AusBonsai

Hey Guys,

I have a question about a sticky wattle that i have in training that i intend to be an informal upright one day.

At the moment it is growing on and I intended to do so for a number of years without touching it (other than potting up or putting in the ground), however... there are no low branches and the leader is starting to develop inverse taper. Should I 'trunk chop' the leader to improve taper , hope for low buds and live with the slowed growth or can this species be chopped back bare so as to develop new branches when the desired trunk girth has been achieved?

Hopefully pictures will help. I realise this is pretty early in the life of this tree to be asking questions but I want to do it right. Especially if I'm going to care for this plant for decades

Thanks for the help guys.

I've seen one or two fantastic howittii bonsai - but not many.
In my view they are difficult material.
Rather than focus on the main trunk line as a leader I'd just keep pruning back to upward growth. By that I mean find a branch that is growing on top or towards the top of your main trunk line and prune to that. When you got another piece of upward growth prune to that, etc, etc.
The growth you ultimately end up with when the tree is at its desired height will hang down anyway so I wouldn't worry too much about lower branching. Maybe where your lowest branch is now should be factored in to determining the final height of this tree.
I would prune this in stages, never too much at a time, and, remembering it's a native, when the plant is in a growth spurt.
I've found mine can suddenly sulk for long periods and then snap out of it for no apparent reason.
I've found them hard work and now don't have any.
I hope this little bit of advice helps until someone more expert than I with howittii can offer more.
Good luck with it.

I reckon they are easy to grow:-)

Cut back to an existing branch and train that as the new leader, just like any other tree. this will give you taper in each section.
I would treat the big branch on the left as a sacrifice, and remove it completely after thickening the trunk

I never cut back to no foliage as like a Juniper or pine, they need green on each branch to survive. If you cut back to far the branch will die back.
I take mine back 1/2 way along each leaf stem and they will then back bud further. Once the new shoots take off, then you can cut back further.
they will occasionally back shoot on old wood, but not reliably so be aware when you are removing branches that they may not be replaced 1 for 1.

for me, I Root prune and repot like all my natives when actively growing late spring.
a link to my thread here viewtopic.php?f=49&t=11922

Ken

Thanks for the advice guys,

I think i might cut back the big leader/left branch by half of the leaf stem length as Ken suggested and see what shoots. If there's something favourable I'll cut back to there in a few weeks. If not... then I'll continue to grow it on as a sacrifice branch.

I'd prefer the former as the big branch is the only one on that side of the tree and I've had some "oh Bugger" moments with a few others when trying to bend them, so i know how brittle they are.

I'll post some updates when I make the decision.

The cascading branches on these bad boys should be trained like joined rainbows. like the tree in this picture. When branch building cut back to a secondary branch. branches growing upwards ( from the top of the branch) The opposite goes for trees with upright growth habit were branches should be pruned back to branches / buds on the underside of the branch . Hope this makes sense .

Sorry about the delay just figured out how to use tapatalk.

Thanks paul,

Really great photo and a very clear explanation of how to train naturally weeping plants. I would've continued to prune these upward growing branches off otherwise.

thanks again.