AusBonsai

Hello All

I haven't done to much with Banksia and was hoping if anyone could offer some advice and how to treat these tress, styling/shaping, how to make the tree more compact etc.

Please see the attached pictures for the material I'm workng with.

All advice is appreciated.

Regards

Mark

Looks like it has experienced poor growth and die back over the past few years.

Fertilise it over spring time and let grow unchecked for 6 months or more, then cut back when it is warm. It will bud back when it has regained its vigour.

Lots of other threads on Banksia so check them out.

Grant

I leave my banksias alone in winter, I find they respond well to pruning when they are growing strongly.
They can be sensitive to fertilizer, as with all Australian natives avoid phosphorus but banksias have an amazing ability to draw nutrients from poor soil. If they are suddenly introduced to fertilizers they can overdose and die. If you start off with weak doses and increase over a few months they should respond well. I like to use powerfeed.
In late October or early November growth should be strong, this is the best time to prune, re-pot, or defoliate.

Good advice above already. For a long time I was frightened of fertilising banksias because all the stories say they can die. More of mine have died due to malnutrition as a result. They do need to be fed. Powerfeed should be safe to start with even if it is hungry now. Keep feeding all natives over winter because most are trying to grow now.
Don't worry how long it grows you can safely cut these back very hard.
When it is healthy prune as hard as you like in late spring/ summer and new buds will form all over the bare wood so you can grow new branches and trunk from the best ones.
After that regular pruning and pinching in warmer months will build up branch pads and ramification.