AusBonsai

Went to Zanthorea nursery yesterday, (native nursery, southern suburbs of Perth). They had a small selection of young Cas. torsula and Cas. Cunn. there, relatively inexpensive. I picked up this little bloke for under $10 bucks... Here's the plan. Cut off the leader, where the other 2 branches come out of the trunk, make the left branch the 'first' branch and the right one the new leader, plant in the ground for a couple of years....cross fingers and prey to the Bonsai gods!

Brandon wrote: plant in the ground for a couple of years....cross fingers and prey to the Bonsai gods!

And the gods did smile, these power away in the ground. I have one that went in 18 mths ago, tube stock, it is now about 3m tall & over 5cm at the base, this is being left as a garden tree but gives you some idea of how fast these guys can grow if they like the position.

Matt

Hi folks

Good luck with the Sheoaks. This is perhaps the group that I have had the most frustration with. They seem to go well for some time, even for a couple of years then they simply die for no apparent reason. Have repeatedly tried experimenting with various techniques but with no success to date.

My frustrations do not decrease when I see the success being achieved with them overseas. I feel we must succeed with this group, after all overseas they often call C equisetifolia the Australian Pine.

Please keep this subject going. I look forward to hearing of anyone's success.

regards

Dennis Mc

hi dennis, although not myself but others on the forum i beleive have successfully kept these, and some to quite a high standard. one from memory is pups. it is posted here i think called restyle of mother. it is one of the best Cas i have seen and aspire to create something like it one day. my collection experiences with them havent been the best, my first two carked it within a week. the third is a basically a seedling and it seems to be going good without any die off yet

Hi Dennis and Jamie
I'm sorry to hear that you have had such problems with the casuarinas. I'd like to learn more about why.

Some people have no problems at all, putting them into the 'very easy' category for bonsai, like growing maples. However, others have serious problems and recon they are in the 'very difficult' category. So far i have not been able to work out why some have such problems. Is it the soil (too light, too heavy), or the top or root pruning (amount, timing), is it fertilising, are there root problems (grubs, fungi), are there stem borers, are they sensitive to watering (too much, too little), and so on. None of these have been problems for me, but there is something happening for some people.

In my experience, the casuarinas have mostly been just easy: resilient to a wide range of conditions. The most common species being growen are A littoralis, A torulosa, C cunninghamiana, C equisetifolia. Less often there are A verticillata, A leumanniana, A inophloia etc. Most have the same kind of responses: easy for some, very difficult for others.

I have had horticultural problems with a few of the uncommon and unusual Western Australian shrubby species. They seem very touchy, a bit like so much of the other species that grow in the species rich shrublands of the southwest when moved anywhere else. But they are exceptions. A pinaster would make a marvellous false-pine if you could keep it alive!

So, if you or others have any information on the circumstances in which your trees languished and died, please share them. Out of that information we can build a much better picture on how to grow them.

Cheers
K