Eucalyptus Kruseana - From Nursery Material

[Patmet]

I've had this Eucalyptus Kruseana for a couple of years now I reckon. It's a garden nursery tree my brother gave to me.

Having too many projects on the go, it's been sitting on the backburner not getting much attention, growing as a straight stick. Now that I've let go of a lot of stock I have more time to start focusing on it more, as I have always thought this species has very good potential as bonsai.

Over the couple of years so far I've chopped most of the long straight section it had grown. With the new smaller branches I've wired some movement and interest. Still playing it by ear with the styling of the tree as I like to do. Thinking possibly some form of multi trunk mallee as they would grow out in the wild.

In the past couple of months I've repotted it for the first time into my gritty development mix, and a wider shallower pot to start training a better root system. It was in a tall plastic pot in a fairly heavy mix from the nursery before. It has bounced back from that nicely, and I just did a bit of pruning recently of some of the very leggy branches which has resulted in a lot of backbudding you can see in the pictures if you look closely.

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The only photo I have before I started working it. Oct 2022

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Jan 2024

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[GavinG]

Yep, another great species I can't grow over here... The leaf shapes and angles are quite distinctive, so usual "ramifying" rituals might not give good results - you'll need to find what its own language is.

Please keep posting, he said through gritted teeth. I've always wanted one...

Gavin

[Ryceman3]

I'm enjoying looking at all your projects Pat.
Lots of great stuff and species I haven't heard of/seen as bonsai before ... never a dull moment!
Keep posting.

[Patmet]

Yep, another great species I can't grow over here... The leaf shapes and angles are quite distinctive, so usual "ramifying" rituals might not give good results - you'll need to find what its own language is.

Please keep posting, he said through gritted teeth. I've always wanted one...

Gavin

Yes, that's a good point Gavin. It will be fun to find out what works with this one. I also have E. pulverulenta from over closer to your way I am growing here, that has similar growth characteristics to kruseana.

Have you had a crack at that one?

[Patmet]

I'm enjoying looking at all your projects Pat.
Lots of great stuff and species I haven't heard of/seen as bonsai before ... never a dull moment!
Keep posting.

I find it to be a good way to document all the journeys of my trees and projects for future reference. To hear other people enjoy and are interested is very encouraging!

[GavinG]

I'm about to try E. pulverulenta "Baby Blue", as a mate has flowers on his - rare in bonsai Eucs! Give me twenty years or so, and we'll see how we go...

Gavin

[Patmet]

An update on this as it's flowering now. Plenty of good growth on it to keep developing the trunk. I'll do a cut back and wire movement into the new growth some time in the next couple of months.

I'll also repot into a larger pot later in the year. I potted it down into this smaller pot to get a more compact root system started first before I get too carried away with letting it put on lota of growth. I like to be pro-active with getting decent roots started these days even though it slows thinga down a little bit in the short term. Makes it a lot safer and easier when reducing back down into a bonsai pot.

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[Kevin]

Love the flowers Pat,

I cannot recall ever seeing flowers on a Eucalypt bonsai or pre-bonsai before now.

Lovely,

Kevin

[Rory]

Love the flowers Pat,

I cannot recall ever seeing flowers on a Eucalypt bonsai or pre-bonsai before now.

Lovely,

Kevin

Yeah we all love what Patmet is doing with natives.

I had a Eucalyptus rosacea which flowered from a very young age.
But Myrtle rust destroys it around here, as it slowly succumbs to the disease. So many Eucs will succumb to it. The only ones with strong resistance seem to be the much taller Eucs and their thicker, more resistant leaves.

[Patmet]

Love the flowers Pat,

I cannot recall ever seeing flowers on a Eucalypt bonsai or pre-bonsai before now.

Lovely,

Kevin

Yeah we all love what Patmet is doing with natives.

I had a Eucalyptus rosacea which flowered from a very young age.
But Myrtle rust destroys it around here, as it slowly succumbs to the disease. So many Eucs will succumb to it. The only ones with strong resistance seem to be the much taller Eucs and their thicker, more resistant leaves.

I really hope we can keep Myrtle rust out of southern WA, but it might be inevitable.

[GavinG]

E. kruseana - another WA species I can't keep alive over here... (let alone get it to flower!) Nice work, and the bark is shaping up well too. It's interesting - I repot Eucs in the hottest weather, religiously, but it seems that it's not all that specific, there's a wider range. Way too early here - they hate root work when it's cold.

Gavin

[Patmet]

Cut back and wire for this yesterday. I like the way it's going into the straggly mallee form. I'm feeling enthusiastic about the future for this.

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[Rory]

I love your work.

You style natives similar to me.... very natural looking. Love it mate.