
it layed dorment till early january, and now has shoots up to 3 feet high, i thought it was gone and was going to get rid of it
but now im thinking something different.
hope this helps.
strawbs

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