BLACK SHEOAK

[anttal63]

this is the one that i have spoken about previously in other threads. they take well to brute force, just they sook for a lot longer. this one was trunk chopped, bare rooted and culled last week of sept. 08. and finally showed signs of life 2 weeks ago. it has been in full sun the whole time. the hotter it got the more water i gave it (morning and night) and wela.

[MelaQuin]

glad to see your success... I did the same and binned it a couple of months later. No, looked at the roots and there was no hope if that equates to no life. Have not worked on the second one but it is growing like a weed.

[anttal63]

thanks lee; the first time i did this tree 2.5 years ago it took 6 or 7 months to pop again, the difference was i did the work in autumn ( april/may). i kept checking for green under the bark and therefor just waited. as much as i was sick of it taking up space.

[anttal63]

update

[FlyBri]

Gday Ant!

This is a very nice start, and I think possibly my favourite of the She-Oaks you've posted here so far! The curves in your new leader are consistent with those in the lower trunk, giving you a nice flow.

I've noticed with the ones that I've chopped, there is a tendency for tens of new shoots to emerge from a few single points, which left unchecked will cause a nasty bulge. It appears that you have kept an eye on this, and that you have chosen your leader and first branch early in the piece.

Is this view the front? If so, my only criticism would be that the first branch might need to be pulled further around towards the back/RH side of the trunk. As it stands, it appears to be coming straight at the viewer.

Thanks for the update, and I look forward to more!

Fly.

[teejay]

Nice one Ant!

When I look at a trunk like that I always wonder "where was he fortunate enough to find a casuarina trunk with such movement?" because I can't find any that don't go straight up! Or did you shape it early? It looks older though.

At any rate, it'll be a great tree.

[kcpoole]

I agree the "front Branch" if that is what iit is is too much of an "Eye Poler". You will need to move it more as fly says

I woudl think the lower trunk was wired early.

Nice quick growth you have there Ant

[anttal63]

gents thanks for the feed back, yes wire only went on this morning so still needs a bit more tweaking on that 1st branch. fly you are right about selecting early too many shoots to just leave there. now it had hardened off enough to wire otherwise would be very easy to dislodge them and that is why i need to be careful with that 1st branch. tee thanks pal. i wired that movement into the trunk when i got it. it was younger but not much thinner if any. at that stage it was approx1.5 metre's tall. i wrapped 2 * 5mm wire's around it and bent away over the next 12 months. surprising how much give they have. dont be shy wrap it and give it a go.

[teejay]

After reading that Ant and seeing the results you can be sure that I will!

Cheers mate.

[anttal63]

After reading that Ant and seeing the results you can be sure that I will!Cheers mate.

if i had that effect on ya
I FEEL GOOD!!! - DOO DOODOO DOODOO DOODOO

[Elias]

I like how this one is progressing, very nice work Ant.
After my visit to your place I went out and grabbed two of these
You've inspired me to give em a shot, I will wrap em up and try some bending.

Elias

[anttal63]

ba ba ba baaaa aaahhhahooo

I FEEL GOOD!!!

[teejay]

ba ba ba baaaa aaahhhahooo

I FEEL GOOD!!!

[anttal63]

wire off and a little thinning. growing very fast

[Kunzea]

Nice work anttal.
Black she-oak is a great species to work with. I had 1/2 dozen or so a few years ago from a nursery - too large diameter to do bending of trunk, especially as the trunks had great develoment of corky bark. So I'm having experience with developing some 'formal upright' styles with this species. An interesting challenge. Some already had wild trunk lines, so they are not all soldiers on parade.

I also had great variation in how long they took to shoot, once given a severe chop. Some came out in just a few weeks, while others took months. I think for me, it was that I also did a fairly severe root prune at the same time - cut off about 2/3 of the roots - single cut across the root ball from a 250mm or so pot . The ones that took longest were the ones that had the most root disturbance.

Finding the shape for the primary branches that tells the story of 'casuarina' rather than black pine is a challenge too. It is so easy to slip into the sine-wave trunk with branches 'left/right/back' etc. But these species have such characterisitic but sublte growth forms, that creating a miniature version of an old one would be really worth while.

I'm trying to write an article on branching in the common species of she-oaks of SE Australia for the Aust. Plants as Bonsai Study Group. If I get it done, I'll try to post it here too.

Cheers
Kunzea