AusBonsai

Just like my Alloc. Littoralis, I got this batch of trees as tubestock from a native nursery about 2.5 years ago or so...
These are known as Drooping SheOak and seem to me to have a similar growth habit to Littoralis but coarser/sparser branching and are (in my limited experience) a bit slower in terms of vigour.

Mine are pretty small, but they're only young and I tend to let them grow out and extend about 1m or so before I cut back hard and hope for some budding. Generally the budding is succesful, but not as reliable (again, from my experience) as Littoralis. They tend to bud a bit lower than where you cut, and if the branching is quite young that you are pruning, it may well die back entirely and bud from the base of the branch instead... I haven't bothered with wire for these (not really up to that stage) ... just clip and grow techniques so far.

They are a bit unusual, not sure if many people are trying these guys - would be keen to hear from others who have given them a go ... Anyway - here are my 3.

interesting bark! In more mature bonsai, are the trunks normally semi segmented like yours?

her0d wrote:interesting bark! In more mature bonsai, are the trunks normally semi segmented like yours?

Yeah, the bark is pretty interesting ... I think in my trees it looks a bit like a banksia integrifolia to some extent but the trees I have seen in nature aren't really like this so I think it might just be a maturity thing. I've never seen a more advanced bonsai so can't comment in that regard, but I've attached a couple of pics I found that show a tree in the wild and a bark close up of a mature tree ... we'll see what happens in a few years I guess!

Just a quick update on one of these. I gave it a cut back yesterday ... I kind of like it even though it's a bit out there.

Another day ... another allocasuarina. Slowly, slowly ...

any update pics ryceman?

Still got a couple of these going and gave them a trim back today.
These are a different animal to Littoralis / Torulosa etc... I am yet to find a method of pruning to develop reliable/predictable shoots where I want them, hence ramification is ... well ... non-existent until I can come up with a technique that can produce something usable. I can reliably reproduce branches dying back to their bases and more (new) shoots developing from there, which is obviously not ideal, using the same technique I use that works for Littoralis.. I tried allowing the branches to harden off for a longer period before pruning, however this still didn't result in buds being created one (or two) internodes below the cut site, again the tree prefers to just let the branch die back and instead grow new shoots from the base of the branch. If anybody has any experiences/suggestions/hypothetical theories that might help me get this ramifying, I'm up for some experimentation or advice.
On the positive, the trunks are quite freaky and appealing. It feels a little prehistoric ... a lot different to other species so i'll persist for a bit longer.
On this last picture, there is a sacrifice branch on the lower left helping to fix the reverse taper ... although I'm not convinced this is a good idea, I feel that reverse taper here kind of adds to the "grotesqueness". Thoughts?