Kunzea Progression

[kcpoole]

in 2012 I noticed a section of Bush next to Baulkham Hills Netball Assn grounds @ Kellyville, had been earmarked and surveyed for development. I have noticed lots of Trees in there work saving, and had collected a few non natives ( Crepe Myrtyl, Privet and Cotoneaster) from the are, but figured as the bulldozers were coming, Natives could be saved as well

This was growing on a large sandstone slab n about 2 inches of soil, so came up really easily despite being about 8ft tall with multiple trunks. I cut back hard and when got home, trimmed back the roots to fit in a Squat pot and potted up into Diatomite Zeolite mix.
I did no Branch or trunk selection at that time.

note i did not cut back past the first foliage. I left green then waited till more foliage down low and then cut back again. another I collected i took back to bare wood and it did not survive. Not sure if it was a root problem of lack of foliage, and do not want to try on this one to find out

Ken

[kcpoole]

Tree was left to recover for a few years and then was repotted inot a shallow tray.
Styling was thought about, and I was vacillating between either side as the front, and whether to remove excess trunks and go back to a single trunk, or to keep 2 ( or even 3 )

Decided just to reduce the short trunk and see what developed.

Ken

[alpineart]

Hi kc . mate i collected a few of these a few years ago , some were trimmed other not so . They all died in the same year putting pay to my native adventure . This one has great movement and looks a real treat , very natural {aussie style} me thinks

Cheers Alpine

[kcpoole]

The tree grows rapidly and did not take long to create branch and pad structure once I had finalised my design. The foliage filled in in only a year or 2 and was I think ready to display this years show.
I was rewarded by it coming into flower just before the show.

They flower on the new growth, so if you constantly prune them for shape you wil remove many of them.

Enjoy
Ken

[Robsterios]

Awesome progression from start to this magnificent result... inspirational really..!! I'll be looking at some not so commonly grown natives a little different based on this.

[kcpoole]

Awesome progression from start to this magnificent result... inspirational really..!! I'll be looking at some not so commonly grown natives a little different based on this.

Thanks,
I think Kunzea, Sanantha ( Baekea), Callistimon and Melaleuca are vastly underrated as bonsai. They can Stand against Any tree in the world and hold their head up high. They are generally easy to keep, style and obtain.
I recommend that everyone should have at least one of each as they have so much to offer. Small leaves, flowers on many of them, Great bark, Wire and shape easily.

Ken

[lukeaaustin]

Lovely work ken


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[bodhidharma]

Great progression and good skill for a few years work Ken. Love the tree but not so sure on your backround blue silk choice. Time to move up to match your ever growing Bonsai skill.

[kcpoole]

Thanks Bodhi, I really need to make a dedicated Photo spot.
The only place i have out of direct sunlight faces north and is an issue of light in the camera
Different coloured backgrounds are needed I think

Ken

[boom64]

Hi Ken, Just had to comment, as I have a real soft spot for this Species. Great little tree and a very nice original design. How did you find the big cuts heal ? as sometimes mine can really callous up even after some heavy duty carving out. Cheers John.

[kcpoole]

Yep the callous is quite large, but they cover quite fast so hope they will disapear soon

Ken

[Elmar]

Love the progression, Ken.

This sort of post really helps me get a handle on how to attack my trees... Once I am more skilled, I'll call it 'styling' my trees!

Should almost be a dedicated section of the forum ... "Progressions" for all species ... Hah, just being lazy

Lovely tree, well done!

[dansai]

There is

viewforum.php?f=104

[kcpoole]

It would be nice to have a thread in multiple forums, the species one and also the progressions thread.
I always put "progression" in the title so I cane search for them and also bookmark all my threads too

Ken

[Elmar]

That sounds very clever Mr KC!
I should take that on board!

Thx dansai, I've not seen it, sorry.


Cheers
Elmar