AusBonsai

Hi guys,

We moved into a new house just over a week ago and the house has quite an extensive garden was sitting down the back when this caught my eye. My guess was a bottle brush?

Also, when can I dig, when can I chop (if I can chop right back?) And can I do both at once? Thanks

Yep, looks like Callistemon from here. Not sure which species though. You'll need flowers to be able to work that out.

You can cut these back as far as you like. They will make new shoots all over whatever is left. yours has already produced new shoots from the base.

I'm pretty sure Pup transplants Callistemon any time of year successfully. I seem to do better in warmer weather but will take them whenever the opportunity arises. I dug a Callistemon 'littlejohn' last week. It has made 1 new bud but I won't be confident of survival until mid summer next year because stumps often produce new buds from stored energy but no roots and subsequently die when the food reserves run out or when it gets a bit hot.

You can also cut back and dig in the one operation if you want.

Looks like that one might have some scale on the leaves. I'd spray with white oil or a systemic to get rid of the pests before pruning or digging.

Good luck

Thanks for that Neil, I'll get my gear organised (unpacked) and give it a go

Dug this yesterday, had a few shallow roots (more than I expected to be honest) but removed all the large ones growing downwards. Removed about half of the foliage and am hoping it will backbud to where the smooth bark starts on both trunks. Has some interesting scars/textures on the trunk but also a bulge just above the roots which I will try to ground layer if it survives

Size 13 Clod-hoppers for scale

Lower trunk

About the point I'm hoping for foliage/final height

Looks like pretty heavy soil? Hope it drains OK,

Keep the roots moist and shoud be OK

Ken

Yeah fair point Ken, I may have to repot it into something more open asap

Repotted into straight potting mix and watered in with seasol. Figured with the size of the pot there'd be nothing wrong with potting soil. Now the waiting game...

Thought I'd post a bit of an update on this as I haven't managed to kill it yet

It spent the whole of winter sulking and not doing anything before becoming one of the victims of the group of Cows that broke into our yard

After they "defoliated" most of the tree I was worried I might lose it, especially as the trunk on the left had about 4 leaves left, but after close inspection I discovered that trunk had a new bud growing on it.

After another month of nothing moving, it finally woke up and decided to bud all over the place! I've been pinching buds off on the lower trunk and around the bulge (which is buried, but that doesn't seem to bother them) and have so far gotten many buds around the height I want them

Here is the tree today

Front

Front

Back

My question now is: What is the best way to ground layer these? Wire tourniquet?

Thanks for reading

Andrew

Ps. Could one of the mods please move this to the callistemon board so I can continue using as a progression thread? Thanks

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Well done getting those new shoots. I collected a 'Little John' which has done similar - just a few shoots over winter but more buds popping up now - Never give up!

I have not actually layered callistemon but they strike quite easily so should not be difficult. I would try either tourniquet or narrow ringbark with wire tourniquet for a ground layer but i would wait until this one really gets going before putting it through more stress. It will need plenty of leaves to provide fuel to top up the nearly empty tanks it must have after being without leaves for so long. When it has recovered and is strong again do the layer. More leaves means quicker roots.

Congrats on getting it this far. I wouldn't be removing any more buds even if they are not where you want them later. As Shibui said, more leaves = more energy = more growth = more roots. Once it is going strong you can be selective. It is always wise to let a plant recover after digging for a year or more before doing any work. Then you know its strong enough to handle more stress.

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll let this one recover for now. I've given it a feed of rapid raiser about a month ago, should I wait a bit before giving it another feed?

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If it's growing, feed it

Hello all,

Another year has passed and despite some neglect due to work/life, this tree is still keeping on keeping on. I was doing some much overdue pruning today, and after finishing with this one I've come to the conclusion it's decision time regarding the right trunk.
Should it stay or should it go? I believe it would be a much better tree without it.

How much to take back? Is deadwood viable on Callistemon? Any suggestions appreciated

what about shortening to just a stump?

I find it hard to assess a tree from a photo but I think you have already decided it will be better without the branch so just do it.

Is deadwood viable on Callistemon?

Dead wood is dead so it won't be viable but I guess you are really asking whether you should include dead wood in the design of a bonsai callistemon. In that case, Where these grow naturally along rivers they get smashed during floods so a great many of the ones I see growing wild feature dead wood. My waterswept callistemon has had parts converted to jin and shari to reflect that aspect of life in the river.