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Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: March 7th, 2016, 8:10 pm
by Sno
High in the mountains the stags sharpen their antlers in anticipation of the rut .(actually it's probably very itchy have something grow out of your head every year .) This tree was used as a rubbing stick by a very itchy stag . When I first noticed it a couple of years ago the top half looked like it had gone through a shredder . Last year I noticed that it was still alive just ,it had an infestation of of a beetle that had nearly defoliated what few leaves were on it . So I decided to intervene and using the seven p' s I dug it it early January . It sat quietly until a few days ago when it decided to pop .
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Cheers Sno

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: March 7th, 2016, 8:17 pm
by Ryceman3
I know it's a scale thing but might wanna keep the Tooheys New at a safe distance... It seems this little Euc has seen enough Stags to last a lifetime! It's a nice little tree.... :beer:

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: March 7th, 2016, 9:07 pm
by Rory
Sno...... that is lovely mate, lovely.

If you ever wanna part with this piece of stock, look me up. :yes:

Can't wait to watch this thread. I will be watching it keenly. :clap:

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: March 8th, 2016, 8:43 am
by Sno
Hi Ryceman . Very funny , ah the irony .It took me a while to understand your comment . I have been drinking Tooheys for so long that the labels logo has melted into the background and I don't even notice it any more . Cheers for that .

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: March 8th, 2016, 8:55 am
by Sno
Hi Rory . Thanks ,early days yet but the way it's poping is very promising . The next hurdle 'winters coming ' .

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: April 4th, 2016, 9:16 pm
by Sno
Found out the stags rub the trees to mark there territory when rutting . This was a Hakea growing in the bottom paddock .
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It looks similar to the gum tree when I first saw it .

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: April 6th, 2016, 6:51 pm
by shibui
Seven Ps Sno?

Prowl around looking for suitable targets
Patrol - the area to work out if anyone is watching
Park - as close as possible
Pause - to check again and make sure no-one is looking
Posthole shovel - use this as necessary to extract target
Pilfer, Purloin, Pillage
Piss off - before anyone turns up OR Profess ignorance and Plead for mercy
Proceed home - with or without tree.

Ooops that's 8 Ps

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: April 6th, 2016, 8:27 pm
by Kevin
Thanks Shibui,
:lost: I didn't want to ask.
Kevin

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: April 6th, 2016, 9:41 pm
by Sno
Prior ,preparation and planning prevents piss poor performance . If you want to know what that involves you will have to ask me nicely . :whistle:

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: April 7th, 2016, 4:04 am
by Kevin
Excuse me Mr Sno,

What did you mean when you mentioned the seven p's
Sno wrote: So I decided to intervene and using the seven p' s I dug it it early January .

Cheers Sno
Thank-you in advance Mr Sno

Kevin

P.S. Honestly Craig, Did your "Deer Stick" take 2 months to "pop"? Did you have it sitting in water the entire time? As i have had one for about 4 weeks resting in complete shade and in 1 - 2cm of water. I'm a little concerned with the water as the entire trunk is saturated. Mine was a self seeded, snapped in half and generally treated with the utmost respect by the local youths and rescued more along Shibuis' 8 P's theory. The added Mycorrhiza has been doing its hardest sending its threads up through the bark and on occasions appearing like a shoot. I was about to give up, but your quote to another member "until the bark falls away from the trunk" has kept me hoping.

Thanks,
Kevin

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: April 7th, 2016, 7:54 am
by Jarad
Kevin wrote:Excuse me Mr Sno,

What did you mean when you mentioned the seven p's
Sno wrote: So I decided to intervene and using the seven p' s I dug it it early January .

Cheers Sno
Thank-you in advance Mr Sno

Kevin
The post directly above yours:
Sno wrote:Prior, preparation and planning prevents piss poor performance. If you want to know what that involves you will have to ask me nicely . :whistle:

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: April 7th, 2016, 10:30 pm
by Sno
Thanks Jarad and thanks Kevin for your interest. This tree is 15 years or older ,I know this from the fire history of the area that the tree was growing in . I doubt that using ' Shibui's 8 p's method ' would result in a successful outcome in digging a tree of this age .
I started the dig last march , first I bare rooted it while still in the ground to about 60 cm around and to a depth of 40 cm . I cut all the roots leaving them 10 cm long except two which were about the thickness of a 50 cent piece and which were fairly lateral . I then put a bottomless container in the ground around the tree ,cutting out the areas around the two roots and marking on the top of the pot where they were . I then back filled it with 50 /50 compost and bonsai mix ( pumice ,diatomite etc) .
It was then treated like a pot watered every second day or so and fed regularly . By mid spring it was growing gang busters . I then dug around the outside of the container and cut v notches into the two roots ,I staggered the time between each root a couple of weeks . The thing didn't miss a beat . I was expecting to leave it in the ground for over a year but by late December the way it was growing I was worried it would become a tree again . So I dug it .
After care was putting the pot in a shallow dish for some capillary action , shade with just a little filtered sun , and watered heavily ,misting whenever I walked past . It lost a couple of small branches but now it's bolting .
At the same time when i started I collected seed from nearby trees and out of that I got 3 seedlings which I was going to use for grafting on roots . I will keep them till I next repot , hopefully I won't have to use them :fc:
'Seven P's ' easy really ;) .

Kevin I have a snowgum that I dug a couple of years ago (which I didn't use many p's when I dug it ) after 3 months I was going to chuck it out when it started shooting it died back to the base which was a shame because it had a nice trunk .The base is a decent size so it's worth keeping . The trunk will make an interesting deadwood feature .
Cheers Craig

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: April 7th, 2016, 10:43 pm
by Kevin
Thanks Sno,

Very informative and helpful advice.

Kevin

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: April 8th, 2016, 8:59 am
by melbrackstone
All your work in repatriating this tree will be worth it, I'm sure. Thanks for the extra info, Craig!

Cheers
Mel

Re: Eucalyptus rubida 'The Deer Stick '

Posted: October 5th, 2016, 9:39 pm
by Sno
Ah what to do ? The tree over wintered in one of my dodgy setups and seemed to enjoy the expierance .
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So much so that its pushing new growth earlier than the other local trees .
So my dilemma is whether to keep all the dead wood .
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On the one hand the deadwood has the history and age which tell a story that makes it unique on the other hand it 'gets in the way 'of the new leader and makes the tree to my eye look a little awkward .
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Since I've had this tree I've been looking at other candlebarks , they really are a beautiful species of eucalypt . They have a naturally twisty branch form and some of the old fellas have massive buttressy trunks . When they suffer large broken branches the new growth reverts back to juvenile foliage ( which this tree has ) even the really old trees .
Still early days but I have to decide its direction .
Thoughts anyone ?
Cheers Sno