[Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

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Rory
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[Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Rory »

• Species name : Allocasuarina littoralis
• Original height of stock : 74cm
• Obtained : Bonsai World, 51 Watagan Forest Drive, Jilliby NSW 2259
• Date purchased : Wednesday 18th May 2016
• Cost of stock : $35
Littoralis2-1.jpg
Littoralis2-2.jpg
Littoralis2-3.jpg
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Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
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Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Redsonic »

Wow! Nice stock. Will be watching with interest what you do with this one.
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Rory »

Redsonic wrote:Wow! Nice stock. Will be watching with interest what you do with this one.
cheers mate. There are quite a few options to go with for this nice piece of stock.
I haven't completely made up my mind on the direction, but I've got a fair idea.

No doubt like many others on here, I had quite a few more trees I bought as I couldn't decide at the nursery which I liked more for the comp.
Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Rory »

I hope the board doesn't mind, but I received some assistance from the Empire to assist with the initial cutting...

Take that...hmmph...and that!
IMG_8626a.jpg

If I could just get my foot.... thats better!
IMG_8625a.jpg

Yeah, eat that... Rebel scum!
IMG_8627a.jpg
With the help of his angry lordship - Kylo Ren - I have struck swiftly to hopefully promote some early ramification. For those curious, Kylo Ren is made entirely out of Lego.

Of the 3 comp entries, I pondered the longest about what I was going to do with this one. In the back of my mind I always wanted 'a tree that was growing out over a creek' but I had reservations. This is why I employed the services of Kylo Ren, who simply took to it like an angry Sith lord and asked questions later.
I am in 2 minds about keeping the shoot from the base to extend out as a secondary smaller branch, but will decide later whether to keep or cut ir.

I have chosen not to repot just yet as although I have never had a problem repotting Casuarina over winter, I choose not to at this time. The main reason for this is that occasionally they can just sulk until Spring if you cut back the roots hard. Thus combined with cutting back branches, it can lead to die back. So instead I will keep the pot full of roots probably until about October - November.
I realize that reducing the head of hair on the tree will decrease its ability to access light for strong growth, but I am not interested in increasing the trunk size obviously. Instead I am merely encouraging the tree to produce more shoots. In my opinion the optimal time for a trunk chop on a Casuarina is usually November, but as this comp is 18 months I have decided to chop now and start the new shoots early.

I have purposely left a fair amount of foliage on, as the tree wont get a lot of sunlight over the next few months. Once the tree is in full swing again in about Spring sometime I will cut back hard and reduce most branches to stubs. With most Casuarina I find that it is best to leave at least 1 or 2 shoots on the branch if possible. If you are cutting in Spring and the branch is about almost 5 or 6 mm then you should be sweet, but if it is thinner than this I wouldn't take the risk of cutting back with no growth on it until spring. Otherwise you are at the mercy of the "Die-back gods".

I am enjoying trying to envisage a natural style for these shohin but it will be hard no doubt.
IMG_8628a.jpg
IMG_8629a.jpg
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Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by anthonyW »

Wow another great little trunk for good value.

Anthony
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Rory »

I have had good strong growth in the last few days on all my casuarina, so I have no worries about doing a repot now. There is an advantage to doing a repot now, in that it allows the recovery duration to be done with once Spring is in full swing.

With this one, I haven't quite made up my mind on which branches to keep. It is easier to cut off a branch rather than grow a new one so there is no rush.
It has presented a flurry of options in the last few days, and all the stubs and branches produced new shoots.

I intend to keep the stub at the opposite side to the lean and develop it into a smaller structure. The corresponding branches going up the trunk will simply be developed with clip-and-grow to produce more ramification.
Cas2a.jpg
Cas2c.jpg
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Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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Rory
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Rory »

This has produced reasonable growth during the start of Spring, but I just haven't had a good moment to really sit down and decide on which branches are staying. :palm:

The important part about developing a shohin casuarina will be : Don't allow a lot of shoots to remain up top otherwise it will bulge and go top-heavy very quickly.
So I have just been trimming the top of the tree throughout the last few months and allowing the lower branches to do their own thing.

I will probably decide which ones to remove in Summer. As for now I am happy to just allow the tree to continue growing at a fast rate.
Littoralis3.jpg
Littoralis4.jpg
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Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Sno »

The force is strong in this one .
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Rory »

This tree has put on a decent amount of growth in the last 4 weeks since the previous post. I have cut back on the thicker branches up top, and let other thin branches that I want thicker to grow uncut.
However, in a comp with a short time frame you also want ramification close to the trunk, so on branches that will thicken to the desired thickness in the next year I also cut them regardless to allow better ramification now.

