AusBonsai

I thought i'd show my few banksias - nothing amazing but i am really enjoying working with these natives and looking at the photos that members have uploaded to the forum.

Hi Stewart
how well do these cope with cutting back?
I have one that I have cut back hard to the second branch. You can see the tree in the create section of the shohin comp.
I notice that yours look as if they have had the same treatment
cheers
Damian

Hi Damian

I chopped the 6 footer to about 1.5 foot and it has just powered on. They really do sprout in all directions and the trick seems to be to rub off the ones you don't want and then train up the ones you do, but you need to let them harden a little, as they are prone to snapping off too easily with careless hands, legs, pets, children, falling jacaranda branches, other trees blown over by the wind.... they do die back a little and dry off at the ends, so make sure you give yourself plenty of room to trim back. I have progressively chopped back about 20 cm from this large one and now have kept it as the final chop mark.

They also have incredible upright growth tendencies and I need to train the branches down hard and even then the secondary branches will all reach for the sky if left untouched.

You can actually see a little branch sprouting at the base of the trunk chop of the biggest banksia above. I'm not sure what to do with this one, let it grow and have the sap growth help to cover over the trunck chop, or rub it off. I'm inclined to leave it and then train it for another side branch perhaps.

Any thoughts from more experienced members..... please? Will this small branch help to cover over a large chop mark above it?

Damain,
All the banksias I have cut back have produced new buds even on when cut down to a stump (relatively young plants). Pruning during summer when growth is happening might be the best time????

Stewart,
In my experience sacrifice branches very close to a cut just compound the problem. They might help heal the scar a bit but when you cut it off you have a new scar very close to the old one - makes it lumpier and sometimes makes the original scar bigger.
That shoot looks to be in a good position for a branch though.

Hi Shibui

Yep that's what i thought too. I'll keep it and see how it takes on.

Cheers

Stew