I Purchased this Casuarina from Leong at Bonsai South
Cost $30
This thread had to be restarted since the upgrade here, as the pictures are now hosted externally rather than on this site.
This was initially going to be a telegraph pole, but nature had other plans. I accidentally let it dry out too much over summer 2018, and the top 1/3 died back. That top telegraph pole is now deadwood and has broken off since the last photo. (Casuarina deadwood doesn't last long, especially with high humidity). It has since developed the side branches. It was also shaded for 6 months as I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep it and moved it into the 'not sure' area of my garden, which has resulted in very creepy, twisted growth as it struggled to find light. Now I adore it.
I'm attempting to develop it as a natural styled Casuarina.
There are many natural traits that a lot of growers dislike with Casuarina which ironically are what make this iconic species so immediately recognizable. Yet many growers remove or discourage this, such as crossed branching, bar-branching, multiple trunks that do not start at the very base, and their long beautiful arching branches with no taper. (This is perfectly understandable as we've always been discouraged from allowing this, but I adore these traits on Casuarinas). It isn't actually that easy to maintain sweeping branches with no taper as the branching will thicken fast if you allow the branch to strongly develop, so you have to occasionally reduce the number of branchlets, but keep enough to maintain good health.
I find it is best to cut-and-grow to develop the sweeping branch movements, as opposed to wiring, as wiring doesn't give it that iconic look.
And another iconic trait of these guys is that they generally don't have a uniformed branching style on the one tree.
These species make aesthetically beautiful trees. The weeping foliage and very thin needles make this the most visually stunning of all the Casuarina species in my opinion.
DO NOT let these dry out. I recommend adding about 30-35 % washed course river sand for better drainage to your mix.
Don't let the lower branches get heavily shaded.
This photo was taken 01 Nov 2014
This photo was taken 30 April 2015
This photo was taken 17 Feb 2016
This photo was taken 17 Mar 2017
This photo was taken 28 Feb 2019
This photo was taken 15 Apr 2020
I am hating both Google Sites and Google Drive. They are now the most difficult sites I've ever had the displeasure of using to try and store and link images to. 
