LillyPilly from shrub to trainer

[alpineart]

HiDario , its coming along nicely , now i have to fence it off . The kangaroo's are coming down into the yard for the lush grass and have had a nibble on a few shoots , so i wire netting fence is required .

Cheers Alpine

[The Hacker]

Hi There Alpine Thats a nice tree ya got there

Cheer's The Hacker

[alpineart]

Hi The Hacker ., not a bad looking stump that's for sure .I keep meaning to get back up there and stick some wire around it .It will happen tomorrow after i cut the roots back a tad bit more .The roo's are back in the yard so if i don't protect it there won't be much to play with . Too many other little big jobs on the go over the last couple of days , time for some simple jobs , and a bit more therapy on the body .

Cheers Alpine

[Steve Warren]

Hello Alpine,

Just wondering if you have any updates on this little (big) gem as of yet. I am as I am sure others are keen to hear of its progress.

Steve W

[alpineart]

Hi Steve W, Mate i have trimmed it several times . I started to cut it back to 2 pairs of leaves then 1 pair .

100_9471.jpg

This morning i took to it with the scissors and hacked it back as blunt as possible

100_9474.jpg

gone in 60 seconds . . I will remove the 2 upper original branches so the apex will be completely rebuilt . This is the fastest growing weed i have , considering i have cut the root mass back another 200mm , it now has a base root ball of around 450mm , it didn't slow the tree's growth any . The wire netting has stopped the roo's from grazing on it although they nibbled the end shoots , the fence is around 900-1000mm in diameter. I will remove the original wiring as they shoots have thickened to around 6-8mm and there is no room for further thickening . Once the seasonal growth has hardened off i will under cut the root ball and severe it in readiness for a training box or pot . I need to do a little research on this and find the best time to remove it , the new growth is very soft and dislodges very easy .

Cheers Alpineart

[Steve Warren]

Hello Alpine,

Thank you for the prompt update. I recently lifted my much smaller specimen from the ground as my sons cricket prowess was taking its toll on the new shoots.
Into a poly box it went and has not missed a beat. I would have lost 1/3 of the roots due to the urgent nature of the transplant. I will post some pics soon.

Thanks

Steve W

[alpineart]

Hi Steve , I clean cut a miniature lilly pily in spring and it has powered on . To remove this trunk now would be suicide as the radiant heat is killing a lot of tree's and plants now .I took a trailer load away last week literally hundreds of trainers .Its a problem with Summer in my position , the temps can be 35 degree's but the radiant heat is 40 - 45''plus and a lot of plants dehydrate in the branches and foliage while the pots are wet . Some of the exposed pots/boxes or bags actually cook the root mass .I have shade sails and shade cloth everywhere possible for shelter from the sun and to slow down the radiant heat which comes up the road and directly into my driveway which then funnels through the yard and of course onto all my tree's . I wouldn't like to loose this trunk .

Cheers Alpine

[Steve Warren]

My temp zone is a bit more forgiving. I look forward to seeing this baby come out of the ground. When you do please take some pics and keep us updated. I am keen to expand my knowledge as well as my range of lilly pillys. What a great native tree they are.

Thanks again Alpine

Steve W

[Matthew]

Mate that sucks with the radiant heat. my setup isent as bad as the house protects the area from most of those NASTY northies and anything from the south is buffered by the back of the bonsai benches. fele sorry for you as theres enough elements, disease and pests to do your bonsai in let along heat like that. A 40+ day there must feel like been on the sun. Not sure how you could correct it otherwise by moving??

[alpineart]

Hi Steve i will certainly update the topic as it progresses , are they an Aussie Native

Hi Mathew , mate they need to build that Super Dam and flood Myrtleford . I would have a waterfront property surrounded by a huge water cooler to keep things cool around here .If i had all the tree's lost to heat i would have 20,000 plants to keep me busy . A few years ago we had a week of temps around 42-48 degree's , radiant heat was around 55-60 degrees , i watered 3-4 times a day just to ease the heat stress .On the hill behind me you could actually see the gum tree's dropping leaves and dying , 50% of the native vegetation died even the pine plantations suffered major die out . There are worse things in life , i could always move back to the City .

Cheers Alpine

[Roger]

Sorry to hear about the heat down Myrtleford way. We only get short bursts of anything approaching heat this summer.

The lilly is coming on well. Thanks for the update.
Roger

[Steve Warren]

Hello Alpine,

You had got me thinking there Alpine. I always pressumed they were native,so I looked into it. I found a number of articles suggesting that they are and all of there cultivars are native. I am more than happy to be corrected, although I will be disappointed.

Acmena smithii / Lilly Pilly
"Lilly Pilly is one of the best-known Australian rainforest plants used in south-eastern Australia. This plant has been used as a single tree or as a hedge since the early 1900s. It has been in continuous use because of this tree’s great adaptability to Melbourne soils, especially sandy or clay loams. Unlike many other Australian evergreens, it thrives in the clay soils in the east and north-east of Melbourne.

Originating in warm-temperate forests from the Northern Territory south to the far-eastern tip of Victoria, Lilly Pilly requires relatively moist soils for rapid growth and healthy appearance over summer. These required irrigation levels decrease as soon as the plant is well-established, but Lilly Pilly will never be a suitable tree for droughty situations or on poor, skeletal soils."


See ya

Steve W

[alpineart]

Hi Roger , the heats a bit of a bugger then there's the cold also .Can't have i good all the time , makes for a challenge that's for sure.

Thanks Steve W , I didn't realize it was a native .Look out for the 2012 Native comp , might just rip it out so it can be entered , my little miniature is doing real well also , guess i had get out there and do some work on it . Most of my other Natives are struggling with this bloody heat . .

Cheers Alpine

[anttal63]

nice one ian look forward to it !!!

[alpineart]

Hi Anttal63 , is coming along nicely .I took a look this morning and i need to cut it back a bit to get some back budding hopefully in the right area's . With such big branches removed the sap flow must be confused as to which path to take , although there is no die back on the trunk it has some very naked area's . I think another handful of Rustic Plus will give it another good boost

Cheers Alpine