I prefer to cut now rather than waiting till the end of Summer, because now is the optimal to get fast ramification from cutting back.
If I wait until the end of this strong growing period to make these cuts the branches will thicken more of course, but I find that you don't get anywhere near as many shoots forming and the time for new growth to develop tends to slow down if you wait until the end of Summer to cut. Thus I like to take advantage continuously of the fast growth formation you get now.

For this comp I felt it wise to choose stock that has the desired trunk size already, and then basically ramify it over 18 months. This way I'm not behind the 8 ball trying to juggle trunk thickening with cutting back for ramification. Having said that though, there is a few strategic branches being left on for certain areas to thicken, but not the base.

The scars on the top hunch of the tree have started to heal incredibly fast because I purposely left a multitude of small shoots immediately around this area. I continously cut them back when they get to about 4mm thick so as not to themselves produce scars, but to continue the rolling over of the cambium across the dead scar.

It is hard to see from these pictures, but there is a natural look forming on this one underneath, because the thicker foliage up top was shading these lower areas. Hence the branches which are growing from under the tree are shooting out long to access the light and the secondary branching all along the primary branches has died from the shade. At this point I will allow them to grow, because if I cut them back they will obviously die off completely. If it looks nice and natural at the end of the comp they will stay.

BEFORE
Tree2-Before.jpg

AFTER CUTTING BACK CERTAIN AREAS
Tree2-After.jpg
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Last edited by Rory on November 5th, 2016, 9:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Rory »

There has been good progress on this tree. It has shot back everywhere after cutting back the multiple leaders.
I had allowed the hunchback to develop a multitude of new shoots in an effort to heal the scar, which has worked wonderfully. These shoots were then removed and/or cut back, to stop the bulging that had begun to develop at that point.

The new leader has thickened very quickly by allowing the shoots to elongate about a metre before being cut back. It again produced a prolific number of new shoots above the top half of the tree to select for new branching as well.

The removal of the branching around the hunch, and a few select chunks of bark were also removed a few months ago which allowed the taper to develop and begin to eradicate this bulge. Leaving a lot of branching below and above the bulge has aided in the reduction of the bulging, which is one of my techniques to reduce bulging on Casuarina.

The first branch near the base is developing quickly and increasing the circumference near the join to give it a bit more of an aged tree look, because it will aid the taper where the trunk diverts. At this stage I'm leaning towards keeping it and incorporating it into the design : showing a branch that reaches out long at the base to access the light.
Tree2.jpg
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Last edited by Rory on January 23rd, 2017, 11:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Ryceman3 »

Enjoying all 3 of your entries for the comp Rory, and I particularly like the latest image of this one... it's going great guns.
Nice work and nice trees!
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Rory »

Tree2.jpg
I haven't worked on my trees in quite a while. This has just been cut back and not much else, just letting it do its thing over winter.
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Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Rory »

It has started to push out a bit of new growth with Spring approaching and the weather getting warmer.
It would be silly to cut the roots and place into a bonsai pot now. I will wait until the end of the comp to do that, as it will slow down the growth somewhat, and is never a good idea to do this on a Casuarina before November.
Tree3a.jpg
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Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by treeman »

You need to wire those messy needles into pads. They are not green enough, The trunk looks too evil, the pot looks very plasticky and dirty and the weather there looks crappy AND the fence needs attention too.
Mike
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Re: [Rory] Allocasuarina littoralis 2

Post by Rory »

treeman wrote:You need to wire those messy needles into pads. They are not green enough, The trunk looks too evil, the pot looks very plasticky and dirty and the weather there looks crappy AND the fence needs attention too.
Hahaha.

Very astute observations there mike.

Mental note: never take a photo at dusk, it comes out like crap.

Yes the tree was originally stolen from the set of a Tim Burton film.
Rory
I style Bonsai naturally, just as they would appear in the wild.
Central Coast, NSW
Bonsai: Casuarina Leptospermum Banksia Phebalium Baeckea Melalueca Ficus

Growing Australian natives as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=289480#p289480

Buying and repotting Native nursery material: viewtopic.php?f=78&t=30724

Growing tips for Casuarina as Bonsai: viewtopic.php?p=244995#p244995

How to reduce moss from the trunk without damaging the bark: viewtopic.php?p=295227#p295227
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