New Banksia

[Woz]

Hey Peoples,
Long time between post.. about as long as holidays! Since its holidaysI have just been out an picked this beauty up from Northside Bansai (QLD)

bansia 1.JPG

banksia 2.JPG

(same tree)
I was thinking I would try an airlayer off the top (green line) and then cut back (red line) as shown in the image below

airlayer-cut.JPG

as an initial concept i was thinking of heading towards something along these lines

virtual banksia.JPG

sorry bout the top I forgot to crop it

I know that there are a few peeps about who are quite familiar with banksia growing habits and would appreciate your advice, espically in regards to the air layering. and everyone else I always appreciate ideas and opinions, get ya 2 cents in there!
thanks

[anttal63]

hey woz welcome back pal. 1st how much did this set you back? 2nd can you take it out of the pot and do 4 pics at 90 deg. turns.

[Woz]

Hey Ant,
I picked this up for $70 i thought it was a bit of a bargin.

1.JPG

2.JPG

3.JPG

4.JPG

and some from a little further back...

5.JPG

6.JPG

7.JPG

8.JPG

I may have got a little snap happy just now

[Leigh Taafe]

G'day mate - just curious - what size container did it come in?

Cheers,
Leigh.

[dayne]

yeah great little tree nice root system looks healthy will be great
my honest opinion just chop it off about 100mm above that first branch then wire it upright leave the first branch long for a new apex let that get to alost two foot long then cut it back and develop from there dont get me wrong i have an air layer on a tree at the moment but it was a $390 juniper and the top is worth about $200 so ive tried it but it does slow the development of your trees down because the time the air layer is on you could grow the new leader but hey thats just me if you have the time go for it theres nothing to loose.

[anttal63]

the following is imo only. pic 4 is your front. tilt it back and right a little.the red line for chop, the 1st brown line is the material you already have. from there every change of colour is a new leader chosen from a bud on the previous branch. the new leader is dragged to where you need your next branch and then the process starts again. this method works extremely well for integrafolia. it gives you alot of budding and great movement. check it out.

viewtopic.php?f=104&t=71&hilit=banksia+integrafolia

oops forgot the virt.

woz.JPG

[anttal63]

layer here you have 2 choices of trunkline. what dayne is saying is correct, you deal though.

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[Woz]

thanks for your thoughts guys, good point about the air layer as well.
Leigh - it came in a 10" pot.
Ant thanks for your ideas, looks promising, I will update with some photos as I go.
I was also thinking of doing a pot slip into a larger pot? will this help with new growth or shuold I just leave it in the one its in?

[anttal63]

thanks for your thoughts guys, good point about the air layer as well.
Leigh - it came in a 10" pot.
Ant thanks for your ideas, looks promising, I will update with some photos as I go.
I was also thinking of doing a pot slip into a larger pot? will this help with new growth or shuold I just leave it in the one its in?

now is a great time for a repot and work the roots. then you're set to concentrate on the tree for next couple of years.

[Woz]

Thanks again for the advice and direction I got round to repotting and cutting back. the roots system I shook out a little and only cut back about 1/3 for the time being (I didn't want to go to hard on them just yet) and reused the pot it came in topped it up with fresh soil and and sat the plant higher in the pot so it has plenty more root room than before. I cut it off as discussed and tidied up the cut so it shouldden't bulge much when it heals.

cut-repot-tie.JPG

tidied up 2.JPG

now wait for all the new shoots