AusBonsai

Just finished collecting a Lilly Pilly that I have had my eye on all Winter from my mother in law's house. I had collected a couple of bottle brushes there in Autumn but did not realise she wanted this one gone as well.
She is a ripper
Oh I forgot to mention. It may not be that noticeable in the pics but the leaf is very small for a lilly pilly. And the fruit is also small, maybe 5mm or about half the size of the normal lilly pilly
Does anyone know of dwarf varieties that this could be. The house is not that old that it came from, in a new development, so the tree can't be that old

Jeez Bretts, Very nice find !

Love the movement in the trunk! Awesome!

Ken

thats a nice specimen mate. I used to work at a local garden centre that had 2 very nice potted lilly pillys out the front, very very thick trunks, would have some awsome bonsai

Excellent taper and root spread for a lilly pilly Bretts. The primary branches distribution is very well balanced too. It will make an excellent broom style as it is (not saying that you shouldn't change the design)
Congrats.
DK

awesome tree Bretts
I thought you were having space issues i will do you a favour and take it off your
hands if you have trouble finding a spot for it

Nice score Bretts. That will be a future masterpiece. I am the green guy. If you need any help at all just send it down for a while.

Nice score! I bought a small leaved lily pilly yesterday, its got really small leaves and red new growth, we also have a tree in our yard with small leaves and small pink berries about 5mm big, the new growth is pink, I don't know its name though sorry.

rawhide wrote:awesome tree Bretts
I thought you were having space issues i will do you a favour and take it off your
hands if you have trouble finding a spot for it

When I had the space issues I always had this tree in the back of my mind knowing I needed to make space for it. But I have had a slight change in attitude to this stock. This come out with a perfect rootball.
I had the mother in law step sister misses and all the kids standing around chatting as I sweated away finding a way to release this. Plus since I had taken the bottle brush's the mother in law had planted out some very nice plants that looked great in spring flower so I had to watch ever step I made.

Anyway from watching Sandev Bonsai I have found a very handy tip in using a pulley system to lever the tree out of the ground.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... Wj4lQ8Vjzc#" !
I find with trees like this after going around the base with a shovel as best I can I start using a tool I now find indispensable when collecting trees. It is a long straight type of crow bar. Funny thing is the mother in law asked me if I wanted to borrow a crow bar. I told her I already had a crow bar of hers and it was my favourite collecting tool that I had for years now.
This thing is like a jack hammer with no on switch, might get a pic of it tomorrow. Even I was surprised is it popped out of the ground with a perfect ball of soil and roots.
But I had other plans for this tree and washed all the soil of and was quite drastic in reducing the root ball. The plan being that it would go into a fairly small pot and I would not be reducing the root ball drastically again in a couple of years after it has recovered.
I had the same idea with the top and thought I would bite the bullet and decide on the future plan for this tree now when it is bare of foliage instead of trying to look through all the foliage in a couple of years wondering what the hell to do.

kvan64 wrote:Excellent taper and root spread for a lilly pilly Bretts. The primary branches distribution is very well balanced too. It will make an excellent broom style as it is (not saying that you shouldn't change the design)
Congrats.
DK

That is my thinking too DK I am thinking of making a few adjustments tomorrow something like this maybe

Wow! Love it Bretts!
It might be a typical approach, but I love the trunk line in the 1st pic tilted to the left 20 to 30 degrees or so...obviously pruning all branches off as the trunk is thick enough for me. I would keep the first short branch coming from the top on the left as the frame for the apex (reducing it by half) and cull the others, and then wait for it to pop for branch selection...also further adjusting the roots mildly for the suggested planting angle.
Anyway, although you didn't request it, I just thought I would offer my 2 cents!
I am sure with your experience you will come up with something terrific with this fantastic score!
Look forward to its development!
Cheers, Dario.

Hi Bretts , nice trunk for sure , I have one here that was originally my first bonsai and i planted it back in the ground and forgot it . I was hoping to have it out by now but that "time" word has a bad ring to it .Even went as far as to buy a cordless sabre saw to cut the roots out prior to digging .I will be watching this one .Cheers Alpine

kcpoole wrote:Jeez Bretts, Very nice find !

Love the movement in the trunk! Awesome!

Ken

Glad you noticed the movement KC it is understated in the size of the stock. It is a little more evident from the front I indicate in the chop virt.

Thanks Alpine. I would be interested to know how fast yours has grown as this one does seem older than the house is. I guess it must be about 10 years old or maybe even less

Dario wrote:Wow! Love it Bretts!
It might be a typical approach, but I love the trunk line in the 1st pic tilted to the left 20 to 30 degrees or so...obviously pruning all branches off as the trunk is thick enough for me. I would keep the first short branch coming from the top on the left as the frame for the apex (reducing it by half) and cull the others, and then wait for it to pop for branch selection...also further adjusting the roots mildly for the suggested planting angle.
Anyway, although you didn't request it, I just thought I would offer my 2 cents!
I am sure with your experience you will come up with something terrific with this fantastic score!
Look forward to its development!
Cheers, Dario.

I am keen on the broom approach Dario. If you flick through this thread you will see several very full broom styles from Taiwan that I take inspiration from. With a fast growing lilly pilly I guess there is a chance I may even get there
Oops missed the link
http://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t4823 ... exhibition ?

Sweet Bretts, you go for it mate as I am sure it will be great!
Thanks for the link!
PLease keep this one updated, Dario.

Just chatted with the mother in law and she reckons her house is about 16 years old. That sounds like a fair estimate for the age of this shrub

Looks like you have it all planned out Bretts. With this right timing, there will be a lot of new shoots for refining later. Can't wait to see it progress and tell stories.
Cheers,
DK