A Sneak Preview For My AusBonsai Friends: River Red Gum

[Bretts]

I think it is better than the last but I wonder if you can do better?

[paddles]

great tree fly, progression photos would be appreciated, for people like me who sometimes think the end is never in sight... (Or a nice tree, as opposed to a so-so tree)

[FlyBri]

If there is sufficient interest, I'll dig into the archives for all the pics I have of this tree's history.

...progression photos would be appreciated...

Gday Paddles!

Okay... One response would rarely constitute "sufficient interest" in anybody's language, but I'm easy.

I've gotta be quick, so as to get outside before the heat kicks in, so I'll simply post the pics in order and folks can ask questions if anything needs clarification. Here goes:

River_Red_0104_Web.jpg

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River_Red_0105_Web.jpg

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River_Red_0209_1_Web.jpg

River_Red_0209_2_Web.jpg

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River_Red_0301_1_Web.jpg

River_Red_0301_2_Web.jpg

River_Red_0301_3_Web.jpg

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River_Red_0303_1_Web.jpg

River_Red_0303_2_Web.jpg

River_Red_0303_3_Web.jpg

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River_Red_0312_1_Web.jpg

River_Red_0312_2_Web.jpg

River_Red_0312_3_Web.jpg

River_Red_0312_4_Web.jpg

River_Red_0312_5_Web.jpg

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Oops - looks like the temperature's on the rise, so I'll leave it at this for now. As always, questions, comments and general banter are welcome.

Thanks!

Fly.

[Ash Barns]

Mr. Fly, I admire your patience, you have taken this River Red a very long way. From the previous pics. you are growing it out and shows an interesting progression. Progressions are here as a teaching tool for members and should be viewed as such never as the finished design until the artist declares it 'finished'. Choice of pot can be incidental and we should concentrate on tree design until then.

Ash

[FlyBri]

Mr. Fly, I admire your patience, you have taken this River Red a very long way. From the previous pics. you are growing it out and shows an interesting progression. Progressions are here as a teaching tool for members and should be viewed as such never as the finished design until the artist declares it 'finished'. Choice of pot can be incidental and we should concentrate on tree design until then.

Gday Mr Barns!

This tree is the one that I've owned for the longest time of any in my so-called collection (I'm sorry that I never got any photos of it when it was merely a seedling in a forestry tube). As such, it has had to endure almost every 'noob' mistake in the book. That it has managed to survive this long says more about the adaptability and resilience of the species than it does about my horticultural skills.

This tree has taught me a lot over the years.

Thanks.

Fly.

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Back to the progression pics...

River_Red_0401_1_Web.jpg

River_Red_0401_2_Web.jpg

River_Red_0401_3_Web.jpg

River_Red_0401_4_Web.jpg

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River_Red_0408_1_Web.jpg

River_Red_0408_2_Web.jpg

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River_Red_0501_Web.jpg

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River_Red_0506_Web.jpg

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River_Red_1206.jpg

River_Red_1206_Closeup.jpg

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River_Red_Pruned_0702.jpg

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Sorry folks - no time to finish the uploading at the moment. Maybe this afternoon...

Thanks again.

[FlyBri]

Now, where were we?.. Last we saw the tree was in Feb 07: still another 2½ years to bring us up to the present day...

River_Red_Crispy_Oct_07.jpg

River_Red_Repot_Oct_07.jpg

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River_Red_1107.jpg

River_Red_1107_Detail_1.jpg

River_Red_1107_Detail_2.jpg

River_Red_1107_Detail_3.jpg

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River_Red_1207.jpg

River_Red_1207_Thread_01.jpg

River_Red_1207_Thread_02.jpg

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RR_Threadgraft_01.jpg

RR_Threadgraft_02.jpg

RR_Threadgraft_03.jpg

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River_Red_Oct08_01.jpg

River_Red_Oct08_02.jpg

River_Red_Oct08_03.jpg

River_Red_Oct08_04.jpg

River_Red_Oct08_05.jpg

River_Red_Oct08_06.jpg

River_Red_Oct08_Virt_01.jpg

River_Red_Oct08_Virt_02.jpg

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Well, that pretty much brings us to the repot at the very start of this thread. I hope somebody out there has enjoyed the journey thus far: I think the exciting parts are still yet to come...

Thanks.

Fly.

[aaron_tas]

awesome fly

wow, this is a great progression that is definately influencing my ideas with natives

nice work so far, next steps will be interesting to watch...

[NathanM]

This is an amazing thread! Watching the progression of the tee, it's grown up so much!!
Very, very nice!!

[MelaQuin]

Your red river gum recalls a member of the public at a show quizzing us on bonsai and wanting to take it up so he could grow his own red river gum from seed. Yes, in his case a nutter on the loose. Yours, well your's is pretty great. Lovely little native and the pot is a good choice.

[FlyBri]

Thanks folks!

There are still a lot of issues to be addressed with this tree before I'll be happy to call it 'Bonsai', but looking back to my absolute novice days, I'm relatively pleased with what I've achieved so far. Plans for the future include:

> Removing the lowest LH branch and rotating the front anti-clockwise. The branch is on the outside of a bend, but as time passes and the apex takes shape, the branch will increasingly appear to be on the inside of a curve. Also, while it is not truly a 'bar' branch, the current angle gives the impression that the 2 lowest branches are directly opposite.

> Working out a scheme of defoliation in order to reign in the unruly leaves and leggy growth.

> Changing back down to a smaller pot (hopefully the Pat Kennedy pot pictured in the virt).

> Trying to find a way to resolve the ugly - albeit nicely tapered - base. Perhaps a ground layer is on the cards.

Thanks again. Updates as they come to hand.

Fly.

[FlyBri]

Updates as they come to hand.

River_Red_Jan_10_01.jpg

River_Red_Jan_10_02.jpg

[kcpoole]

Lovely Fly
Can you give us another look a the brach you thread grafted to see how it looks after a few more years?

Ken

[FlyBri]

Can you give us another look a the brach you thread grafted to see how it looks after a few more years?

Can do, KC!

River_Red_Jan_10_03.jpg

River_Red_Jan_10_04.jpg

River_Red_Jan_10_05.jpg

In the 2nd photo, you can still see evidence of the cut I made in the trunk, as well as the stub of the 'donor' branch. I'm reasonably happy with the way this has developed, as I was never certain that it would work at all.

Stay tuned later in the day: there are some major changes underway...

Thanks.

Fly.

[Psymo]

Wow FlyBri can't wait to see what happens next.

[bodhidharma]

G'day Fly, i am enjoying this progression tremendously. It is also helping me out with my one and only euc in an actual Bonsai pot.