Repot natives

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shibui
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Repot natives

Post by shibui »

Last week was designated Native Week at Shibui Bonsai when I got stuck into some well overdue repotting.
Here are some pictures to give you an idea how I go about repotting native plants for bonsai.

The first is a ti tree. These came from seed collected at Smoky Cape, NSW. The parent trees were dwarfed plants growing in cracks in bare rock so I figured they should be adaptable enough to make good bonsai. They have turned out to be happy to shoot from older wood when pruned and I have had no problems when pruning the roots. The only drawback is they are slightly frost sensitive down here but they have always sprouted again in spring. No flowers yet.
repot natives Dec 2016 01.JPG
repot natives Dec 2016 02.JPG
repot natives Dec 2016 03.JPG
repot natives Dec 2016 04.JPG
repot natives Dec 2016 05.JPG
repot natives Dec 2016 06.JPG
Sorry about the focus on that one. Someone had adjusted the camera to manual focus :lost:

Native week has actually turned out to be native fortnight. Today I did a few more and whenever I have another look I find a few more that need a repot.
I nearly missed this Melaleuca which was hiding among the others that are getting close to getting their own bonsai pots.
Melaleuca in a 30cm orchid pot.
repot natives Dec 2016 07.JPG
I needed a saw to cut through the roots on this one.
repot natives Dec 2016 08.JPG
repot natives Dec 2016 09.JPG
A few larger roots have been cut
repot natives Dec 2016 10.JPG
This is probably not the ideal pot for this tree but is the best I could do today.
repot natives Dec 2016 11.JPG
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Re: Repot natives

Post by melbrackstone »

I've been repotting natives this week too! I'm a lot more tentative with my pruning, clearly! Will see what happens this year, and may look at being a bit more aggressive next time.

Do you put them straight out into full sun Neil?
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Re: Repot natives

Post by shibui »

All my trees are watered well then put straight back on the bench where they came from.
I'm a lot more tentative with my pruning,
How hard to prune depends on many factors. 2 of the most important are 1. species: some tolerate root pruning far better than others and, 2. Whether it has been root pruned before. All these trees have been repotted several times so I know they have a good fibrous root system which means they can tolerate pruning better.
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Re: Repot natives

Post by melbrackstone »

Ok thanks. The three I did were all nursery stock, hopefully next time they'll have a better root system.
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Re: Repot natives

Post by Boics »

I did a few as well this weekend.
What is that Mel species shibui?
Does it backbud? Already starting to look great!
One of the fabulous things about growing bonsai is as you get old and decrepit your trees get old and beautiful
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Re: Repot natives

Post by shibui »

I'm pretty sure it is Mel linariifolia Boics. Quite common as a street tree and farm tree. This one was self seeded on the edge of a neighbour's dam when I collected it about 3 years ago. I have not tried cutting it back hard yet but I'm pretty sure they will bud on bare wood which is good because it is starting to get a bit leggy and will need drastic pruning in the next few years.
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Re: Repot natives

Post by Ryceman3 »

Hi Neil,
Picked up a Cal Sieberi from you in July of this year. It has grown on strongly and over this weekend I have given it quite a significant prune and added some wire just to start shaping it. It is in need of a repot I feel, given the work I have done should I hold off or in your experience can I go ahead with this too? I'm confident enough with cutting back above the soil, but I begin to question myself when it comes time to attend to the roots. :whistle:
Any advice welcome.
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Re: Repot natives

Post by shibui »

I usually do a prune and root prune at the same time. I saw that Pup prunes a bit before repotting so the tree is ready to shoot. It seems that with callistemon you can root prune in summer either after or with a top prune.
The C. seiberii that I repotted this week were really full of roots so I guess the one you have will be too. I still have a few more to do..........
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Re: Repot natives

Post by Ryceman3 »

Awesome. Thanks for the advice... As always much appreciated! :cool:
I might get in there if I get a chance (depending on work) this week.
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Re: Repot natives

Post by Boics »

shibui wrote:I'm pretty sure it is Mel linariifolia Boics. Quite common as a street tree and farm tree. This one was self seeded on the edge of a neighbour's dam when I collected it about 3 years ago. I have not tried cutting it back hard yet but I'm pretty sure they will bud on bare wood which is good because it is starting to get a bit leggy and will need drastic pruning in the next few years.
I'm glad you mentioned it being a bit leggy Neil.
As that is exactly what I had in mind - trim this all back a bit and reduce the canopy to closer to the trunk and this will be well on it's way to looking a lovely native broom style.

I've never had problem backbudding with my Mel Lin*
Even on bare wood from memory?
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Re: Repot natives

Post by shibui »

The 'waterswept' callistemon is the next one to be repotted. This year it has 3 flowers just opening this week.
Here's a shot with all the spring shoots
callistemon prune 2016 1.JPG
This is Callistemin sieberii which has smaller, white-pink flowers. Not as spectacular as some of the red flowered species but still nice.
P1160240.JPG
I'm not sure what root pruning would do while it is flower so I'm just going to prune all the shoots back hard and leave it for a week or so until flowers are done then repot.
callistemon prune 2016 2.JPG
Note that my aim for this tree is to try to maintain a sparse, elongated shape rather than allow it to get bushy so I've removed quite a few inner shoots and pruned some sections of branches where I thought it was getting too dense. Looking at the photo maybe I should take even more off :lost:
I'll try to remember to take photos when I repot this one in the next couple of weeks.
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Re: Repot natives

Post by Boics »

I like the sparser look too Shibui.
Very nice.
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Re: Repot natives

Post by Ryceman3 »

shibui wrote: I'll try to remember to take photos when I repot this one in the next couple of weeks.
That would be great to see! I hope you remember.... :fc: It's a great tree.
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Re: Repot natives

Post by bonborn »

How to root pruning a Japanese buxus. How hard can i go on them?
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Re: Repot natives

Post by Jarad »

I really like that M. Lin Neil. What would be the damage for that guy?

I have a M. Lin that I'm working on at the moment, they actually grow quite quickly. Once summer kicked in it only took 1 month for some wire to cut in 3-4mm on the new leader.
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I don't trust Bonsai, they are a little shady.
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