Natives by the Coorong

[Matt S]

Just got back from a family holiday in Robe and I took some poor quality photos of farmland around the lower reaches of the Coorong. I'm not sure of the species as I wasn't able to get close enough but there were Melaleuca's everywhere lining the main road. I wish I'd had a decent camera on me as I had to zoom in with my phone and the resulting pics aren't great but I was blown away by the variety of twisted forms and deadwood scattered everywhere. I had to park by the side of the road and got as close as the fence line would allow, but if I could get in there I'd happily spend all day wandering through the trees.

coorong 1.jpg

coorong 2.jpg

coorong 3.jpg

coorong 4.jpg

coorong 5.jpg

Matt.

[greg27]

I love staring out the window (when I'm the passenger!) when driving along the Coorong; there are some seriously cool trees and shrubs out there. Thanks for the photos.

[SquatJar]

Beautiful inspiration for our own littles trees. I am always amazed that a reasonably common form across a range of different Australian species is straight(ish) trunk and crazy branches, I love it.

[Matt S]

After a bit of online investigation, I reckon these trees are Melaleuca halmaturorum, ( SA Swamp paperbark or salt paperbark).

Nothing is coming up in the ausbonsai search. Anyone had any experience with these?

straight(ish) trunk and crazy branches

yeah, I've noticed this too. It reminds me of some penjing styles with the whole yin yang vibe.

Matt.

[GavinG]

Great scenes. And it reminds me how important dead wood, and dead trees are in the landscape. We tend to think of A Tree, but that's not what happens out there... Reminds me a bit of one of MJL's forests.

Gavin

[greg27]

Nothing is coming up in the ausbonsai search. Anyone had any experience with these?

Certainly worth playing with; even the Wikipedia article for the species says "It is often a tree with an unusual, crooked form, sometimes looking like an enlarged example of bonsai."

Does the state flora nursery count as essential retail?

[boom64]

Hi Matt ,fantastic photos of a great tree. I have several on the go .Started as tube stock a few years ago and slowly getting a bit of size .Difficult species as it does not back bud on bare wood and tends to put out a lot of thin growth. Starting to get a little progress as i think the way to go is to have a lot of sacrifice branches happening and i mean a lot. The bark is beautiful and branches are very easy to move. I remember Mike Treeman referred to them as the bast##d tree. I will post a few photos at the end of the week .They were sold to me as Kangaroo Island Melaleucas . Cheers John.

[Pearcy001]

Hi Matt ,fantastic photos of a great tree. I have several on the go .Started as tube stock a few years ago and slowly getting a bit of size .Difficult species as it does not back bud on bare wood and tends to put out a lot of thin growth. Starting to get a little progress as i think the way to go is to have a lot of sacrifice branches happening and i mean a lot. The bark is beautiful and branches are very easy to move. I remember Mike Treeman referred to them as the bast##d tree. I will post a few photos at the end of the week .They were sold to me as Kangaroo Island Melaleucas . Cheers John.

I also have one on the go, the foliage reminds me of a miniature M. cuticularis to look at - which I believe can also be located around Kangaroo Island coincidentally. Not the best photos for comparison as they are taken at different angles and look alot closer in leaf size then I believe they actually are, but you get the idea. How have you found them when reducing the roots? I am yet to repot mine so would love to know.

20210608_130907_compress45.jpg

20210608_130511_compress28.jpg

Cheers,
Pearcy.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

[terryb]

Does the state flora nursery count as essential retail?

[boom64]

Hi Pearcy ,i have had little problems with mine, being tube stock i have been able to keep a good eye on them .I usually take about one third off and do this about late November onwards. They then go on a gravel water tray after and back in full sun . Cheers John.

[MJL]

Thanks Matt,
I live the photos that started this thread and to Gavin’s point, I did smile and take a look out my kitchen window into the courtyard at my swamp paperbark forest and saw a connection to the photos …. It’s one of the entries in the Natural competition. Of course my little trees are just young but the chaotic nature of the Coorong photos and other scenes is definitely inspiration.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[boom64]

Hi Matt ,
A little late but finally got a chance to upload a a few pics .Recently cut of most of the sacrifice branches ,they were starting to take over .Also cut back growth on the tips pretty hard , hope to establish some bushy foliage to fill them out this year . Love to get them like your photos Cheers John.

[Matt S]

Thanks for posting the pics John and well done on the trees. They sound like a challenging species but your efforts are looking good.

Matt.