Rustyck wrote:Hey mate,
You should have never introduced me to Cumberland state forest. now I'm following your steps and picked up 2 tube stock. my god the smell...
enjoyed it that much that I decided to get a mature one too (they had a 25% off so threw in a grafted Shishigashira to plant at my families place.)
now I'm looking at trunk chopping the Corymbia citriodora,
how do they fare at back budding without lower branches? also recommend after Nov for a trunk chop?
Hi Rustyck,
I’m glad you got out there. They are definitely the best stockists of native material in proximity to me. A bit pricey, but worth it.
Yes, it was the scent that lured me in too. They are a very hardy tree here.
The only thing I wouldn’t do is a big root prune and trunk chop on a newly acquired specimen.
I’d do one or the other first. I prefer to do a root prune and moderate defoliation first.
This way you know immediately what the roots are like, and can work this first.
If you do a heavy root removal and trunk chop on the same day you might promote die-back on a Euc.
I would ease the roots apart and remove about 50% of the roots and remove about 60% of the foliage initially.
Don’t cut back the branches at first. Allow the tree to tell you where it wants to regrow from afterwards and work from there. Also, don’t trim it back again for a long time. Allow it to settle in over time.
Corymbia citriodora has a low likelihood of die-back if you cut below the first branch, but I still prefer to gradually bring back the growth on these over the years. Make sure you ease apart the roots and inspect the whole ball before you do heavy root work, as sometimes they have tap roots that have wrapped around with minimal radial roots. If you cut off too much root on any euc you will get die back. If you make this mistake don’t fret, but ensure you cut off a lot of the foliage then.
The leaves on this species are very long lasting and I prefer to leave quite a few on to continue to support the tree.
As the tree ages, sometime the new growth will start to develop smooth shiny leaves with noticeably less scent than the rough foliage. They will be the same size, but just cut off the branch form where the shiny leaves begin to grow and it will revert back to the gorgeous rough intensely scented leaves again, usually for an entire season or sometimes much longer. They are absolutely beautiful.
They love water too, once they settle in they’re a thirsty tree.
I would definitely recommend trunk chopping or repotting now.
Lastly, if it sulks afterwards, don’t give up. They can sometimes sit for many months before shooting after a heavy root prune. If you only do a trunk chop and no root removal, it will nearly always shoot from where you’ve cut.
In regards to the seedlings or these, don’t go rough on the root removal. Leave this for later down the track. Just ease the roots apart and allow the radials to develop. You can always remove the tap root later once the radials strengthen. But the chances of success are much higher if you don’t remove a lot of root initially.
