working with casuarina

[craigw60]

This is casuarina torulosa started around 15 years ago from advanced nursery stock. The tree was getting a little hairy and I wanted to try and shorten some of the branches, keep the foliage compact and do a bit of wiring. Most of the work I do these days is refining work on existing trees rather than starting new projects. I like to grow my native trees in conventional Japanese styles so am always looking to create very structured branch patterns.
Craigw

[kvan64]

I love the result Craig. Got 3 of these which undergone the initial trunk chop last year. They all have nice base and taper and branching. Just wondering how the scars will heal.
Cheers,
DK

[Watto]

Love the work but was just wondering - does it need a slightly larger pot?

[craigw60]

Hi DK, the scars on these trees heal very easily although it takes time for the scarred area to cork up.
Watto, casuarina don't have massive strong root systems, I only root prune this tree every 3 years or so I reckon the pot size is fine although it would look better in an oval pot.
Craigw

[Jarrod]

Love this tree, but I always feelit needs a fuller crown.

[Ryan1979b]

Nice branch structure. I'll be keen to see how it bounces back as I have a few in training at the moment too

[craigw60]

Jarrod you are right and this is a problem throughout my collection, I find the crowns of my trees the hardest part to get right. It would be easy for me to fill it I could do it in 12 months but the growth would be coarse and inappropriate. I think to get a crown full of fine twigs takes lots of cutting and many years growing.

Ryan the tree will romp away I have no doubt of that, with this species it more a matter of controlling the growth and during the summer I will have to pinch it every couple of days
Craigw

[deepeetee]

Hi all,

Has anyone had much luck in collecting this species?

Any tips to be shared?

Thanks

Dave

[Steven]

G'day Craig,

I like the old and powerful image of this torulosa! I also agree with Jarrod (and your) thoughts on a fuller crown. I was on my property on the weekend and took some pictures of C. cunninghamiana, one in particular resembles yours - except for the powerful trunk;

2011 August 20th.jpg

This tree is medium aged, I would estimate it between 60 and 80 years old. You will note that the apex is still pretty small.

Can you please share with us your experiences with Casuarina? e.g. when you root prune and how much you take off, when you fertalise and with what, what potting medium do you use?

Thanks Craig!

Regards,
Steven

[bodhidharma]

I like this tree too Craig and back up on Stevens request for some info as i am not clued up on Casuarinas. But i have some nice trunks. They grow very slowly for me here in the central highlands.

[irish]

Hi.

Timely post, i have 3 in 6 inch pots.

Going to place them into the ground in 2 weeks, will be my first attempt at doing this.

Any information on how far back to cut the roots and how far down the trunk to lower the height will be greatly approached.

Regards.
Irish.

[craigw60]

I find the casuarina to be pretty forgiving the only thing they really hate is drying out, I lost a very good one during the drought due to lack of water in august. Not a time of year I usually worry about watering.
Repotting for me is done december or january but in more mild northern climates you would probably have a much longer window. As I stated in an earlier post I find the root systems on these trees to be very slow so they take ages to fill the pots and don't get potted very often. When I do repot them its more a matter of changing the potting mix the actual root pruning is pretty light, this may be a climatic thing and in warmer climates they could be much more vigorous in which case you would need a harder prune, they seem to have no objection to being root pruned.
I feed them pretty much all year round as casuarina seem to never stop growing and they get just whatever I am using, feeding for me is a very unscientific process. I just vary my ferts use always organic except a handful of osmocote in the potting mix and feed plenty and often.
Hope that is of some use
Craigw