[Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 1

[Rory]

I have only just potted this one up a few days ago and cut it back. I should have done this before November but life sometimes gets in the way.
Hopefully it will present a new flush before the comp ends for its final presentation.

This one is a tad under the 25cm height. It was placed into a Pat Kennedy pot and I'll now wait for new growth before I trim it back again.

[delisea]

Hi Rory,
I missed your reply to the cut paste question. Thanks for the explanation. I am loving the progress on these. Do you have any larger sized Casuarinas?
Cheers,
Symon

[treeman]

Nice trunk Rory. A bit early for a small pot?

[Rory]

Nice trunk Rory. A bit early for a small pot?

Sorry mate, I'm not sure what you mean by this.

If by that comment you meant "Rory, you're so awesome, only a legend like you would place that tree into that small pot now, and in front of that inspiring background too.", then I agree and understand why you think I'm so awesome.

If by that comment you meant "Rory, why are you placing the tree into a small bonsai pot now, its too soon you goose!", then it might help to point out this is for a shohin competition which closes in 2 weeks, you old frog.

If by that comment you meant "Rory, I'm senile and old and I can no longer think properly. Take some of my bonsai for free because you're so awesome" then I suggest drinking more so that you wont care either way.

Hi Rory,
I missed your reply to the cut paste question. Thanks for the explanation. I am loving the progress on these. Do you have any larger sized Casuarinas?
Cheers,
Symon

Thanks Symon.

Hahaha What a question. Yes I have many large Casuarina. I am growing many large torulosa, littoralis and have more recently begun the initial stages for large cunninghamiana and glauca.
Most of the larger casys are just being ground grown to put on girth. For all of them, the lower branching is still in its initial stages so they aren't really anything special to look at yet.
But you can click on the link at the bottom of my signature for the gallery of most of my trees, including most of the large ones.

[treeman]

Nice trunk Rory. A bit early for a small pot?

Sorry mate, I'm not sure what you mean by this.

If by that comment you meant "Rory, you're so awesome, only a legend like you would place that tree into that small pot now, and in front of that inspiring background too.", then I agree and understand why you think I'm so awesome.

If by that comment you meant "Rory, why are you placing the tree into a small bonsai pot now, its too soon you goose!", then it might help to point out this is for a shohin competition which closes in 2 weeks, you old frog.

If by that comment you meant "Rory, I'm senile and old and I can no longer think properly. Take some of my bonsai for free because you're so awesome" then I suggest drinking more so that you wont care either way.

Ha ha your lack perception shows no bounds grasspooper! No, what I meant by that is that in your completely transparent and pathetic need to engage the admiration of others, your impetuous impulsive, rash, hasty, overhasty, reckless, heedless, foolhardy, incautious, imprudent, injudicious, ill-conceived, ill-considered, unplanned, unreasoned, unthought-out, unthinking behaviour, has left both you and the poor mistreated stump of a tree teetering on the border between a miserable unhappy, sad, sorrowful, dejected, depressed, downcast, downhearted, down, despondent, despairing, disconsolate, out of sorts, desolate, bowed down, wretched, glum, gloomy, dismal, blue, melancholy, melancholic, low-spirited, mournful, woeful, woebegone, doleful, forlorn, crestfallen, broken-hearted, heartbroken, inconsolable, luckless and grief-stricken life...and death.

[Rory]

Nice trunk Rory. A bit early for a small pot?

Sorry mate, I'm not sure what you mean by this.

If by that comment you meant "Rory, you're so awesome, only a legend like you would place that tree into that small pot now, and in front of that inspiring background too.", then I agree and understand why you think I'm so awesome.

If by that comment you meant "Rory, why are you placing the tree into a small bonsai pot now, its too soon you goose!", then it might help to point out this is for a shohin competition which closes in 2 weeks, you old frog.

If by that comment you meant "Rory, I'm senile and old and I can no longer think properly. Take some of my bonsai for free because you're so awesome" then I suggest drinking more so that you wont care either way.

Ha ha your lack perception shows no bounds grasspooper! No, what I meant by that is that in your completely transparent and pathetic need to engage the admiration of others, your impetuous impulsive, rash, hasty, overhasty, reckless, heedless, foolhardy, incautious, imprudent, injudicious, ill-conceived, ill-considered, unplanned, unreasoned, unthought-out, unthinking behaviour, has left both you and the poor mistreated stump of a tree teetering on the border between a miserable unhappy, sad, sorrowful, dejected, depressed, downcast, downhearted, down, despondent, despairing, disconsolate, out of sorts, desolate, bowed down, wretched, glum, gloomy, dismal, blue, melancholy, melancholic, low-spirited, mournful, woeful, woebegone, doleful, forlorn, crestfallen, broken-hearted, heartbroken, inconsolable, luckless and grief-stricken life...and death.

woebegone?

[GavinG]

Well played gentlemen. Such style and grace rarely derange the tranquillity of us lesser mortals.

