Acacia cognata

[PeterH]

At the clubs last meeting I was ask whether I had any wattles besides my cascade, and the answer was no.

Later when I was back home I realised I had one (Bower Wattle) I had ground grown and dug up in 2009. Because of the problems with borers (one particular bug ate a 20mm hole thru the trunk to the soil) I left it to its own devises except, for the occasional haircut. All this attention by the borers had caused it to swell and thus producing an ugly negative taper in the lower trunk.

I decided to clean it up and try to at least reduce this problem and at the same time remove the borers.
The following pictures are a result of the work I did about a month ago. It is now starting to put on new growth and maybe it will become a Bonsai in the future.

Regards

Peter

[lackhand]

Looks like a job well done by both you and the borers, Peter. Nothing like nature to make a natural looking hollow. I reckon you'll end up with a(nother) pretty nice tree by the time you're done with it.

I've enjoyed all your updates recently, you have some very nice trees.

[GavinG]

Very interesting indeed!! If that trunk gets any more "character" it will be more holes than wood! It makes for a unique and dramatic base. It also looks as if the branches will form something convincing, with careful handling. It seems that you've allowed sacrifice branches to rise vertically to thicken the trunk and the sub-trunks - true?

How long was it in the ground, and how tender are you with root-pruning? I know some Acacias are touchy.

Thanks for posting,

Gavin

[PeterH]

Hi Gavin,

It was in the ground for 3 years. It hasn't been root pruned since its removal in 2008. I will just follow the basics and root prune it after flowering next year.
As you can see a good part of the tree was cut off.The cut left a scare that was attacked by the borers.

Lackhand,

Should be good if I can keep the borers away.


Regards,

Peter