AusBonsai

Sunday Funday. What better to spend the day then chopping away at a tree.

I acquired this Dwarf Baeckea Virgata / Babingtonia bidwillii? / Sannantha bidwillii? (Maybe another name by now?) early this year and have enjoyed looking at its bushy coat ever since.



I decided today was D-Day for the first styling, as I wanted to make sure the branches didn't get too leggy and reduce the risk of dieback on the inner branches.

These things are VERY brittle, so a couple of smaller branches had to be removed even though I didn't want to..

I'm relatively happy with the way it has come out. Hopefully once it fills out and back buds a bit more, as well as the new apex developing, it should turn out alright.

She only a small shohin, sitting at 13cm high at the highest tip, by 12cm wide to each tip.









Since taking the photo's I have wired the left branch down a little lower to straighten out the protruding angle a bit

At the moment the trunk (around 3/4 the way up the tree) protrudes past the new leader. This is just for now until the bend in the trunk sets in place, then I will cut it back to here.



All feedback is welcome as usual.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

What baeckea is this can't seem to find this peticular

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angelozoras wrote:What baeckea is this can't seem to find this peticular

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I think he said dwarf Baeckea virgata, Baeckea virgata Babingtonia virgata Sannatha virgata, it might have a different name by now.

Cheers Pup

Haha Pup its so confusing.

If anyone could work it out I thought it would be you, so please feel free to correct me if I got it wrong. It was originally sold to me as a dwarf Baeckea virgata and I believe I applied the correct name changes, but the truth is I have no idea...

It also has very similar characteristics to Sannantha angusta - http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-b ... ha~angusta - but who really knows haha.

Pearcy001 wrote:Haha Pup its so confusing.

If anyone could work it out I thought it would be you, so please feel free to correct me if I got it wrong. It was originally sold to me as a dwarf Baeckea virgata and I believe I applied the correct name changes, but the truth is I have no idea...

It also has very similar characteristics to Sannantha angusta - http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-b ... ha~angusta - but who really knows haha.

You have it right for now !!!!

Cheers PUP

Little over a month since I chopped around 90% of the foliage off and its coming back strong.

I snapped a small branch that was perfect to fill the upper void on the left. I made the mistake of trying to bend it across to check if it would work, that'll teach me







There is a small branch that I plan to grow out at the top on the left. Once this grows and ramifies it should fell that space well, on top of developing the apex. The opposite branch will become the new leader.

After learning from that mistake i will now just let it grow until around March, before I consider removing a few unnecessary shoots to thin this little guy out.

As for the large branch moving from the centre of the trunk to the right. I think I may remove this as it protrudes at the same height, and nearly from the same spot as the left branch. This will stop the chance of any bulging as well as I think improve the tree in the long run, making the right branch protrude from the trunk slightly higher. Only problem is how many years these take to heal over.

The other option for this branch could be to cut it back to the last branchlet that is going back left in the original set of photos, then wire the whole branch back to the left and probably down slightly. Only time will tell. Opinions and thoughts welcome.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

so after my faux pas with the Chinese Elm (Celtis) and the other Chinese Elm (Ulmus) I'm not sure I should have done this. I looked up your Baeckea...

Oh my!

http://anpsa.org.au/APOL24/dec01-2.html

I like what's happening with it, whatever it is!

melbrackstone wrote:so after my faux pas with the Chinese Elm (Celtis) and the other Chinese Elm (Ulmus) I'm not sure I should have done this. I looked up your Baeckea...

Oh my!

http://anpsa.org.au/APOL24/dec01-2.html

I like what's happening with it, whatever it is!

It's a Baeckea Babingtonia Sannantha Virgata Compacta .... etc... (Might have missed something) call it what you like it makes a great bonsai and this one is on the way, coming along nicely.

It's a Baeckea Babingtonia Sannantha Virgata Compacta .... etc... (Might have missed something) call it what you like it makes a great bonsai and this one is on the way, coming along nicely.

What he said.

3 months since the heavy cut and it's a full super healthy head of hair again for this little guy.



I'm beginning to think it may be pointless trying to style a Baeckea this small, as the shape is lost so quickly. Perhaps less fert could be a good idea? - It's currently getting full strength every fortnight, rotating between 3 different ferts.

I also removed the moss growing around the base. The thick older bark became brittle from the moisture and a chunk fell away, so fingers crossed allowing it all to dry will stop that from happening again in the future.



Off work for a couple of weeks with no plans so should give me time to decide what to do with it. May need to grow it into a larger tree?

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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If there is one thing I hate at the moment, it's possums... And I'm sure you can all guess what I'm about to say happened.

The local ring tailed gang were kind enough to drop by my place over Easter, to give some of my trees that they had access to a bit of a trim. They removed around 50-60% of this one's foliage over 2 nights. They were that hungry they even had a go at the needles on my JBP...

Anyway I was forced to chop this one back heavily. I'm not too worried about how much I removed as it grew pretty much all year round last year and from my experience prefers wet feet. I've given it a slightly new face and put on some more wire (dont think I broke any of the ohh so brittle branches this time ). I also tilted it slightly to show the potting angle it will receive upon repot. Its current pot is hidious still but as I said it grew year round last year so I'm in no rush to repot it until next spring/summer. A few weeks back I slip potted it out to see the roots and it was looking fine. Eventually I'm thinking this will be its new home one day but time will tell viewtopic.php?t=19596
Anyway here's the result thanks to the possums.



Cheers,
Pearcy.

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Aargh possums, I feel your pain. The only solution I have managed to find any success with is to "net" my trees to keep them out. I think ringtails seem to be worse than brushies, they're more tenacious and industrious.

In any case, given the growth and vigour your little Baeckea has shown, I'm sure it's going to bounce back and hopefully the result will be for the best. You might find yourself even thanking them for their efforts 12 months from now...

PS: the tree/pot combo your thinking about is a winner.

Ryceman3 wrote:I think ringtails seem to be worse than brushies, they're more tenacious and industrious.

They can feel like the bane of my existence sometimes Ryceman, and my partner just thinks it's hilarious...

Since this new incident (not the first mind you) the spot where a couple of my trees are kept is looking as secure as Fort Knox, and I don't seem to have had a problem since. Although it may just be they've run out of food that's not too prickly to eat.

As far as the bonsai pots go, this is the only tree that I currently own in a bonsai pot what so ever. Everything else is in a standard plastic or orchid pot currently, as all I own is pre-bonsai at best that I want to develop quicker if possible. Due to this one growing somewhat ok in its current smaller pot, I'm considering that pot I linked for it as it would be nice to have just one tree in a real pot (and a beautiful pot at that). Although maybe I'd be best just to grow it on in a bigger orchid pot?

Decisions..

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Do you have an update on this one? I have two of these trees, both got a hard cut back today.

It grew on well. But then the possums returned... They went hard too, but it still hung on. Then they came back and reduced it even further a couple of weeks later and it pushed it over the edge. RIP.

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