AusBonsai

Hi All,
I have this lilly pilly which was badly damaged,top snapped off and various branches, and has since been rather neglected as I had to leave it with someone
while I was away for quite some time.
It was chopped right back and some branches rewired but the wire was left too long and they now have deep scarring.
It also has branches growing out from the same point at the top and at the back of the tree. Would it regrow if I chop all the branches off and start again
or even cut the trunk right down?
Any suggestions on what to do with it would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there.

I reckon a 90% chance (if it's anything like my LP's) that it will roar back to life.

BUT....

10% is a chance to lose the tree?
I'd never advocate that and try my utmost to avoid any losses.

So what I would do is.

1) wait for warmer months and tree to be active.
2) cut all branches hard back to the last set of leaves (closest to the trunk).

I believe this will result in the tree throwing new buds everywhere and you can then go about removing those you feel necessary.

Hope this helps and keep us posted!

Thanks for the info mate..I have just given it a root prune as it had been 2 maybe 3 years since it had been done.
I will wait for it to warm up and then chop those branches back and see how it goes...cheers

I would cut it back to the second branch on the right and wire that up as a new leader. Certainly leave it until it warms up a bit and it will develop faster if it goes into a bigger container. Leave it in that bonsai pot and the growth will be a lot slower.