Callistemon prune and styling advice

[jonathon_p]

Hi All,

Hope you are having a great day. I recently repotted and trimmed a callistemon I picked up from Jilliby a little while ago. I really like the tree and it looked great flowering this year, with the weeping branches.

I am a bit stuck as to whether I should reduce it significantly, or let it grow out. I like the trunk a lot, but everything is pretty straight and I feel like I could probably make it a bit more interesting by removing material closer to where the trunk forks.

The weeping effect looks great but I would really love to hear if you have any opinions on whether a significant reduction would a) be safe considering I just repotted it and had to remove a significant amount of the root ball (~70%), and b) whether you think it would help with development. It's been a bit cooler the last few weeks, so I am mindful not to go completely crazy with it.

20211117_091707.jpg

Front - or back, haven't decided yet

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Back - I think this is a better front though

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Left side

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Base of the tree

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Base of the tree - thickness

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Branching

I wonder whether it's a good idea to remove everything above where the left and right fork - seen above.
Of course I could just let it grow out again too. As always appreciate any feedback.

[Promethius]

That's a great trunk!
I agree with your thoughts. I would have thought that cutting back now would be suitable, given that it's after flowering and would match the root reduction. I'm sure wiser heads will chime in!

[shibui]

I regularly prune Callistemon at transplant so it should be safe to do so.
I note that some new shoots are very droopy, Callistemon seem to like plenty of water after significant root pruning, many of us even keep new repotted trees in a tray of water for a few weeks until the start to grow.

As for pruning you really need some sort of plan to help direct pruning. your reference to left or right fork is a bit ambiguous as there are a number of forks in that trunk.

I'd be cutting quite low to get rid of all straight sections with little taper but that's just my preference. You have a great base with some nice bends that then turns into long, straight sections. Chopping hard will mean more years regrowing the trunk and new branches and that does not always suit new growers. You will need to make the decision about what shape looks good and how to achieve what you like.

You can probably already see that callistemon will bud and grow on bare trunk when they are pruned. Most new shoots will form just below the chop point so make sure you cut low enough if you decide to do so.

[Akhi]

My experience has been similar to what was mentioned, keep in a tray of water and the tree just takes off.

IMG_20211122_193314.jpg

I would cut hard too to make a short tree, with such lovely bark. In the pic attached I suggest you cut the branch which is in the inner curve at a minimum.
Also would change the angle at which it is planted if you proceed to chop the tree hard.
Only my suggestions depends what you are after for your tree.

[jonathon_p]

Thank you both, Shibui and Akhi. I think I will cut back quite hard, to what Akhi suggested. I have the tree in a tray of water and some sphagnum moss in there to keep it moist. Hopefully it takes off and I can post again in the future with an update.

[jonathon_p]

I ended up cutting back to here:

20211122_203829_Cropped.jpg

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So not quite so hard, but I'm scared I'll kill it

[Phil Rabl]

There is a lot of advice on AusBonsai about Callistemon. In March 2021, I posted a summary of this advice. Here is a link to that post: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=29478.

[greg27]

So not quite so hard, but I'm scared I'll kill it

It'll be fine, as others have said they bud back like crazy. I dug one out a while back and ended up with almost no roots - it shed all its leaves, sulked for six months and then exploded with new growth and has a pot full of roots.

Personally I'd cut it a bit harder on the straight section of the main trunk, but you'll likely get new buds emerging on that branch so you can wait and cut back to one of those.

[shibui]

So not quite so hard, but I'm scared I'll kill it

That's already a brave chop. Well done for having a go.
You always need to be comfortable with whatever you do to your trees. Leaving a bit more to be on the safe side and waiting to check the response turns out as others have predicted is good practice.
If all goes well and you recognize the need to cut further that can be done next year or the one after.