LillyPilly from shrub to trainer

[alpineart]

Well it feels right so i whip this out today , it took all of ten minutes

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to excavate this monster

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. With a root ball only 150mm deep it was a breeze compared to some trunks this big .A quick root prune underneath

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and removal of the red clay

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the root ball was reduced to 90mm in height . I hosed off the soil and played with the finer roots and its into a 750mm bonsai pot

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to give it a 2 year growing season without a re-pot

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.This is somewhere closer to the planting angle required for this trunk . Due to the fact it was growing on a 30 degree terrace the root mass is angled somewhat so i hope in a couple of seasons it will be able to be root pruned and planted more upright . The base is 180mm x 200mm at soil level and stands 650mm high , thats one heck of a Sumo Lilly pilly trainer . Now i have my eye on a Japanese Maple planted at the same time as this tree , it too was one of my first Bonsai that ended up in the garden .

Cheers Alpineart

[Dario]

Coming along beautifuly Alpine
What will the eventual height be, or are you happy at this height?
Cheers, Dario.

[alpineart]

Hi Dario , its had a quite a few trims , pinching the tips out over the last 6 months and a few new side shoots /young branches dislodged . The height will remain around the 600-700mm mark, depending on the length between the leaf nodes . In the ground they were around 50mm apart so hopefully they will shorten somewhat in a pot and make it more compact . I trimmed it with scissors prior to removal , now it needs a re-wire before things thicken and the shoots dislodged again .I will get it into a 500mmx400mm pot , unfortunately i don't have one on hand as the Azalea's have taken all the spare pots

Cheers Alpine

[Steve Warren]

Thank you for posting its removal Alpineart. I had been waiting for this day. I must say it looks great out of the ground and in a pot. Cannot wait to see the new growth this coming season.

Regards

Steve W

[bodhidharma]

I had been waiting for this day.

I have to Alpine..Wow.. i imagine future plans would include more branching. Do they produce fruit for you in your climate.

[alpineart]

[quote="Steve W"]Thank you for posting its removal Alpineart. I had been waiting for this day. I must say it looks great out of the ground and in a pot. Cannot wait to see the new growth this coming season.

Regards

Steve W

Hi Steve W, its good to finally get it out , its a pity it was grown on the slanting terrace but the clay has done a good job for restraining the feeder roots

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. Only the 4 stay roots were above the clay so they were split off from the top and will no doubt create new feeder roots .Because i severed the big root with a sabre most had fused back together , next time i will remove a section of root to allow the new roots to grow while still in the ground . A few swings with a sharp tomahawk took care of them .

Cheers Alpine

[Bretts]

Great Alpine Good luck

It will be an interesting ride from here. I think the biggest challenge will be the scars. Challenge = character. What are your thoughts on thier direction from here?

[alpineart]

I had been waiting for this day.

I have to Alpine..Wow.. i imagine future plans would include more branching. Do they produce fruit for you in your climate.

Hi Bodhi ,i have selectively left new shoots in the desired position and it needs a lot more to fill it out ,{ knocked some well positioned shoots off } getting them in the right again place will take time . This does fruit , it has a cream flower with pale purple fruit at about 12mm . The tree's in this area have a berry around 16mm and a dark purple which stains the hands , maybe the clay soil or lack of care when it was a tree has something to do with the color or it may be a different cultivar to the others in the area.
Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Great Alpine Good luck

It will be an interesting ride from here. I think the biggest challenge will be the scars. Challenge = character. What are your thoughts on thier direction from here?

Hi Bretts , i will run the dremel around the scar to help the bark heal over flatter . They are beginning to roll which i want to avoid if all else fails i will gently carve them or conceal them with the canopy .I wont polish/clean the trunk until i see the results over the next couple of seasons as the grey wood will stand out like dogs balls against the red bark unless i stain the red whick could easily be done . It need some root at the rear so it will remain in this pot and be continually pinched and wired /unwired to create a Sumo Broom while hopefully keeping the lower to mid section of the trunk exposed .

Internodes between the leaves will be the issue as they are about 40mm at the first set then 60mm plus at the second and increases at the third, so i will have to keep it too 1 set of leaves at all times possible .i let it run a couple of times but the result was always alongating more between the leaves . I think once it has plenty of foliage the issue will lessen , it will be out with the scissors or hedge trimmers . It a pity it wasn't the Syzygium Austale -Mini Lilly Pilly , but way back then when it was purchased i don't think i new what it was as i would have purchased it from a market for a few dollars.

Cheers Alpine

[Bretts]

I would never say never but my first thought is these scars will not heal and will need to become a feature

[alpineart]

I would never say never but my first thought is these scars will not heal and will need to become a feature

Hi Bretts , just checked it out and the scars on the south side have healed over up to 12mm on an 80mm cut 8mm on a 50mm cut , however the scars on the north side has only healed 1mm on a 100mm cut and 2mm on a 50mm cut . Interesting observation. The rear has more scars and branches to aid the healing and they are healing flush, the front basically has no branches close to the big cut itself but has the bigger branches possibly taking the energy to produce the growth . I will rotate the tree and see what happens to the front scars .

Cheers Alpine

[Matthew]

alpine if you get buds around the scars let them grow and turn them into sacrifice branches. i found it to be very effective for elms and tridents. Mt cork elm layer has a 60mm scar at the bach which is 50% healed in one season due to the 1metre sacifice branch growing over it.

[coocarch]

Going to go ahead and sound weird, but I would fight a thousand angry Mexicans for that kind of material! It looks fantastic and is an Australian Native. WELL DONE!

[alpineart]

alpine if you get buds around the scars let them grow and turn them into sacrifice branches. i found it to be very effective for elms and tridents. Mt cork elm layer has a 60mm scar at the back which is 50% healed in one season due to the 1metre sacrifice branch growing over it.

Hi Mathew , strangely enough the north face has 3 branches right next to the scar at the top and 1mm of healing has taken place , 3 branches on the south side has 3 branches right next to the scar of the same size and has healed 8-10mm . I think the open wood may have absorbed too much heat during the summer slowing the healing process . Although other factors could have resulted in the healing , drier on the lower side of the terrace which happened to be the north side of the trunk , more fertilizer was placed on the top side also as i watered it was washed down and away from the bottom side . All shoots from now on will be retained either for use or as sacrifice branches . I have seen their uses at your place and Shibui's .Being an evergreen i will begin to power feed in a month or two after it settles , needs a wire job first up .

Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Going to go ahead and sound weird, but I would fight a thousand angry Mexicans for that kind of material! It looks fantastic and is an Australian Native. WELL DONE!

Hi Coocarch , grab a pot plant, trim it to look like a pathetic bonsai , pop it in the ground for 15 plus years and you won't have to fight a thousand Mexicans . This was neglected every year so if one was to nurture a tree you could have something like this in 5-7 years in good soil and plenty of fertilizers . This tree competed with a river bottle brush for water and nutrients as in the first pics , its base is 300mm plus .

Cheers Alpineart