Eucalyptus Gunni development question

[boristhebadseed]

G'day all

I have a question for the native horticulturists out there.

When is the best time to burn a eucalyptus to stimulate new growth and branching options? I last tried this in late summer, about 3 yrs ago to good effect, but am wondering if there is any actual information regarding this.

The provided picture shows a recent knock from our new puppy which broke the pot and the lowest branch.

All of the new foliage is developed on the extremities andso I think it is time to develop some lower branches to start again.

Your tboughts well received.

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[Phil Rabl]

There is some advice on burning Eucalyptus leaves in the summary of AusBonsai posts that I did last year. Here is a link to that post viewtopic.php?f=78&t=28106&start=15. You will find what you are looking for towards the end of the string of posts: It seems burning from November to March (but not on total fire ban days) will work.

[boristhebadseed]

Thanks Phil, I look forward to reading that thread.

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[greg27]

Don't let this one dry out - I accidentally did this with my gunii and it carked it, even though it was cool weather. I guess being a Tassie native it likes it damp.

[Rory]

Burning parts of a tree is a great way to produce die-back.

Wait till about November and just cut off more and more of the ends each year and most Eucs will shoot further back each time. Keep doing this over and over and you will get results if you're patient.

In my opinion, burning parts of your tree to try and stimulate new growth is a really bad idea. When you look at the Eucs that have survived an bushfire, a lot of branches completely die-back, and you see random branches survive, so unless you've got a pre-arrangement with your tree and an agreement of which branches its going to lose, I'd stick to cutting.

[austindrake]

Yes, I'd stick with pruning to be safe. I tried burning lightly and it looks like my tree has decided to die back rather than shoot new buds... I guess we'll see how it goes!

Also, that looks more like a red box... are you sure you dont have a e. polyanthemos?

[boristhebadseed]

Could be a Red Box, It didn't have a label, when I picked it up. Cheers for the tip. I really like trying to work with native stock...

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[austindrake]

Im pretty sure it is!
Here is my Gunnii:

2021-09-27 20_05_19-2021-04.JPG ‎- Photos.png

And here is my Polyanthemos:

2021-09-27 20_06_22-2021-07.JPG ‎- Photos.png

[boristhebadseed]

Awesome, that pretty much clears it up then. Now I can be sure. I picked it because I liked the gnarly trunkbase trunk and my lovely wife liked the idea of a Eucalyptus, so I'm growing it for her

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[boristhebadseed]

Just a quick update regarding this tree, I repotted in December and later pruned as advised. It is now sending out fresh shoots for new branches. Appreciated

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[boristhebadseed]

I thought I would update this thread on my Euc. My last post was some time ago, but aince then we have relocated to Wodonga VIC. I trimmed back rather than burnt off and it responded just as well as the flame.

I am very happy with its development and the newer groth is slightly smaller, and very healthy.

Your comments and critique welcome.



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[Bougy Fan]

Hi Boris to my eye the top of the tree is too big for the size of the trunk. I know zip about eucs so I don't know if you can prune back without dieback ? Rory will let us know. The movement is not really consistent with itself and with what I think the top of a euc would look like. If I look around they are all reaching up rather than out. My and BTW I really love that base too !

[Sno]

I like it , it does looks really healthy . The trunk is starting to look gnarley which for around here ( Snowy Mountains ) the branches would be a bit shorter only because the wind is extreme . We also get large trees mainly E vimanalis that the branches grow a long way from the main trunk . The other day I was driving out to Adaminaby and in one of the paddocks there was a large euc mayb an E mannifera that was growing in a corkscrew shape so for me Eucalyptus don’t have a particular shape or size .
I would lose the branch growing on the lower trunk though for two reasons ,first the trunk is to good to hide and second I get nervous that the top loses vigour over time to the lower branch .
Cheers Craig

[boristhebadseed]

Thank you for rhe input and suggested.
I value your opinion and will continue to develop this little euc in a manner that is sympathetic to it'sspecies. I am at this point working on the trunk and developing foliage ready for eventual (hopeful) reduction in leaf size and probable change of shape as they mature. Stay tuned for more...

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