Melaleuca linariifolia 'Claret Tops'

[Steven]

G'day Steve,

I had to cut through some pretty decent roots on this one too.

2013 February repotting.jpg

As far as after care goes, I just don't let them dry out. My mix is 50% Diatomite, 25% Zeolite and 25% Coir and I only water once a day except when it is really hot. It is sitting in full sun.
The existing foliage is going great. Looks healthy and has continued growing. There are hundreds of tiny buds starting to show all over the place and 1 or 2 that have popped.

2013 February after 1 week (1).JPG

2013 February after 1 week (2).JPG

2013 February after 1 week (3).JPG

Thanks for your interest,
Steven

[Pup]

OOOH look at those wire marks. With the humidity you get there after care should not be dificult for them.
I like where you have chosen to go with this.
As we disscussed in Melbourne, there were plenty of options, all of the will leave you with a natural looking tree.

This I am sure with your capable hands ( ooh p!$$!^& in the Bosses pocket) this will aspire to the National collection one day.

Cheers Pup

[squizzy]

Hi Steven,

I am watching this one with interest as I remeber seeing you walk out of rays back area on the school of bonsai sale day and looked at the tree thinking it was interesting. I didnt get a chance to introduce myself on the day as you were gone in a flash. Maybe you took off before Ray changed his mind.

Anyhow back to the tree. I was interested to know if the reverse taper in the middle of the right hand trunk was seen as an issue for you and if so, how would you intend on correcting the problem? I am interested in this because I have some current trees with similar charactoristics.

Squizz

[MattA]

Steven,
As I said in my PM I don't want to offend (you, Ray or anyone else), but, you asked. In short, it seems like age mattered more than substance.

Great OLD bark and great flare at the base but the taper issues really shake me.. the mother starts out very thin & then looks to almost double in thickness at the midpoint before slimming slightly & coming to an abrupt end. The daughter appears larger than the mother & again ends very abruptly... From some of the shots at the AABC convention its on a different angle to the front you show here & the taper in the mother trunk doesnt look so bad so maybe its "the angle of the dangle", it is also hard when not viewing in person but then "a photo will show the flaws the eye doesn't see"

I am also a bit miffed as to why you didn't give it a chance to really fill out to Boon's design. I can understand your not being happy but having gone to the effort & cost of taking it to melb for a workshop, to not give it a chance to fill out is to me a sign of disrespect for the visiting artist. (I will come back to this point in a future thread)

Matt

Ps... stunning pic of the lichen encrusted bark, one caution from my own experience. Keep a close eye on it as they provide a great hiding spot for cambium eating borer to lay egg & before you know it ..... they seem to like the softer bark under lichen cover...

[Steven]

Thanks for the good and bad feedback guys. The fact that this tree is generating discussion is a good thing

There is no hiding the fact that this tree has problems but I think that the positives outweigh the negatives which makes it worthwhile persisting with. The reverse taper does appear extenuated in the photo but this will be reduced (hidden) when it has foliage. It's not ideal but I'm okay with that.

Boon is a fantastic artist and great horticulturalist. I've got a lot of respect for him and his teachings but I don't think the design he came up with was the best option for this tree. We did discuss this after the workshop and I was upfront with him that I would probably restyle it. He didn't mind and we both agreed that it wasn't the best stock from him to work with as he has limited experience with Melaleuca and had not seen many/any old trees.
I did let the tree grow out from the styling I did with him as can be seen in the December 2012 and January 2013 images but in my opinion, the upright look would have resulted in a young looking tree.

Yes Pup, there are wire marks

Regards,
Steven

[Tony Bebb]

The negatives make the positives more interesting, and vice versa. All trees have both in some way to most people, just depends on what you want to focus on. For me the glass is always half full. Usually with beer

I agree the trunks are not ideal and the small one could use some 'fixing' at the top, but the main trunk you will most likeky have to live with as it would take a very long time to rectify. Will not be seen when the foliage comes on. I like the spreading design more than the upright one.

Good to see the new growth coming already Steven

Tony

[Steve B]

Time for another update Steven? I've got a mel (a lot less refined) at a slightly earlier stage, so I'm actively stalking you for progress reports!

Did the proliferation of new buds hold? Are you looking to thin the new buds out as they lengthen down to some ideal locations or let them all run? With the bushy, foliage pads Peter has targeted in the plan, I guess letting them all develop might give you the denser look with eventual thinning out down the track.

Also, how long will you let the shoots run before cutting back to encourage some ramification. I've historically targeted letting them run out to at least 5 sets of leaves before reducing back to 2 sets to encourage 2 shoots at the cut. After three series of this sort of cutting I've then gotten in there and thinned out some of the branching to get some angles happening and hopefully limiting potential "crowding out" and dieback.

Be interested to understand your techniques for getting the dense foliage happening.

Thanks,

Steve

[Steven]

G'day Steve,

Yes, the buds held and there is now a flush of new growth. Unfortunately this tree was knocked off my bench during the recent Storm Damage I suffered. It spent a day out of the pot on the ground but luckily it was a wet day and it survived okay. It did get a bit damaged by the tree that fell but nothing too bad.

Here are a couple of shots taken this morning of the new foliage.

2013 March (1).JPG

2013 March (2).JPG

The hard cut back and wiring I did has shaped the skeleton of the tree so I will be just letting the foliage fill in the shape now. I will be trimming back similar to you have described however some areas will not be trimmed as hard so I can create depth where needed.

I'd like to see a thread on your Mela if you have time.

Regards,
Steven

[GavinG]

That second shot is beautiful.

Gavin

[Steven]

G'day,

Despite having a branch from my neighbors tree fall on this Mel, it is going okay. It was knocked out of its pot and in my haste to get it back in I potted it on the wrong side. Sorry Tony
I put some more wire on it recently and trimmed some of the bushier bits. Next Spring I'll trim it hard again and selectively remove unwanted branches.

2013 May (a).jpg

Regards,
Steven

[woody]

Hi Steven,
I've been folowing this thread from the beginning. Interesting comments and questions by all.
But your last post shows a better shape. It looks more compact to my eyes.
Much more natural and it's filling in very nicely In all, good job!!
Woody

[bodhidharma]

I will compliment the pot first The tree has lots of potential and it would be easy to criticize the tree at this point, but i think another ten or so years of growth and refinement will see the tree come into its own (as with most of our trees) If i was to make a personal choice i would create a bit of movement in the smaller leader. At the junction of the new leader you could move it towards the larger trunk to follow its curve and then out again at the second right hand branch. I think it would add a little more interest to the overall design.

[Steven]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

It is a really nice pot that gets a lot of interest when people see it. Deserves a better tree
Bodhidharma, you are right again. It would benefit greatly from more movement in the smaller trunk. I'm heading out the back to do it now

Thanks,
Steven

[Webos]

Just wondering, how does this species go with bending beyond 90 degrees? I'd love to see this tree with its branches down like a conifer... I think it would look brilliant.

[Neli]

Hi Steven,
Nice progression and lots to learn from it.
Melaleuka is one of my favorite species...and I over bought them...so I have many.
I have some questions for you.
Some people have mentioned that melaleuka might have problem back budding if chopped to a place without leaves...Is this typical of all species...or just some varieties...I have so far brutally chopped my melaleukas (unknown varieties) and they have all back budded on very big old branches...Maybe I need to be aware in future of some?
How do you style the primary branches for tapper...? : Up to what % do You thicken them before cutting, and how long a stub of new growth do you leave after each cut?
For example you want to have eventually 20cm branch with final thickness of 1 cm at the base...At what thickness would you do the first chop and at what distance from the trunk, in order to create tapper?