Oh, and nice tree Rory. Will look to see your larger Cas. Branch treatment I think should not look like a pine tree, although I'm not sure what it should look like...

Gavin

[melbrackstone]

Branch treatment I think should not look like a pine tree, although I'm not sure what it should look like...

How about it looks like a casuarina?

[Rory]

Well played gentlemen. Such style and grace rarely derange the tranquillity of us lesser mortals.

Oh, and nice tree Rory. Will look to see your larger Cas. Branch treatment I think should not look like a pine tree, although I'm not sure what it should look like...

Gavin

Yes Mike loves my witty brain. We have a Blackadder/Percy thing happening. But unfortunately I'll admit I'm probably Percy. If I ever get to visit him in Victoria I'll be sure to buy him a few beers.

Interesting thoughts Gav.

Going forward, I plan on allowing multiple trunks to develop on 2 of these competition shoin over time, to try and give off a more natural casuarina look.

Branch treatment I think should not look like a pine tree, although I'm not sure what it should look like...

How about it looks like a casuarina?

hahaha

[Rory]

This has been my first attempt at growing shohin bonsai. Thanks to the MODS for running this comp, its been a blast and most importantly has taught me a lot about shohin.
The 1st rule of shohin club is: you don't cut back only 2 weeks before the final showing.
The 2nd rule of shohin club is: you don't cut back only 2 weeks before the final showing.

If you look very closely you can see all the new shoots sprouting all over the tree. So very shortly its going to look better.
All the branches you see that are left on the tree have tiny shoots coming out of them.

I actually don't plan on changing the design much more for this one. I'm very happy with it, but will encourage another multi-trunk half way up the trunk.
Other than that, I'll just continue to ramify the tree. The issue I may have with this species is the rate of growth, so I plan on either allowing the roots to fill up the pot continually, and not heavily cut them back. Otherwise I'll repot in 2 years time into a smaller pot to restrict the growth rate further. I might cut it back about 3cm or so more off the top, to allow for the fast thickening that Casuarinas get. I have seen Casuarina that were not repotted in about 6 or 7 years develop much shorter needles and slow growth, so I guess in time I would like to achieve this.

[treeman]

Looking as miserable as ever I see.....

No really, I like it....

[shibui]

You've done a great job with this little tree Rory

Even more impressive because it is your first attempt at shohin size but, given that, I feel compelled to offer advice:
Small sized bonsai seem to need more regular repotting. Whenever I have delayed repotting my small bonsai, the trees suffer badly the following summer. I put that down to the small root space which rapidly fills with roots and makes it extremely difficult to water effectively. Nutrition may also be a factor. My smaller trees are definitely much healthier now that I have learnt to repot every year.
If heavy root pruning seems to be an issue I'd probably opt for a light annual trim instead of leaving them for several years.

Please note I don't have any shohin casuarinas - they may be an exception?

[Boics]

I've noticed very little root growth on my potted cas. Torulosa.
So little that I'm not convinced a yearly re-pot is worth it.
Thoughts Rory?

[Rory]

Looking as miserable as ever I see.....

No really, I like it....

Hahaha, Thanks Mike. Although my wife commented on them: 'They look so creepy babe! If you were trying to go for a spooky look, you nailed it. Why don't you grow something with nice flowers?'
Based off of my wifes dislike towards them....I think I have succeeded in the direction I have planned for them ; most casuarina DO look somewhat creepy.

Although I'll admit once the needles elongate in the next few weeks, it will soften the look and take away the eeriness.

You've done a great job with this little tree Rory

Even more impressive because it is your first attempt at shohin size but, given that, I feel compelled to offer advice:
Small sized bonsai seem to need more regular repotting. Whenever I have delayed repotting my small bonsai, the trees suffer badly the following summer. I put that down to the small root space which rapidly fills with roots and makes it extremely difficult to water effectively. Nutrition may also be a factor. My smaller trees are definitely much healthier now that I have learnt to repot every year.
If heavy root pruning seems to be an issue I'd probably opt for a light annual trim instead of leaving them for several years.

Please note I don't have any shohin casuarinas - they may be an exception?

Thank you Neil, coming from you that means a lot.

I will definitely take your advice on board, thanks Neil. I don't have enough experience with potted Casuarina, and obviously none at all with shohin. Usually I allow my stock trees to penetrate the ground through the growing pot, so the roots primarily thicken that way. I haven't had a great deal of roots filling the pots while this 'ground rooting' happens. However if they weren't penetrating the ground, they would be filling the pot a lot quicker I would think. So I will keep an eye on them and take a look after a year.

This comp has changed my mind on a lot of my stock trees. I plan on cutting the roots back on a lot of the smaller stock I have thickening, and trying my hand at a lot more shohin in future.

I've noticed very little root growth on my potted cas. Torulosa.
So little that I'm not convinced a yearly re-pot is worth it.
Thoughts Rory?

Unfortunately I haven't got enough experience with strong sunny growth to comment. My micro-climate is probably quite different to others out there. Maybe not, but either way I'm not experienced enough to make a good comment on this yet.