AusBonsai

I have a maturing E. bridgesiana that has horrified me in the last couple of weeks. I left too much "fluff" down at the base of the tree, and the whole top of the tree has died off... Ah well, that's only 6 years' work lost - back into a large growing-on pot, and re-develop an entirely New Tree!
I cut all the left side back hard, in the hope that it would revive the right side, but everything on the right side of the tree has now died back completely.

Some Eucs are strongly top-dominant (like E. nichollii) but others like E. bridgesiana show a distinct preference for the low stuff - and it's way too late when you start to see the signs of failure!

Gavin

Bugger!

OUCH!

Sorry to see that Gavin, they say Euc s are like electricity as in they take the shortest route for energy quickly, balance quick or lose especially horizontal growth, very frustrating to see that for you...will you persist with this one?

What do you mean by "fluff"? Moss? Scale? Swarm of locusts? Surprised it's been affected so quick, very scary!

I've got a tiny little euc sapling at the moment, it's the most temperamental of all my trees.

Time to switch to Banksia and Baeckeas.
‘Eucalyptus bonsai’ is a cruel synonym for ‘die-back’ and ‘heartache’.

I’ve been there many a time my friend.

Rory wrote: ↑March 7th, 2021, 9:24 pm ‘Eucalyptus bonsai’ is a cruel synonym for ‘die-back’ and ‘heartache’.

I’ve been there many a time my friend.

It's a cruel blow.

Waltron wrote: ↑March 9th, 2021, 11:51 am

Rory wrote: ↑March 7th, 2021, 9:24 pm ‘Eucalyptus bonsai’ is a cruel synonym for ‘die-back’ and ‘heartache’.

I’ve been there many a time my friend.

It's a cruel blow.

I had a beautiful Euc that was about 15cm at the base ... lovely elegant taper and twisted branching. I cut back the top to trim it a bit in November 2019 , as it was just getting too thick too quickly, and it died all the way back down to one side shoot. I lost nearly all the trunk a few weeks later. Then 3 months later it gave up the ghost. I hadn't even repotted it yet.

But I have the most beautiful Eucalyptus punctata at the moment, which ironically was given to me by Gavin. Its my favourite Euc, and I only trim it to keep in check. I don't have the guts to do anything other than a few trunk chops and occasional nibble on the side branches, as I love it too much.
But its going great guns and reminds me of that funny ol' legend Gavin, every time I work on it. Its shaped just like a 'Gavin'.. bent over and twisted growth upwards. Its a really cool Euc.

I will be starting a progression thread of it soon too. They develop such lovely foliage, and it reduces easily.

juan - exactly!!

anthonyW - I will grow Eucs till I die, they are wonderful - but can be erratic and unforgiving. Pick your species carefully (small-leafed, usually blue-green for some reason), know how they grow, then strap in for the ride. They can have great bark, roots, trunk shape, magical leaf tones, and to my mind they're certainly no harder than pines. As I said, I'll repot this into something bigger and regrow a whole new tree, with a dead stump out to the side. I definitely made a mistake - it's not just the tree being "unreliable".

legoman - "fluff" is just fine branches and leaves, without a basic framework of strong branches. No plague. If your Euc is temperamental, it's either the wrong species for the area, wrong potting mix, not enough sun, or something else - most Eucs grow strongly.

Rory. Rory Rory Rory. I've killed every Banksia I've looked at (probably pruning too hard - I'm trying again). We just need to learn how to drive Eucs - PeterH down in Canberra has some wonderful trees in the APaB show galleries. But yes, he'll agree they have a mind of their own. I'd like to see your/my/our E. punctata - I'd forgotten about it, in my usual way. Please post it. They've been tough for me, but coarse compared to E. crenulata, bridgesiana, cineria and the like. Straight trees and "nice" trees bore me witless, usually - I need another 100 years or so, judging by how far I'm getting so far, to find out how far we can take Eucalypts towards dynamic, dramatic, powerful, complex - all that stuff.

Thanks for your thoughts, keep Euc-ing!

Gavin

Might have been koalas

TBO - certainly not in our recent Canberra suburb - they bull-dozed everything in sight! Good thing - no possums. The first "wildlife" that came back, after 18 months was, would you believe, snails...

Gavin