Yamadori Casuarina

[BonsaiPanda]

Hello everyone,
Went on a dig a few days ago, found this stump in a river bed. Took some digging out, but it looks good. Now just got to get it to survive. Made it a nice growing box to keep it happy. Very gnarly old stump with a bit of rotten wood which I have removed.

Regards Panda

[BirchMan]

Nice stump with some aged looking features already to it for you to build upon. I'm interested in this species recently - was there much of a rootball to it and how much of it did you bring home?

[BonsaiPanda]

Hi Birchman,
This was a large tree at one time, ravaged by floods in the river bed over the years. It did not have much of a root ball as such, but it had many large feeder roots. I had to dig around it a fair bit and then I used a chainsaw to seperate it from the larger roots. I got a lot of fibrous roots out on some smaller roots underneath. It took some hours , but I got as much as I needed I think. It was growing amongst a lot of large river rocks , so digging was awkward and thats what took the time. This is a large stump, the growing box is 450mm X 500mm if thats any help and I did trime the roots a little more when I got it home.

Regards Panda

[LLK]

Great stuff! We don't often get to see Casuarinas with really interesting trunks.

[Steven]

Well done Panda!

You might like to get a blow torch onto the deadwood to stop it from rotting.

Regards,
Steven

[BonsaiPanda]

Thanks for the encouragement guys,.
Will get the blow torch out Steven, thx for the advice. I will post some more pics when it improves.

Regards Panda

[Roger]

Nice one Panda
Is it a rive she-oak?
Roger

[BonsaiPanda]

Hi Roger,
This is a River She Oak

Regards Panda

[Dario]

Looking good Panda, can't wait to see how it progresses.
Panda, I have collected Radiatas and Ash and a few other species when they were dorment in the winter with no dramas to the trees in question.
However, most of the research I have done about collecting trees says the usual...to do it in early spring just as the buds are swelling etc...
And to do this especially when collecting Aus natives.
I have never collected natives before, but I do love casuarinas and have got my eye on one in particular in a mates backyard.
I was holding off collection untill spring. But now that I have read your post, and based on my previous collecting success in winter, I am now wondering how to move forward?
I have done a lot of reading on collecting and have a pretty high success rate thus far.
Getting to the point... when is the best time to collect casuarinas Panda? This one is only five or six years old and is very healthy.
Given that I will collect it, and will do so correctly and carefully with the correct after care, in your opinion, would it be best to do this in winter or early spring?
I could really do with some advice from you as I can see that you have experience with this species and I want to give the tree the best chance of survival.
Cheers, Dario.

[Roger]

Hi Dario
I've been with a friend who dug casuarinas from the south coast NSW area in June and returned to Canberra where they occassionally were frosted. The plants survived without problems.

I'd say, if you leave some green branchlets on, you should be certainly OK. A stump without green matter might also recover, especially if the species is one with 'green' in the bark. Obviously, the sooner the plant can get back into growing, the better for it. We really don't have much info on when casuarinas grow their roots - yes in spring/summer, but who has looked in autumn or winter? The general rule of thumb is to keep to a minimum the period when the tree just sits doing nothing after severe root and branch cutting.

Cheers
Roger

[Craig]

Hi guys, funny this comes up today, i have been out collecting this arvo and 7 Casuarina's were amongst them. These ones have new roots growing now, nice new white roots on all of them, .They were in a gravelly wet area so nice an easy to dig up, A sand area may be different story but i'd still dig them now as they are very hardy trees,

[Roger]

Great to read that observation Craig. I've found bonsai producing roots in all seasons, even during Canberra's frosty nights. More obs like yours would be most useful, especially from around the country.

[Dario]

Thanks very much Roger and Craig!
I will take your advice and go ahead this weekend.
Hopefully it all goes well, and if not, it's down to me.
This will be my first experience with Casuarina and I am sure as I learn more about them
my confidence will grow when dealing with them in the future.
Cheers, Dario.

[BonsaiPanda]

Hi Dario,
Thanks for the encouragement. I agree with Craig and Roger. Aus natives seem very hardy, as to the environments they thrive in where most other trees /shrubs would turn up their heels. I am of the opinion that natives can be collected this time of the year. The more important point that you mentioned is the after care. They need constant watching and should be kept moist and in semi-shade (I think this is critical for natives) Also from reading they need a good length of time to recover and be happy in their new environment, so give them plenty of patience. I dont mess with the trees much after collection, so as to minimise the already shock of moving. Keep me posted on your progression, that includes you 2 guys as well (Craig/Roger) we might be on to some valuable experience for the future I collected a very old unusual Casuarina a few months ago and it still has green needles although they are showing a bit of shock. It has been in the semi-shade the whole time and I have tendered it everyday. I am by no means experienced with Bonsai as the others. I am on the learning curve as well, so good luck and keep us posted.

[GavinG]

A photo of the "old unusual" Casuarina please? I haven't seen many funky/dynamic/multi-directional Casuarina trunks, but there should be some out there, hanging off a river bank..

Gavin