Restyling an old Casuarina..first stage done.

[bodhidharma]

My whole intent today was to repot and change this tree. Not to hard but enough to rekindle my interest in it. I had no problems repotting this time of year as i didnt intend to disturb the rootball just pot it up so to speak. Pruned the branches and moved a couple and wired the leader. I am still undecided on carving or not carving and i will hasten slowly I am very curious to see how long the removal of the large branches take to heal, If ever. This will decide the carving question. I gave it a light fertilize and now i wait and watch

[nealweb]

Nice work, looks good especially against that beautiful background.

[alpineart]

Hi Bodhi , nice old trunk you have there , do these buggers re-shoot down in the fissured bark ? .Any idea how old the tree is , the reason i ask is a have one and counting the rings has stunned me . My base would be close to that one but the taper is greater , i think it may be the lower branch that has become the trunk . .Cheers

[bodhidharma]

G'day Alpine, this is a collected tree which was growing on my property. The previous owner planted it in the 70's but when i found it 10 years ago it was only 2 metres tall but a nice base. I would say it was sapped of growing energy as it was surrounded by gums. So it has always been a small tree. I only collected it 5 years ago and did its first chop. It does not heal well and i hope it will eventually. It does not grow back willingly either, not down low anyway. I know it has potential but i have not been able to bring it out as yet. I will keep at it.

[Jamie]

thats the way bodhi keep going with it for sure, this tree has some great potential and i am sure you will bring the best out in it

[alpineart]

Thanks Bodhi , at least yours has a top to start with ,i broke mine off . Brittle as had it wired to no avail , hope something sprouts or i have a fat stick in a pot roots .Cheers

[bodhidharma]

Thanks Bodhi , at least yours has a top to start with ,i broke mine off . Brittle as had it wired to no avail , hope something sprouts or i have a fat stick in a pot roots .Cheers

Yep, i learnt very early that they are brittle. But you can break the branches a bit and they survive.

[alpineart]

I stuck the top in seasol and it has shot, maybe from shock . Never know it may sprout roots . Counted 105 rings ?? on a 40mm section using a needle under a power magnifier to make sure i got it right .Recounted 5 times and the result was within 2-3 rings .I know most trees can be dated this way however some trees show up as 2 rings per season .Didn 't realize a needle was so blunt either .

[MattA]

Opps ... apologies for other post... found it...

Where is this going now?

Matt

[bodhidharma]

Very, very slowly. i know in other states they grow like crazy but not here. I am tip pruning constantly and feeding but it takes its time. Very frustrating I will post a picture when it stops raining (IF it stops raining..150mm in two days so far)

[Ash]

Hi Bodhi,
I notice you metnioned carving- in my limited experience with she-oaks the wood is strong alive but weak when dead and decays rapidly, even behind lime-sulfur. I have had the same problem with a few water loving plants such as Melaleuca and Callistemon. It is a nice and powerfull trunk- hope it goes well fro you!
Ash

[bodhidharma]

G'day Ash, thanks for your knowledge re carving and wood deterioration. The drive is still with me to complete this tree as i have seen some stonkers so i know its potential.

[bodhidharma]

Well the tree has finally grown enough for me to work with it again. Gosh they grow slowly here. It has been nearly one and a half years. I let the top grow a bit to thicken the top off the tree a bit and then selected a new leader. This dictated that i take most of the new top off and did some main branch wiring and even had some secondary's to wire. I also carved out the obvious trunk chop to smooth out the lines of the tree and did a lower thread graft. I am hoping for a lower branch. The thread graft was done a little while ago and it looks hopeful. Anyway, some piccy's

[Hornet]

thats a nice old trunk, would love to get my hands on something like that. My thickest cas is only about 1.5-2cm in diameter, real monster lol

[Jan]

Beautiful bark and the tree looks to be coming along very nicely.

I’m very interested in your thread graft on this tree; how did you go about setting up the graft? Did you trim the thread/branch bark back to get contact with the cambium layer on the trunk? Did you use a wedge to hold the thread in place while healing/grafting? How long has the graft been in place?

Your tree has inspired me; looks like I’ll have to brave the tiger snakes and get an air layer on the Cas I’ve had my eye on near our dam. Good thing it is cool weather (the serpents should be slowed down some). Bonsai is not for the faint hearted!

Let us know how your thread graft goes,

Jan.