a melaleuca linariifolia weeping style

[matty-j]

hey guys i'm new to bonsai and i have collected nearly all my plants so i cant do any real styling yet and saw this guy for $10 an thought why not its only $10 i got it home an wired the branches and just went for it an this is the result the branches need to be brought down more but i herd cracking so i stopped then 2 weeks later the flower turned brown then it got me thinking does this type of tree lend its self to this style? will the branches die off? is there any other style i can do that i cant see?
any help would be appreciated cheers guys

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[nealweb]

Well...I'm no expert, especially with natives and I don't really know m.linariifolia but I don't think it is naturally a weeping sort of tree and your first photo would seem to agree with that. So in my honest opinion your tree looks great! and is very creative but you may always be fighting the tree to maintain the style. It may be a constant battle with rewiring and trimming (others who have tried may disagree??) so for my money I always reckon it is easier and more natural feeling to try and stick with the trees natural style. I guess informal upright for this tree. And if you want a weeper then look for a species with a naturally weeping habit to use. It will just look more 'right' and be a lot easier to maintain. It does look pretty cool though
cheers,
n.

[Hornet]

From what i have been told, even weeping tree's have to be forced to weep as bonsai, they weep due to the weight of foliage on fairly thin branches so as bonsai they have to be forced into that style.

Anyway it doesnt look too bad, hopefully you can get the branches down a bit more so they are not so arching. Be keen to see its progress in the future.

I do much prefer to see tree's trained in their natural style and since there are a number of melaleuca's that do naturally weep this isnt an overly unnatural style for the tree.

[cuwire]

Hi M-j

You should start a TV show called Extreme Wiring.

I am new to this game like you and have a couple of melaleucas but no courage like you to wire in such a cavalier fashion.

Is the browning on the cracked branch or is the tree in general just P****d off ??

Any way ... seriously its all good feedback lets know how it all progresses.

Cheers David

[Craig]

any help would be appreciated cheers

g'day Matty, I don't have any linarifolia's in my collection YET, but Pup has a couple, The new shoots definately have an upright growth habit, and most likely as said previously you will struggle with this species in this type of style ,that's not to say you can't give it a go but If it were my tree ,i would not.Also keep your trees roots covered with soil, it's un-necessary to have them exposed this early in the trees training,,, keep us updated mate please

[bodhidharma]

I have found, with experience, and good info from here that your tree will suffer making it weep below its correct apex line. But as you said, for ten bucks give it a go.

[matty-j]

the browning on the cracked branch or is the tree in general just P****d off ??

hey dave no just generally p****d off

,i would not.Also keep your trees roots covered with soil, it's un-necessary to have them exposed this early in the trees training

thanks craig do i have to completely repot to do this or can it be covered up with a layer of sphag and moss??

thanks to everyone else for your advise i appreciate it so very much
a few comments were made about struggling to keep it in this style but i was under the impression that once a branch was wired and left to grow, new fibres would grow into that position it would hold its self on its own
in saying this if the branches were pulled down to the required length and had the ends cut now then they would not have to be wired again??
i understand that new branches would form an then i would obviously have to wired them down but once the branch structure is in place then regular trimming/pinching of new growth would be enough to keep it in check.
this sounds simple in my head but in reality is this much harder than what i think it seems to be?
in my mind i thought of 2 options of creating the full canopy i imagined
1 letting the new branches grow straight up then just wire down??
2 making a chicken wire fence in place around the tree and push the new branches that hit the 'wall' down to encourage downward growth??
your thoughts on this would be fantastic!!
i will be working on the tree tomorrow afternoon i will be cutting off all flowers, cleaning all the random foliage that i missed and putting moss over the exposed roots, ill be sure to post some pics!!

what i haven't even thought about yet is a fertiliser plan for this tree yet anyone with experience with this tree could give advice on what they use/how often? would be fantastic
or advice on fertilisers in general for natives ?
in all honesty i do not know very much at all about fertilisers yet ill have to hit the books
thanks guys
cheers matt

[Craig]

thanks craig do i have to completely repot to do this or can it be covered up with a layer of sphag and moss??

i personally don't use spag moss or even moss itself unless it grows naturally, but

and putting moss over the exposed roots,

That sound ok to me no need to fully repot . Matt, by keeping the roots covered with soil until they are developed to the stage/thickness required to suit the tree, they stay soft and grow/thicken more quickly. By leaving the roots exposed from early on in a trees developement, they harden off, form bark ,and do not thicken at the same rate as when buried/covered.Also thin/small exposed roots may dry out and wither away and die, which in turn means the nebari is being lost, let the roots thicken, form a nice rootspread and nebari and uncover later on leaving nice fat exposed surface roots..
So look after your roots

[harry]

Hello to you. A very interesting styling approach to this species. Which do not naturally weep. also the crown of your tree is very open showing a very imature tree.
I know it is only just starting, but this is something that needs addressing, like the roots. All the fine branches need to be wired also. If you can get to see the late John.Y.Naka's book it will show how the weeping style should be developed.

It is also my understanding that with certain species of Melaleuca, to go past the parallel will weaken the branches, so this is something to watch for.

Harry

[Pup]

That is a very interesting approach to styling this particular Melaleuca, it is a naturally upward growing species, and as Harry has pointed out, this is a species that do loose vigor when pushed past the parallel, so you will have to watch this.

In my experience with Mels, many will go past the parallel. Some will be OK some as I say will weaken, they will loose all the foliage except at the tips, and then start to die off.
I see this on mature trees, every day when I take the pup for his walk.

What Harry has said about the reading of Naka's book, showing the approach to styling weeping trees is very good.


Cheers Pup

[matty-j]

hey guys thanks for all the feed back i'm kinda scared on how spot on you all are especially pup, 2 branches have nearly lost all there foliage and i ran my hand over the other branches and a lot more fell off but only the tips remain like you said i think this tree's future lies down a different path, but in saying that i have no idea where to go from here.
i hate to admit defeat but i think i may need to find a new approach to tackling this tree

[Pup]

What I would suggest is you take off all the wire or push the foliage up and the cut back to live leaves. Do not go past the live leaves.

Sorry this has happened.

Cheers Pup