Banksia Serrata Progression - Diving into the Deep End

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Banksia Serrata Progression - Diving into the Deep End

Post by BonsaiBobbie »

When I started in Bonsai, a lot was driven by a childhood love of a Japanese Maple that grew in our yard, and due to various factors, not being able to have one when I bought my house. Back renting, Bonsai seemed a great way to get that JM I always lusted after.

I also didn't expect to find much love of Australian Natives until scrolling through and seeing an amazing Leptospernum from a recent Canberra show,

Which brings me to posting this Banksia Progression... suddenly, and inspired by Grant's amazing Banksia and others amazing natives, I jumped into the deep end.

I wasn't planning on buying a Banksia, but my local, Annandale Garden Centre, had a very healthy specimen (apparently had responded really well to all the recent rain), that looked good to my inexperienced eye. Partly because he had a lot of material that could be used for cuttings.

I don't have a "before", but it was tall and straight. Quite a bit of taper. I understand that may cause some bulbous effect, but I'm learning, and hopefully some of the 30 or so cuttings take so I can learn on.

So have just re-potted in my own secret sauce Bonsai soil mix (50% organic, 50% inorganic - meh - jumping into the deep end!)

Let's see how this goes.
Bonsai5.png
Bonsai4 .png
Bonsai3.png
Current thought is that long branch on the left will be another / alternate trunk, not a sacrificial branch.
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Re: Banksia Serrata Progression - Diving into the Deep End

Post by shibui »

Banksia serrata is a good choice for starting out with natives. They are tough, grow fast and sprout really well from bare wood (sometimes too well). It is very likely you will see a mass of new buds round the base after that initial prune.
Banksia integrifolia is another eastern species that has proven really good to work with.
Banksia roots grow really quick filling the pots with masses of very fine roots in just one year when they are young. I found that annual repotting was necessary to keep them healthy and alive. By the second spring the pots are so full of roots that water cannot penetrate and they die of dehydration even when watered well. The roots are so matted and tough to cut I found it easier to just grab handfulls of root mass and break it off instead of the usual careful cutting with root shears. Roots on both species can be reduced by 75% or more with no harm to the plants provided you do it in warmer weather. In warmer climates they will tolerate root pruning all year round an it does not seem to matter if they are in full growth or not. Up here in the cooler foothills banksias I have root pruned this time of year just sulk for 6 months or more before finally growing again. Some just died after winter root prune.

I guess you understand that banksias can react badly to high P fertiliser so a lower P native fert is best. There are ways round that problem but probably best to stay safe for a start.

Have fun with your new banksia. Hope it does as well for you as they do here.
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Re: Banksia Serrata Progression - Diving into the Deep End

Post by BonsaiBobbie »

shibui wrote: May 6th, 2022, 5:31 pm Have fun with your new banksia. Hope it does as well for you as they do here.
Thanks shibui.

I have followed some of Grants repotting in Canberra a few weeks ago. And whilst it has turned quite cool here, some of the deciduous trees I have are still grow quite well, provided they are getting enough light, so figure it was good to do all this work. As you say, I had heard they are quite hardy.

Thanks for the reminder about the fert.

Looking forward to seeing the roots appear and seeing what happens.

Looking forward to this journey.
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Grant Bowie
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Re: Banksia Serrata Progression - Diving into the Deep End

Post by Grant Bowie »

Hi Bobby, don’t forget that the NBPCA trees and mine are older, well established bonsai with good compact and ratified root systems. Younger Banksia can be a bit floppy but the trunks will thicken up by themselves pretty quickly. At Annandale or inner city Sydney they will be fine though as the weather is much milder than Canberra and any new growth is unlikely to be badly affected by cold or frost in your area.

Have fun, they are a great subject.

Grant
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Re: Banksia Serrata Progression - Diving into the Deep End

Post by BonsaiBobbie »

Thanks Grant

Looking forward to learning.
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Re: Banksia Serrata Progression - Diving into the Deep End

Post by Grant Bowie »

Grant Bowie wrote: May 7th, 2022, 6:06 pm Hi Bobby, don’t forget that the NBPCA trees and mine are older, well established bonsai with good compact and ramified root systems. Younger Banksia can be a bit floppy but the trunks will thicken up by themselves pretty quickly. At Annandale or inner city Sydney they will be fine though as the weather is much milder than Canberra and any new growth is unlikely to be badly affected by cold or frost in your area.

Have fun, they are a great subject.

Grant
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Re: Banksia Serrata Progression - Diving into the Deep End

Post by Grant Bowie »

Grant Bowie wrote: May 7th, 2022, 8:50 pm
Grant Bowie wrote: May 7th, 2022, 6:06 pm Hi Bobby, don’t forget that the NBPCA trees and mine are older, well established bonsai with good compact and ramified root systems. Younger Banksia can be a bit floppy but the trunks will thicken up by themselves pretty quickly. At Annandale or inner city Sydney they will be fine though as the weather is much milder than Canberra and any new growth is unlikely to be badly affected by cold or frost in your area.

Have fun, they are a great subject.

Grant
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Re: Banksia Serrata Progression - Diving into the Deep End

Post by BonsaiBobbie »

I am pleased to say my Banksia Serrata has grown well over winter since the repot in autumn. It is nice to see to have the comparison shots in this thread.

I have a question about how to manage / balance the growth at the moment.

I'm working on the principle of still just letting it grow in order to thicken up, but I was previously working on the principle that the top shoot near the cut would be the new leader.

I guess reading the comments, I shouldn't be surprised that lower growth is a bit more prolific.

So my question is, what generally would be best?

[*] Continue to let it go / grow and then maybe do another cut down to a stronger leader later (there really isn't much difference in location between then.
[*] Prune / cut back the stronger shoots in order to drive more energy the the current desired leader
[*] Just cut down now to one of the two stronger potential leaders and leave the rest to fight it out!
IMG_1808.jpg
You can see the new branch that I am holding has grown really well. The next one across at the end of the main trunk is much smaller. That may be because I cut too close to it, or just my bodge cut paste job (way too much).

General notes, I'd rubbed off some buds to keep a balanced growth up the main trunk, Not too many. Just so they stepped up the tree.

This tree probably has the best potential of all my plants at the moment. So whilst I've got a lot to learn, I'm really excited about it.
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