Melaleuca Linariifolia Saplings

[Jarad]

Ducked into my local bunnings several times this week and noticed that they have some of the above mentioned trees for sale. They are about 2m tall and the trunk are about the same size as a 20-50 cent coin for $50 a pop, should I be jumping on this deal? There is a slightly thicker one that has a branch about 30cm above the pot which could become the new leader after a trunk chop.

[Rory]

Ducked into my local bunnings several times this week and noticed that they have some of the above mentioned trees for sale. They are about 2m tall and the trunk are about the same size as a 20-50 cent coin for $50 a pop, should I be jumping on this deal? There is a slightly thicker one that has a branch about 30cm above the pot which could become the new leader after a trunk chop.

Hey Jarad.... no, this is not really a good deal. I strongly recommend you take a trip out to the Big Flower in Ourimbah. There are 2 nurseries very close to each other. Do not go to Lee Rowan, it is the other one. It is the one with a giant scultpure of a flower out the front. The other nursery is very expensive, don't go there.

The Big Flower has a lot of different stock to use, and I have often purchased stock from them. The also sell a lot of natives and exotics too, Melaleuca / Banksia / Callistemon / Bougenvillea / Lily Pily / Conifers yadda yadda yadda. It is a common misconception that a thick trunk is gold. You have to put it in context... as the age of the trunk most likely also indicates the stock could be seriously root bound if the trunk is quite thick compared to the size of the pot from a general nursery. Hard to say without seeing the stock, but you can get so many great bargains from The Big Flower, for a fraction of the price.

http://www.bigflower.com.au/

https://www.google.com.au/maps/search/t ... !4b1?hl=en

Plants In 8" Orange Pots (200mm)
1+ = $9.95
5+ = $9.00
10+ = $8.00
50+ = $7.00
100+ = $6.00

[Isitangus]

I agree $50 for a long (not that thick) trunk.. Your paying for a garden plant. Even then there are plenty of wholesale nurseries that are way cheaper.


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[Jarad]

Thanks guys! I'll check out the big flower.

It wasn't going to be an impulse buy, I gotta think about every purchase coz I have limited space.

[Jarad]

I ended up purchasing one of these saplings. To get it to fit in the car I had to cut it in half in the carpark, what was left received water and fertilizer for a little while. The next step was to take it to a workshop at Bonsai World where Ashley gave me guidance on how to abuse the tree and lay the groundwork for something great. When we were hacking this guy apart we tried to get the cuttings to strike, but to no avail.

Here is a photo of the trees as they were when I made the purchase:

ML02 - 2015.03.27.jpg

And here are some photos of where it is now:

ML02 - 2017.02.18 - Approx Front.jpg

ML02 - 2017.02.18 - Approx Front (Close).jpg

ML02 - 2017.02.18 - Approx Back (Close).jpg

These are only approximate front and back as I didn't have much time to take the photos.

The base is currently about 60mm in diameter.

In the next few weeks I will be doing some more selecting a new leader and then leaving it alone again.

[CraigM]

Fantastic result in 2 years.

Assume you chopped the trunk low and selected one of the shoots as a leader. Cool movement.

[Jarad]

Thanks Craig.

Yeah chopped quite low, there was also a lot of trunk below the soil, so the bottom had a chop at the same time. Had my fingers crossed when I did it.

I'm not sure if the movement looks natural enough to make a convincing bonsai later on.

I know it's just bones at the moment, but I would love some critical feedback and advice.

[Elmar]

Nah, it's bad!
You should pack it up and send it to me! That way it won't confuse you any more! Haha.
I like the look of the second last picture. Seems to shoot back well!


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[shibui]

linariifolia does bud well so if you get a bit of tree that does not look right just cut it off and you'll get lots of shoots from whatever is left. Just keep starting over until you get a result

To get ramification just cut back to the bare bones of trunk and primary branching. lots of shoots will grow to form the branching.
Once established you do need to keep pinching or trimming regularly or shoots can grow long very quick.

[Jarad]

I don't think quarantine will let it through... Sorry Elmar, I'll just have to keep it

Thanks for the tips Neil. Every time I see it I'm surprised by how much it has grown, those long, leggy vertical branches were tiny shoots not too long ago.

Why didn't I buy 3 or 4 of these...

[Ryceman3]

Wow that is some pretty impressive development mate ....
I like the movement you have generated in the trunk, clearly these things grow like stink for you - did it spend any time in the ground?
Almost as interesting in this post are the myriad of pots and plants/trees in the background - where are you!!
Great vision and good execution - nicely done.

[Jarad]

They go absolutely nuts with enough sun and water. It's spent it's whole life in a pot, I can't imagine how big it would be if it spent time in the ground.

I was up at Bonsai World in Jilliby, they have a tonne of stock up there.

Thanks for the kind words mate!

[Jarad]

Got a chance to work on this Mel the other day:

Before I started any work:

ML02 - 2017.03.04 - Front Pre-Trim.jpeg

ML02 - 2017.03.04 - Front Pre-Scrub.jpeg

I gave it a trim and left 3 branches on as I can't decide which one I would like to become the new leader. I also whipped out my trusty soft tooth brush and gave the bark a little scrub.

The new leader candidates:
1. Use the middle branch and create a bit of a zig zag (original idea)
2. Use the branch just above the first big direction change and have a tree that's slanting to the left (this is what I'm leaning towards).
3. Create a wind swept tree using the horizontal branch to the right (Alternate idea kindly donated).

ML02 - 2017.03.04 - Front Post-Trim&Scrub.jpeg

ML02 - 2017.03.04 - Back Post-T&S.jpeg

ML02 - 2017.03.04 - Back Post-T&S Close Up.jpeg

This is the leader I was originally going to use.:

ML02 - 2017.03.04 - Front New Leader 1.jpeg

This is the leader I'm leaning towards:

ML02 - 2017.03.04 - Front New Leader 2.jpeg

Looking forward to any suggestions.

[Isitangus]

Tilting the whole tree would give a nice flowing trunk line. Some wire on the top leader to continue the movement, and some heavy wire on the lower branch perhaps?
Just an option but great stock


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[Jarad]

Thanks for the tilt mate, I'm assuming the new leader your proposing is that really skinny one in the middle. I can see where you're going with it. That'll give it some nice movement.

I wish I got more of these at the time...