Acacia Howittii Prostrate

[hooky73]

Hi,

I bought this acacia today at a very nice nursery on the south coast for $35.00. The lady at the nursery told me that it was huge and she cut about a meter off the bottom a couple of months ago (it is still about 2 meters long now!!!). I have been looking around for this species for a while only to find little ones occasionally. I finally found a decent size one and now am stumped what to do with it.

My questions are: 1) How do they respond to pruning?

2) Any suggestions with styling and direction that I should take?

3) It is very root bound, when is it a good time to re-pot?

4) Do they shoot back from old wood?

I have attached some pictures.

Thanks,
Andrew

[Watto]

Andrew,
I know only a little bit from the one I have been working on, and I offer the following suggestions:
1) Give the long bits a good prune, but not back to bare wood
2) Give it a good fertilize with specific native fertilizer and maintain a good fertilizer program
3) I re-pot mine in the late spring when it is warm enough for new growth to take off
Good luck with it

[kcpoole]

I will agree with watto. I repot in spring ( but early autumn shodu be OK too)
cut back hard but not to bare wood and you should get new shoots from back further

Ken

[Petra]

I will agree with watto. I repot in spring ( but early autumn shodu be OK too)
cut back hard but not to bare wood and you should get new shoots from back further

Ken

I think you should ellaberate a bit more on that Ken. Exactly what does that mean, "cut back hard, but not
to bare wood". Does that mean cut all the finer branches off and just leave the sticks there.
Because that just doesnt make much sence to me.

[lakepipes]

Hi Andrew,

I prune mine back regularly and take off about 5cm all over when i do it.
They like not to touch anything, so keep them off the ground.
When the branching hits the ground, they tend to die back.

Keep it well watered, they love a good drink.
Mine sits in a foil pie dish filled with water 24/7

Mine also buds back very easily, even from old wood, but i have never pruned back to it.
It gets a weak seasol every two weeks.

Good luck, they look great when they get going.

Oh, by the way, don't try and bend the branches, you will break them just looking at them, they are very brittle.

Mike

[Roger]

Hi Andrew
Lovely plant you have there. I wouldn't be saying anything spectacular to suggest you style it as a cascade . But seriously, you have some interesting choices about how to make it look good, which is not the same as making it look like a cascading juniper. They so readily produce naturally arching branches that you can use for styling by selecting the ones that head in the right direction. I've found that they will quickly produce masses of overarching, cross branching branches that totally mask all below. Leaves and branches so covered will tend to weaken and die. So, periodic thinning so as to maintain shape and overall size is important. Watch that the tree doesn't slowly grow in size if you just remove branches from underneath. Try to get replacement branches that are about in the same 'size-place' as before.

My experience with sticky wattles is that that they shoot back well from old wood. I have not cut back everything, but pruning back to the last few leaves (say last 6-8 if they are a healthy green) and you should get new shoots from the axils of those green leaves and possibly some from elsewhere where there are no leaves at all.

In Canberra, this wattle can grow nearly year round, as long as the temperatures are not too bitterly cold, though it obviously does best when it is warmer. It can slow down in very hot weather. I've not bare rooted it, but I've removed 2/3 of the root ball without any negative effects (I had removed about 2/3 of the top as well).

I repotted a large plant (trunk about 8cm diameter) at the start of April, and it was flowering in the following September.

My experience is that it drinks water like there was no tomorrow, but will sit quietly and wait if the soil gets a bit on the dry side. I haven't pushed it, but it seems fairly tolerant of a wide range of soil moisture conditions.

I have had no problems with the tips touching the ground in plants that are growing on the ground. They just arch along, spreading out in all directions. The big tree in a pot has branches that touch the bench and these just blow around in the wind. I'm more likely to cut them off to avoid getting branches that become 'misshapen' by bending along the bench top and getting out of kilter with the overall look.

Good luck and please keep us up-to-date with your progress. I'd really like to see how this plant develops. There are such exciting artistic possibilities.

Roger

[kcpoole]

I will agree with watto. I repot in spring ( but early autumn shodu be OK too)
cut back hard but not to bare wood and you should get new shoots from back further

Ken

I think you should ellaberate a bit more on that Ken. Exactly what does that mean, "cut back hard, but not
to bare wood". Does that mean cut all the finer branches off and just leave the sticks there.
Because that just doesnt make much sence to me.

Hi Petra, Missed this earlier

Cut back as hard as you like, but make sure you leave some foliage on each branch. I have had acacia and melaleuca both die when the branches were cut back and no leaves left on the branch

Ken