Araucaria cunninghamii or Hoop pine of Mary W

[NBPCA]

Hi all,

We had the pleasure of having this tree on display at the NBPCA for our first year open to the public from Sept 2008 till Sept 2009.

The owner of the tree, Mary W recieved the tree in 1966 or 1967 and so the tree would be now around 50 years old.

Hoop Pine - MW - 2009-5-6.jpg

After the tree went home in late 2009 it was trimmed back very hard and eventually repotted as well.

Old Prickly 1 Oct 2009 3.jpg

Root prune for Old Prickly23 Oct 09 001.jpg

Root prune for Old Prickly 23 Oct 09 004.jpg

New pot for Old Prickly 23 Oct 09 004.jpg

I hope to get a more recent photo and will post when I do.

I will add some horticultural information and our care regime soon.

Grant

[NBPCA]

Hi all,

A bit of info gleaned from the club magazine and some of our experiences at the collection.

Mary was given this tree in 1966 by the late Fred Smith of Mt Dandenong and the tree dates from 1960. Mary calls it "Old Prickly" as the constant pruning to maintain its shape cause the foliage to be juvenile and prickly.

At the NBPCA in Canberra the tree coped very well with the colder climate and went back in good health and a full canopy. It had been left a year longer than normal in its pot so that it would travel well to and from the collection. Mary normally repots the tree in spring. We were not sure how it would react to Canberra as this was the first we had worked with. We soon found out you could trim it pretty hard but we erred on the cautious side; it could have handled a much sunnier spot as well.

It seemd to grow from any cut point and would also bud back freely on older wood.

Apon return of the tree Mary cut off 95% of the foliage and left for about 3 weeks before repotting. She wanted to see the new leaf buds emerging before repotting.(Note;- this is personally how I handle most natives ie. I cut the foliage if needed about 1 to 3 weeks before I repot so that the buds get a head start before the roots are cut. I don't usually cut the foliage and repot on the same day.)

The amount of root growth had been more than Mary expected and she was amazed at both the amount of root and the length of the roots when combed out. (Note;- at that time at the collection we fertilised every two weeks with Nitrosol; we now feed every week with equivalent Power Feed)

The tree survived its hard root prune but may have come back a little slower than normal due to the hard root prune, doing it later in the year combined with a number of hot dry days in the few weeks after the repot.

They come from more northerly climes of both hotter and wetter then central Victoria but seem to cope well with drier and colder climates.

Mary doesn't specify a potting mix but I don't think it would need anything special.

Grant

[Roger]

Many thanks Grant and Mary for the info on the hoop pine. Much appreciated.

Just a short comment on juvenile leaves in this species. They are of similar shape to adult leaves, but are smaller. In each case they are narrowly triangular in outline. Those on vertical shoots can be narrowly triangular to almost needle like, whereas those on more horizontal side branches are not so narrow.

Roger

[MattA]

Hey Grant,

Many thanks to you & Mary for such a detailed post. It is a truly stunning tree but looks so gawky when pruned right back.

Its interesting to note the time given between pruning & then repotting, also the effect of doing it later in the season had on regrowth.

Matt

[NBPCA]

Hey Grant,

Many thanks to you & Mary for such a detailed post. It is a truly stunning tree but looks so gawky when pruned right back.

Its interesting to note the time given between pruning & then repotting, also the effect of doing it later in the season had on regrowth.

Matt

Hi Matt

Normally I would expect the tree to come into growth quicker if it was repotted later in the year so I don't think that on its own specifically slowed the tree down; more the hard prune and potentially very dry condirtions after the repot. Where Mary lives was in very severe drought for many years and water was so precious that she might have been watering very carefully with an eye dropper.

Grant

[quercusalba]

Hello, I'm in France, sorry for my basic english,
this article is very interesting, when I travel I find in Spain a few seeds of araucaria cunninghamii;
so I will try the expérience with theses seeds, even it's difficult, so I'm looking for the most informations about culture, the substratum of culture,the temperature, ambient humidite, watering, drainage, ph of the ground, etc.........
in france I use pozzolana, unrefined sand of granit, zeolithe, and ecorce of pines stamped, humus
in Spain I see this species of araucaria a larges tree in an arboretum in a place name Blanes zone usda 9 (-7°C/ -1°C) and some other in this area near the sea side where there is some years a few frosts and exceptionally a little snow
I search on the web but unsuccessfully, I'll be glad to have informations and the opinion of some people who have a practse with this tree
and I will show the result of tis adventure
thanks a lot