AusBonsai

I picked one of these up cheaply as i loved the bark. And the idea of bronze-red winged seed pod.

I dont know anything about them, so this will be a "learning tree".

This thread will be updated as i do things to his tree.

All i have done since purchase was a hard prune.

Jarrod

hey jezz this tree looks and sounds an interesting and worthwhile play. you haven't stated but assuming you have posted in the tips and advice i will take it you want some.

if this was my tree and i wanted to introduce movement and much greater taper i would choose one of the first 2 branches as the new leader. wire it and let it go for a season.( take wire out when cutting but let it just mark the branch). this will set it into place.

then if you would rather leave it that height and have an upright style, i would keep the top growth cut right back, mid section in check and let those bottom branches run wild for a year or two. if your lucky you will then create the fat in the lower part of the tree to give you the taper needed.

any time you wanna chew some fat on that your welcome to catch up.

Thanks for the promt reply, The only reason i havent done the big chop to the bottom two branches (i already thought that) was that the branches are extremely brittle and im not sure i can do much with wiring, so i left the top to play with wiring.

Jarrod

as new leaders between tilting the planting angle and a couple layers of raffia and wire it shouldnt be a problem you need to curve and soften the straight lines if nothing else.

for me that is where the tree is. you will find it hard in a pot and pruning up and down like that to get the taper you will be happy with.

Hi Jezz,
Looks like an interesting tree and the brittle branches are going to challenge your wiring skills. Is there a third branch pointing directly at the camera in your second picture? If so, this looks like a potential leader to me.

Nice ink by the way

S.

Is there a third branch pointing directly at the camera

Yes it would appear so and this is the one that I would use - I wonder how chops heal with this species?

Jon

Yeah there is and that is the new leader once i have had a bit of a play with wiring the top, thanks guys. I am also wondering if it will heal at all as the bark is very hard. but hey, I can only try


And thanks for the ink comment, it hurts to be done under the arm though

Jarrod

if its brittle i would simply cut and grow.

Update on this tree, I am able to put a lot of bends in branches with out breaking them so I will cut and shape soon and post the results.

I'm looking forwards to seeing what you do with it Jezz!

S.

I am to Jezz, I had not heard of this tree before so I will be watching the progress ,it does look very promising material.
I have read up on it in Encyclopedia Botanica. It says they can be propagated by cuttings. So it should make a good subject . I like the bark it looks a lot like Melaleuca bracteata and lanceolata subsp planifolia. Please keep us posted. Pup

Well after a bit more then 12 months this guy is still growing strong and the tests are going well. It buds well on 1 year old wood however not beyond this from what I can tell. Leaves slightly reduce as ramification increases. Internode lenght will be a problem on small trees. I have dynamic lift on it which seems to be fine. And it gets seasol and powerfeed with no issues.

I don't think the trunk will thicken much. Even if ground grown so I think you have to except that it is a fine trunked tree and make do with it.