first heavy prune serrata and integiflora

[Matthew]

finally got around to pruning most of my bankias in my grow beds. these were put in 18 months ago from tube stock. most cut today were close to 9 feet with the integiflorias a little taller. all have been cut back to under 30cm and sealed with paste than putty . final height for these in years to come will be between 40-60cm but that could change. i plane to leave them in the beds another few years. the larger integiflora with a base over 100mm didnt have any low shots so i hope i didnt send it to its doom, grant should know i guess (jump in mate) . this batch is a experiment as i have no training with bankias but i see one or two with GOOD potential.

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[Grant Bowie]

Hi,

I think you have done the right thing.

But stand well back as you could get hit by the burst of new growth that should now come.

You have about three months of growing season left so you should get plenty of foliage by winter.

You could do some bud removal if you want to channel the growth into specific areas.

Grant

[kcpoole]

From tube stock in 18 months is and amazing growth rate!
When I put trees in the ground, or lift them to root prune, they mostly sulk for the first season and then the second year take off

Ken

[shibui]

Maybe Ken should move south of the border and find out what good soil really is! Having said that, my shimpaku alsways take a couple of years to get going in the ground so might be the species you've tried.

Integs and serratas that I've been working with both bud profusely from bare wood so I'd agree with Grant - no problem there. The problem is more about the huge number of new shoots that will come so probably a good idea to rub off a lot of the buds to avoid localised thickening.
Only about half of the banksias I dug this year survived the transplant so improvements in technique needed there...