My first lepto

[HarleyD]

Hello everyone,

I've recently become interested in Australian natives as bonsai and when I saw this Leptospermum at my local bunnings I couldn't resist picking it up. It already has an interesting shape - heavily leaning to one side and although it's difficult to capture in a photo, the trunk is about 2.5 cm across at the base. It didn't have a specific species on the nursery card, only the cultivar which is 'tickled pink'. A quick google suggests that it is a hybrid of Leptospermum polygalifolium 'Cardwell' and Leptospermum 'Rhiannon'. L.

From what I've read on this forum and other websites, these seem to be difficult to keep alive as a bonsai. I was wondering whether anyone had any advice on the dos and don'ts when it comes to leptospermums generally. I'm new to this species and I'm hoping to keep this one alive for as long as possible

I'm also interested to hear people's opinions on shaping the thing. I probably won't touch it until spring, but I'm already torn between a slant style or a split trunk...

[shibui]

A couple of Lepto sp can be harder to manage but many are no problem at all as bonsai.

Tickled Pink is one of the Bywong nursery cultivars. I have not tried that one yet but I am growing a couple of their other pink flowered cultivars which respond very well to root pruning and to trimming provided I don't cut back to bare wood. That means regular trimming to manage top growth and fortunately you still have plenty of foliage to work with closer to the trunk.

I've been repotting these similar to other natives - late spring in warmer weather. It may even be possible to repot at other times in the warmer environs of Melbourne.

[dansai]

Nice looking stock. I agree with shibui, although some leptos seem to be harder, most are really easy. I regularly take large amounts of roots of some of mine (L. petersonii and a couple of hybrids). They can form very fibrous root systems so its just a matter of ripping off the outer areas.

L. petersonii can bud on bare wood and will so profusely after a very hard cut back, others can be pretty hit and miss.

I have had a few different ones dry out. A couple of hybrids that didn't lose all there leaves bounced back, a L. petersonii came back after severely drying out but only a shoot from the bottom, and out of 3 young L. polygalifolium 1 only lost a few leavesw and was fine, the other 2 lost all their leaves and only one survived.

So my advice, don't let it dry out!!!! If you see any signs of drying out, immediately soak in a tub of water.