(A Forest Tale) Casuarina ? - Watto

[Watto]

I finally got my act together and here is my entry.
These were seedlings in a pot that contained a juniper I bought about five years ago. I picked the seedlings out and potted them into what were over sized pots at the time. Not long after that I bought a tray/pot for a forest setting but it was too large so I decided to let the Casuarina's grow for a year or two in an attempt to fill the pot. After five years of utter neglect (you can tell the extent of the neglect by the colour and health of the plants) this contest provided a reason to get me going on this project. The plants are pot bound, overgrown and yellow but now they are out of the junk area I hope to be able to bring them to a reasonable state. Fingers crossed. I currently have eight survivors from the original planting and I hope to use all of them. I know eight can be considered an unlucky number but if I make the setting Penjing style then maybe it will be lucky?

[terryb]

Looking forward to what you do with these Watto.

[TimS]

I’ll be interested to follow this, I got my hands on about 20 tube stock ones but they make so sense to me and I’m just going to sell them off cheap at the next club meeting.

The groves of them on my uncle’s property down Geelong way are beautiful though so it could work for someone with the patience to grow them well

[MJL]

Cool. Thanks for entering Watto! I love the fact that these young trees were stray seedlings. I have this view - completely unsupported by evidence - just my view ... that any seedlings that pop up in a garden or pot or wherever they are found are inherently tough... a will to live, so to speak. Excellent that they are finding a new future in this group setting.

[Watto]

In November 2020 I finally got around to putting these in the pot. I was apprehensive because of the state of the "seedlings" still being yellow and pot bound however in the couple of months since the root prune, new substrata, regular watering and some fertilizer they all survived the process and look a lot better for it.
I decided on a seven tree forest and kept one in reserve just in case but these things are tough. The group is very tall at the moment but all the green should be building some strength and the next phase will be to reduce the height and increase the foliage mass lower down.
Very pleased with the result so far.

[Keels]

Nice start there Watto. Keen to see the progress over the next few years.

[Raging Bull]

Nice little grouping Watto. Interesting to see the size difference with these self seeded trees. They are pretty tough trees, so once established you should be able to shape them to your liking.