Bark on Mugga

[PeterH]

I have had a Eucalyptus sideroxylon ( Iron Bark/Mugga ) ) for about 7 years. I dug it up as a young tree with the vision of creating a Bonsai with the gnarly iron bark as a feature. Year by year the bark peeled to a smooth surface. As I have mentioned in a passed post, my theory was that the bark development depends on the size of the branch/trunk. So if it was ground grown it would develop faster but with a chance of it not surviving the transplant from ground back to pot.
After I repotted last year the tree put on a lot of new growth and as you can see from the pic the bark is starting to form.

At this stage the diameter at the base is 100mm and hoping that next summer that the permanent bark will be further up the trunk so I can start styling it.

Has anyone on this site had success with the development of this bark and if so I would be interested in how they achieved it.

Peter

[PeterH]

Update,

Gradually putting on the older bark


Regards,

Peter

[Bougy Fan]

Looking great Peter - what is the tree behind it ?

[matty-j]

Hey Peter

what a lovely tree mate, I am looking forward to how this develops in the future
I will be trying to air layer, ground layer and dig few eucalypts this year, when you dig this tree what did you do with the tap root? did you bare root? and with the general development of the root system, do you treat it differently?

Cheers
Matt

[PeterH]

Hi Matt,

This trees trunk was only as big as my little finger when it was dug. I didn't have much luck with bigger trees as West Wyalong is a fairly dry area. In the first year not much was done with roots. In the 3rd year I root pruned but have never bare rooted and put into a large pot to grow on so as to bring on the bark.

When it was starting to develop the bark on the bottom of the trunk I re potted into a Bonsai pot. When I took it out of the large pot I saw that it had developed a large lignotubor. I cut the lignotubor down by a 3rd to fit it into the Bonsai pot.

As my horticultural skills are not the best, I generally go for the safer option and don't bare root.

Regards,

Peter

[GavinG]

Good to see it's working so well. They're magic trees on the street, almost black and deeply furrowed. Thanks for the progression.

Gavin

[PeterH]

Did some wiring today. I will cut the left branch back to force lower growth.

Regards,

Peter

[EdwardH]

The tree is looking good. Love the bark. When will you cut the left branch? I assume around Christmas? Any ideas on when the bark starts to go dark brown/black?

[EdwardH]

Hi Peter

Just wondering how this tree is progressing?

Cheers

[PeterH]

Hi Peter

Just wondering how this tree is progressing?

Cheers

Hi Edward,

It is still going strong. I have removed that branch and re potted into a slightly smaller pot. I am not toally happy with the orientation of the tree in the pot but will I correct this when it is repotted next. This year I will be cutting it back again to promot new branching to produce finer detail. Now that is a bit more restricted the bark is taking longer to thicken up but it is getting there.

Regards,

Peter

[PeterH]

Saw this referenced in another thread so I thought I might show some updated photos.

These phots are from last year.
This year I will be putting it in a pot from Samarkand Pottery.


Kind Regards

Peter

tree (1 of 1)_2.jpg

euc1 (1 of 1)_2.jpg

[HarleyD]

Thanks for the update peter. The trunk looks amazing! Do you know how old the tree is?

I hope you are keeping well.
-Harley

[PeterH]

Thanks for the update peter. The trunk looks amazing! Do you know how old the tree is?

I hope you are keeping well.
-Harley

Hi Harley,

I am well thank you,

I dug it in 2004 approx and it was probably around 3 years old then.

Stay safe

Peter