First ever dig - Allocasuarina Fraseriana 2021

[Patmet]

Hi all,

I have just dug my first ever tree from the wild yesterday.
I was working on a residential building site in an older suburb during the week, which is across the road from native bushland (with a lot of introduced pest species growing amongst it). There was a limestone block retaining wall along the boundary at ground level, where various trees and shrubs seeded from the bush were growing along. Mostly Coastal Tea Tree. I found a WA Sheoak growing quite vigorously in front of a tea tree on the wall that appeared to have been constantly chopped and mowed down by the local council over the years. I figured i may as well have a go at trying to save it as in a few weeks time all of that vegetation will be removed anyway for the fence to go up.

I did a lot of reading of threads on here about digging casuarinas and tried to do the best i could for the tree but there were very few feeder roots once i severed it from the long main tap root which concerns me.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated

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[treeman]

Interesting but I'd be surprised if it lived. If you can you should follow the fine roots and dig up as many as possible and even if they are very long you should wrap these around and stuff them all in the pot.

[Patmet]

Yeah I definitely was a bit careless and too keen to get it out of the ground. It had the coastal tea tree roots sort of tangled in with it and the wall made it hard to dig around. I gave it a strong pull and the main taproot just broke. I am not confident at all of it surviving either, hoping something miraculous happens. Definitely something i've learned for next time to slow down.

[shibui]

I'm a bit more optimistic having transplanted a number of casuarinas over here.
The tree is likely to drop all the needles in response to the loss of roots but don't despair. They will often sprout again when it has some new roots so continue care right though to mid summer if necessary and keep fingers crossed.

[Raging Bull]

Yes, like shibui I've dug several casuarinas and they had very little in the way of roots, but survived and are doing fine. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I initially put a couple of supporting stakes in with the dug trees to keep them from moving and damaging any new roots that might be growing. Keep them quite moist, they seem to love water. Good luck with it.

[Patmet]

Yes, like shibui I've dug several casuarinas and they had very little in the way of roots, but survived and are doing fine. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I initially put a couple of supporting stakes in with the dug trees to keep them from moving and damaging any new roots that might be growing. Keep them quite moist, they seem to love water. Good luck with it.

I'm a bit more optimistic having transplanted a number of casuarinas over here.
The tree is likely to drop all the needles in response to the loss of roots but don't despair. They will often sprout again when it has some new roots so continue care right though to mid summer if necessary and keep fingers crossed.

Thank you both for the optimism. It’s reassuring to hear it has a fighting chance. For the gutless sand and conditions it was growing in on the edge of a building site it was a strong, healthy looking little tree which is a testament to the resilience of the casuarina. After taking the photos I made clean cuts on those large roots to give them the best conditions to heal. I tried to take a substantial amount of foliage off but also leave a decent amount at the same time it’s just one of those things I figure you kinda just have to make an educated guess. I have it potted into the mix I use for all my developing trees that the natives seem to do well in here. Course, free draining, and also a healthy amount of organic material. Sprinkled some seamungus pellets in there for good measure to gently aid in the recovery. I have it in a really sunny position in the yard where I will tend to it. Hopefully I will have some good news to update with in a few months time

[shibui]

It is always a hard decision whether to leave foliage or cut back. I know there is lots of people who believe that foliage helps roots regenerate but still many who have seen that too much foliage can dehydrate a plant and reduce survival. I am not sure whether this is species specific or whether we should be treating all plants the same regardless of native, deciduous, conifer, etc. I know I follow your thinking and reduce foliage by gut feel in the absence of hard proof. I would love to see some well managed tests to try to solve this dilemma.
Your WA 'gutless' was on my mind as I made the previous reply. Trees in any sandy or rocky conditions tend to have long roots with few feeders and are traditionally harder to transplant from. From lots of experience I am still convinced that 'roots know how to grow roots' ie new roots will develop relatively easily from cut ends of roots. I transplant a range of species from my grow beds each year and always see that new roots issue from the cut ends rather than from along the length of the remaining roots so my collecting strategy is to cut roots short and hope for the best.

Everything else you have done seems aligned to my experience and inclination so fingers crossed and please update this one whichever way it turns out so we can all learn more.