Casuarina 3 progression

[Steven]

G'day,

Here is yet another Casuarina progression.
This one was originally purchased in November 2008 from a regular nursery in Dural for $13. It was labeled as Allocasuarina torulosa however I don't think it is because the bark isn't as fissured as it should be If anyone knows what it, please speak up.

2008 November.jpeg

2009 January.jpeg

In July 2009 it was root pruned and put into a bonsai pot. Obviously the wrong time as it suffered a lot of branch dieback. By mid august the branches were full of new buds.
It was repotted again in September 2010 without any setback.

2011 June.jpg

2011_September.jpg

2011 November_before.jpg

2011 November_after.jpg

Next step is to wire the remaining branches and twigs then continue to prune the growth into natural looking pads.

Comments, questions and suggestions are all welcome.

Regards,
Steven

[MattA]

Hey Steven,

The pics really dont do it justice, what a fantastic start to a great aussie bonsai.. on comparison with a couple sheoaks I am growing, my best guess would be Allocasuarina littoralis (Black sheoak).

Look forward to seeing this progress over time.

Matt

[Ash]

Hi Steven,

The development looks like it has been very rapid, especially since it is in a bonsai pot. I like the overall shape and do like the lower angled placement of the branches in your most recent wiring. It is hard for me to tell from the photograph what you have in the way of front and back branches, is the gap at the front intentional (e.g to show the trunk boldly) or the result of there not being a branch for the front? Also how do you find the branches set following wiring? You look like you are moving them around quite a bit and quite successfully.

regards
Ash

[bodhidharma]

The development looks like it has been very rapid, especially since it is in a bonsai pot.

I agree, they dont grow that quickly in the Central Highlands Lovely little tree though Steven.

[Steven]

The pics really dont do it justice, what a fantastic start to a great aussie bonsai.. on comparison with a couple sheoaks I am growing, my best guess would be Allocasuarina littoralis (Black sheoak).

Thanks Matt, I appreciate you getting back to me. Did you end up going home with the new dog?

It is hard for me to tell from the photograph what you have in the way of front and back branches, is the gap at the front intentional (e.g to show the trunk boldly) or the result of there not being a branch for the front? Also how do you find the branches set following wiring? You look like you are moving them around quite a bit and quite successfully.

G'day Ashley,
There are back branches in the right places and I am hoping to get some more branches on the front to fill in the gaps. They do shoot from the trunk readily during the growing season so
I let them dry out a bit before bending as they can be brittle when hydrated. I have found them to be a bit springy if the wire is removed in less that 5 months so I try to wire pretty loosely so I can keep it on for a long time. Are you growing yourself?

Lovely little tree though Steven.

Thanks Diederik!

I should have mentioned earlier, this tree was originally trunk chopped and grown by Melaquin. We went together to the nursery and both came away with similar stock. My other one is somewhere around here

I also should have mentioned the size. It is currently 400mm from top of pot to tip of tree and 350mm wide. It's in a nice Mudlark pot by Penny.

Regards,
Steven

[MattA]

The pics really dont do it justice, what a fantastic start to a great aussie bonsai.. on comparison with a couple sheoaks I am growing, my best guess would be Allocasuarina littoralis (Black sheoak).

Thanks Matt, I appreciate you getting back to me. Did you end up going home with the new dog?

I just hope I am right, ID is not my strongest point. We did take her home & she is the most beautiful girl, a great companion for his other one.. The thing I like, could easily fit 9 on my back seat, instead of squeeze 2

[Andrew E]

Hi Steven,
Hows the progress on this one going?
I really like this one

Andrew

[Steven]

G'day Andrew,

Not a lot to report since November. I have finger pruned twice since then the latest being yesterday. Here is how it is looking.

2012 January.jpg

Some of the tips of the lower branches have died back but this shouldn't be too much of a problem. There is plenty of healthy growth left on those branches to replace it.

Regards,
Steven

[FlyBri]

Nice work Mr Steven!

I obviously missed this one first time around, but I'm glad to have caught it now at what I believe is a critical point in its development.

I am not usually a fan of Oz native species styled to look like their Nothern Hemisphere cousins (IE: drooping branches), but your treatment of this particular tree in this particular style has created a believable, picturesque rendering of an old She Oak in the landscape. Of course, the wire is adding a certain degree of gnarliness to the silhouette that may not be present in the flesh (wood?), but it's only a matter of time before your tree has 'gnarl' all of its own.

Great progress for 3 years, and I look forward to seeing what it looks like in another 3!

Thanks!

Fly.

[Steven]

Thanks Brian,

I've tried to style it based on the Casuarina that grow along the river on my property like the following;

Casuarina by the Turon River.JPG

I posted three threads on here a long time ago that have some nice inspiration -
Casuarina in the wild - Whole tree's by the river
Casuarina in the wild - Branch structure
Casuarina in the wild - Nebari and Uro

Now everyone go and grab a Casuarina or 3 and start working with them

Regards,
Steven