Anyone tried these???

[Tamnewbie]

Hi everyone, has anyone done a bonsai with either a pink flowering Blueberry Ash or a Lemon Scented Myrtle? I have one of each, both in 30cm pots, about 60cm tall. The Myrtle has a nice base. The Ash only has a fairly slim trunk but lots of branches. will try to put up a picture. Thank you in advance.

[GavinG]

Blueberry ash grows well as bonsai - sorry I have no photos. General rule is - cut it back quite hard (to a low branch with an interesting angle maybe) in late spring, grow it on in larger pots, cut back hard once each year, to get a thick interesting trunk, then gradually reduce the size of the root ball over a couple of seasons so that it will fit into a bonsai pot. You might need to protect it from frost in Tamworth - they can be a bit touchy.

No idea about the lemon-scented myrtle, but once again the process should be much the same, and you may need to protect against frost.

If you search for "Eliocarpus" (Blueberry Ash) and "Backhousia citriodora" (myrtle) you might find something on this site, but they're not common.

Best of luck.

Gavin

[dansai]

That would be Eleaocarpus reticulatus.

Regards growing: as Gavin said. I have worked with both, but not in a really concentrated way. Both would be a long term project and suit larger trees. I have had really small leaves on Bachousia myrtifolia (Grey Myrtle), but internodes get long very quickly. I think getting trunk and branch structure right and then constant pinching would produce a good Bonsai. I have had less success with B. anisata (Aniseed Myrtle) Very coarse growth, but I won't give up yet.

[Tamnewbie]

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Thank you both very much for you really helpful advise. I did cut the Myrtle back a bit but left the 2 lower branches to (hopefully) thicken the trunk, but haven't re-potted it for 2 years. With this unseasonably warm weather we are having, I might cut the Ash back now as well. Thanks again.