Will it back bud?

[Phil Rabl]

In 2013, Peter Hanrahan posted this story of his major chop on his award winning E Nicholii viewtopic.php?f=78&t=16986

[shibui]

Callistemon in general seem to cope fine with chops but I'm not certain of specific species. Callistemon as a genus is a bit fuzzy anyway.

The ANBG still recognizes Callistemon as a genus but some others have put all Callistemon into Melaleuca so all previous callistemon are now officially Melaleucas with the previous species name. C. viminalis = Melaeuca viminalis, etc. I'm still happy to refer to these as Callistemons until the botanists come to a definite agreement.

I found one callistemon that did not back bud on the trunk after a chop and transplant but it did sucker from the base and roots afterward - not much use for a bonsai chop back though. Not certain of the species but probably Callistemon brachyandrus. It has thin needle like leaves and red flowers with gold tips.

[treeman]

If anyone else has records of trials on hard chopping Aussie natives feel free to add so we can keep the info in one location.

lanigerum - no problem
gradiflorum - don't know
aphrodite - I think so but not very satisfactory from memory
scoparium - same
linariifolia - sometimes. Does not like it in my exp.
stypheliodes - no problem.
viminalis - no probs
halmaturorum - definitely not
nesophylla - definitely not
laevigatum - only on vigorous young wood - can't rely on it.
integrifolia - no problem
petersonii - yes
Jervis Bay (rotundifolia) - yes
cuticularis - yes
marginata - no probs
Lept sericeum - yes
raphiophylla - yes
serrata - yes
Trist. laurina - yes
armillaris - no
Kun baxteri - yes but weak
Kunz pullchella - yes but very slow.

[Ryceman3]

linariifolia - sometimes. Does not like it in my exp.

Thanks for your experiences… I’ve not grown enough to know definitively but the one that surprised me from your list was M. Linariifolia. I don’t seem to have any issues but having said that all the trees I have are young (5-6 yrs old or younger).
The rest of your list either affirmed my own thoughts or were for species I don’t have dealings with and so defer to your experience without issue. Always nice to know what you’re in for so appreciate the input. Forewarned is forearmed!

[Rory]

There are going to be massive discrepancies here about what is considered back-budding.

Back-budding as Shibui is trialling, is from a hard cut-back with presumably no foliage remaining.
Now... back-budding in general can just be new buds that appear near the lower parts of the trunk naturally.
But to encourage back-budding on older material is also relative to your interpretation of 'old wood'.

There are many varieties of natives that are considered prolific at back-budding after a cut-back yes, but a lot of these prolific back-budding varieties are very hard to encourage the new buds to form way down low without a heavy trunk-chop. For instance, lets take a commonly known 'back-budder' of Banksia integrifolia. Yes it will back-bud fantastically, but it will not normally back bud down lower on the trunk on old wood (over 10 years) on the lower trunk areas. It usually back-buds to about 5-7cm or so back from the cut without fail. However, if you are wanting new shoots to form much lower down on the trunk, you usually would need to do a trunk-chop to get new shoots down low on B. integrifolia. And obviously a complete trunk chop is a disaster if you want new shoots to appear down low without losing the main branch structure.

The same can be said of the well known Moreton Bay Fig and almost the same with PJ figs. It is a prolific back-budder, but again only back from about 10cm back from the cut area. Without doing a massive trunk chop, it can be near impossible to encourage new shoots way down on the trunk without doing this.

Of course this is not a rule, and you do get the occasional random new shoots forming, but I have not had such luck on much older wood without trunk chopping on all my natives.

My recommendation is to simply cut back continuously on the material when it is young. When it is over 5-10 years old on most material, you'll struggle getting branches down low without seriously losing a lot of the branch structure from an actual trunk chop.

Ironically, a few comments here are that Leptospermum scoparium is not good at back budding, or temperamental. More recently over the years I have found the exact opposite. To maintain better health, as long as you leave about half of the foliage on and do not touch the roots, you will get prolific back budding... and on older wood every time.
It is the combination of root work together with branch reduction that will promote death with L. scoparium.

So yes, I generally leave about half the foliage on all my material these days, and cut-back hard into the other half to promote back-buddng. But for even commonly hardy material, it can be an impossible task to get new shoots low on the trunk without doing a massive trunk chop.

So take advice if you are new, or have young material. Continously cut back every year to get movement and a lot of branches. As the material is older, you will be rewarded with a lot more branches to experiment with, rather than a barren trunk and a heap of branches up top.

But I am yet to discover the golden answer of how to get new shoots down low on old material without trunk chopping.
'
In regards to Melalueca linarifolia, it naturally does not produce new buds down low on older wood. I have cut-back hard and always get new growth to appear from about 5cm back from the cut. I have struggled to get new growth to appear much lower down on the trunk without a massive trunk chop. With Melaleuca linarifolia as long as the material is in excellent health, I've always got new shoots appearing after a drastic trunk chop. But it is not desirable if you want to keep the branch structure.

[shibui]

An update on some of the trees I have chopped back hard this spring/summer:

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Melaleuca linariifolia? Plenty of new shoots from tips of branches and from further down the trunk. I have rubbed off some that are emerging from inconvenient places.

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Leptospermum grandifolium - new buds but all from the ends of branches so far.

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Euc sp. This one could be red box or mountain swamp gum (both have similar shaped leaves)

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Plenty of new epicormic shoots on the trunk

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and from the lignotuber.

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I don't want the lower shoots to compete with the new ones on the trunk so I've rubbed them off.

[Watto]

Thanks for the update, very interesting.
PS - I like that a Lepto has budded a Japanese maple!!!

[shibui]

PS - I like that a Lepto has budded a Japanese maple!!!

Thought I must have included a stray photo
On checking I see there's one of the ubiquitous self sown seedlings in the pot. Comes of having mature trees in the garden around the nursery. Many pots have more than one because I feel bad pulling them out and throwing them away
Lots of customers know that Shibui Bonsai trees often come with one or more bonus seedlings.......