Tough Little John

[lackhand]

This is a Callistemon Little John that I've had for a few months now - actually got it for Valentine's Day - and I've been excited to share it here. Why the wait? Well, I gave it a repot and root pruned as it was pretty pot bound in the nursery pot, and cut back the top a bit too. And then it got hit by a fungus. Spent a while fighting that off, and for a bit I thought I had lost it for good, but it started looking better a few weeks back, and is now back budding and starting to grow again.

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This first picture is the front I like best. There are some REALLY ugly surface roots here, they wrap all the way around the trunk. So ugly that I feel like the only thing to do is to make it a feature of the tree. Hopefully it will work at least on some level.

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To me, this tree looks a lot like shibui's waterswept Callistemon seiberi, so that's the direction I was hoping to follow.

[Tony Bebb]

Definitely the front you like would be best Karl.

Winswept would work and you could incorporate some rocks around the base to make the roots look like they had nowhere else to go no matter what style you went with. Nothing too big but rather flat spreading ones.

Tony

[shibui]

I think the roots might be the biggest issue with this variety. the ones i have dug all had 1 or 2 big roots only, no fine roots near the tree. i will have to keep an eye on the ones i am growing in pots at the moment and try to discourage this.

you have done well getteing this one through the crisis. They are tough but I have also killed a few.

I see 'waterswept' as a rocky riverbed style so rocks among the roots would be a suitable solution.

[Ces]

Nice little tree lackhand. So great to see someone overseas that is so into getting our natives up and running.

Got a question about your fungal attack... did it only happen in the areas that you cut back?

All of my little john varieties respond to every other pruning or tip pinching by producing some die back at the tips that looks like a fungal infection. Apparently this is normal for the variant and mine always power back.

If this is the case, it has been recommended to me to remove the dead tips as they can harbour pests. This has been confirmed on one of my neglected trees today.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Cheers,

Ces.

[lackhand]

Nice little tree lackhand. So great to see someone overseas that is so into getting our natives up and running.

Got a question about your fungal attack... did it only happen in the areas that you cut back?

All of my little john varieties respond to every other pruning or tip pinching by producing some die back at the tips that looks like a fungal infection. Apparently this is normal for the variant and mine always power back.

If this is the case, it has been recommended to me to remove the dead tips as they can harbour pests. This has been confirmed on one of my neglected trees today.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Cheers,

Ces.

I'm pretty sure it was a fungus. It showed up first on my cape honeysuckle which I got around the same time, then hit this one, and then spread to my ficus. All trees have now recovered, but this one was hit the worst by far. The honeysuckle just outgrew it, grows like a noxious weed (which it is in many places ). Ficus dropped a few leaves and then recovered and kept on growing. I think this one struggled because I had just cut it back pretty hard, top and roots both, so instead of growing strongly it was recovering. I very nearly bare rooted the thing, which some say is not good for Callistemon, though others say it's fine. Figured I might as well find out.

I have tried to cut back anything I knew for sure was dead, but I also was trying to be a bit conservative as I didn't want to take any more strength from the tree.

At any rate, I'm glad it survived as I'm pretty excited about this one, I think it has lots of potential. Thanks for the input everyone, I'll keep updates posted as it starts to grow on and look for some rocks to add to the riverswept look.

As for getting the Aus natives going, I just had a quick look at what's on my bench - I have about twice as many Aus natives as all the others combined, and I'm planning a trip to the nursery later today with my eye on picking up a few more melaleucas, maybe even enough for a forest planting. I'm looking for a good eucalyptus or two, but haven't seen one yet that looked like a reasonable bonsai candidate. I would say I'm addicted. So would my wife.

[lackhand]

Almost a year on, so time for an update. Today I repotted into a training pot and did some pruning. I was surprised to find the pot completely full of roots. When I put it in this pot last year, I put a piece of plastic under the roots, about halfway up the pot. The roots grew right around it, clear down to the bottom, completely filling the soil above and below. The plastic did make it easier to get rid of the lower root mass though.

This poor tree was neglected a bit over the summer and didn't get watered very well, but still survived (under my wife's care while I was out of town). Hopefully this year I can keep it a little better cared for.

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Even with the setbacks over the past year, it never really stopped growing. You can see some newer leaves on it, but it's also budding out and about to pop again, so it seemed like a good time to take the next step. I'll wire it sometime this weekend, and then spend the next year carefully directing the growth. I'm excited to see what another year brings.

I love callistemon. They grow so strongly, I'm continuously surprised, and the beautiful flowers are a nice perk. I think this tree has a bright future, and it will be especially unique in my area.

Hard to see from this picture, but there is a wraparound root I'll need to fix sometime. I plan to give it a few years to hopefully blend into the trunk, but if that doesn't happen I'll be doing a ground layer.

[Stu_my]

[kcpoole]

Nice work Karl
just goes to show how robust plants really are

Ken

[Ray M]

Hi Karl,
These are amazing trees. I have had one for quite some years. Through different circumstances I thought I had lost the tree a couple of times. It lost all leaves and a number of branches. I just left it in the shade house and sure enough it came back. I too had a very ugly root system and did a ground layer on it. I haven't revealed the layer as yet. When I do I'll take some photos for you.

Regards Ray

[lackhand]

Hi Karl,
These are amazing trees. I have had one for quite some years. Through different circumstances I thought I had lost the tree a couple of times. It lost all leaves and a number of branches. I just left it in the shade house and sure enough it came back. I too had a very ugly root system and did a ground layer on it. I haven't revealed the layer as yet. When I do I'll take some photos for you.

Regards Ray

That would be great, Ray. I've done enough with callistemon now that I'm sure it will work, but your results and tips would be much appreciated. I've done some successful air layers, but no ground layering attempts yet, which in truth is part of the reason I'm hesitating on this tree. Maybe your success will be the spark I need to get this going.

[Ray M]

Hi Karl,
Here is a set of progression photos. I'm very pleased with the results. The layer has created a very workable root system.

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Regards Ray

[lackhand]

Thanks for sharing, Ray. Great results. I think I'll give mine another year or so to develop, especially since I just repotted, and then take a look at doing the ground layer. I need to get a good shot of the ugly roots on this thing. They're pretty amazing.

[Bonsaitrees (Craig)]

Here is a set of progression photos. I'm very pleased with the results. The layer has created a very workable root system.

Great work Ray, is the tree Lilly pilly?

[Ray M]

Here is a set of progression photos. I'm very pleased with the results. The layer has created a very workable root system.

Great work Ray, is the tree Lilly pilly?

Hi Bonsaitrees,
This particular one is a Tiny Trev Lilly Pilly. I have had good results with a Little John Lilly Pilly as well.

Regards Ray

[Ray M]

Here is a set of progression photos. I'm very pleased with the results. The layer has created a very workable root system.

Great work Ray, is the tree Lilly pilly?

Hi Bonsaitrees,
This particular one is a Tiny Trev Lilly Pilly. I have had good results with a Little John Lilly Pilly as well.

Regards Ray

Hi Bonsaitrees,
My apologies. I used the name Little John Lilly Pilly. It should have been Little John Callistemon.

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Hi Karl,
The following photos are of the Little John.

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Regards Ray