Autumn/winter work for developing Aust natives

[MattM]

What are people currently doing to there natives that are in development at this time of year? (I'm in western Sydney).
I have Banksia, Melaleuca, Leptospermum and some Angophoras.

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[longd_au]

I don't do anything to natives during this time of year. I leave them in full sun and make sure they don't get dry.
My little experience with natives have been with lepto and melaleuca and once made a mistake of hard pruning in late april and that plant did not recover until the following spring/summer.

Being autumn, I do have some fertilizer on them though.

[Rory]

Days and nights are starting to get really cold, so it simply slows down the growth of the tree. They don’t go dormant like a lot of northern hemisphere trees, they just grow a lot slower.

But it’s not wise to fiddle with the roots much over winter... depending on whereabouts you are in Australia.

The most important thing over winter is to not overwater your trees, and don’t underestimate wind that may dry your bonsai out even if it’s cold and damp.

Some trees you can cut back or do rootwork in late ‘winter’ as they will start to shoot very early, but it depends on the species and how healthy they are. But it’s best advised to wait until the tree starts powering up again.

I don’t do much, and just allow the mix to dry out longer between each watering.
Take the time to check for pests and root rot.

And I check the levels of sun every now and then just to make sure they’re all getting adequate sun. Because with low levels of sun, and combined with very bushy bonsai, you can start to encounter die back of the lower or shaded branches aren’t getting enough sun.