AusBonsai

Hi,
I've recently dug these from the nature strip in the middle of a road . But relax, they were being bulldozed to make way for replanting with different plants. They are very common here on the Gold Coast as roadside plantings and I've also attached a couple of pics of some flowering to help identification. I would appreciate if someone could tell me which callistemon they are and if they back-bud well. I would like to keep a fair bit of the trunks as they have a nice aged look and some nice moss and lichen growth. There are also a couple of places where branches were broken off by machinery ripping up nearby vegetation. I will try to use those to make sharis. The smaller one also has nice nebari.
Any ideas or comments welcome as I haven't tried Callistemons before.
Cheers,
Frank

looks like Little John

Little John or Matthew Flinders. Both are great for bonsai and shoot back from old wood. The flowers are small so look in proportion. Once established and with plenty of growth you can cut branches back and they reshoot giving good ramification. During the summer I stand them on gravel tray with water in and do not worry if roots grow into gravel. Do not allow to dry out. Cut any leaves hanging down to allow better airflow and light into lower branches Looking forward to seeing how they go as there is a lot of potential there

Both 'Little John' and 'Matthew Flinders' are from Callistemon viminalis so they are quite hardy. Dwarf habit makes them easy for bonsai but I find you need to do more thinning out than trimming because growth tends to be short but with very short internodes they produce lots of shoots close together.
I agree. Good material to work with.
Callistemon don't like to be root pruned down here in cold weather but up there you have a much better chance of survival. Just give them a couple of good growing seasons to get re-established before trying any further styling.

Good luck

Shibui do you root prune in early summer?

Transplant and repot and root prune any time during warmer weather - late spring through to late summer. Here it does not seem to matter if it is really hot or just warm, as long as the tree is active so new roots can grow after.

Thank you for the advice and I.D. gentlemen (and ladies? perhaps). I will be posting updates as they progress. I'm encouraged now that I know they will back-bud on old wood.
Frank.

Well they looked promising, but died right back and I thought they were goners, but one has sprung back to life. . I'm keeping my fingers crossed, maybe the other one will come back too.

I collected one of these from a garden. It looked dead for nearly a year before sprouting new buds. Now growing quite strongly so I keep looking to work out how to style the 3 very thick trunks.
Well done for managing to get buds on this one. look forward to seeing further progress but be prepared to wait. they do not grow fast.