AusBonsai

Hi All,

I picked up this tired looking Euc a while back, I loved the shape of it and it was a bargain so why not, it had a few diseased looking branches which i removed and tidied up After a few months the growth and back budding has been prolific Every time i look its budding further and further down, my question is, how far down could i maybe expect it to bud?

And, could that big long bendy branch on the left be bent around and used to graft a branch further down the trunk?

Also, the buds tend to explode out in groups of 3 or 4, should i be thinning these down to 1 or even 2 to avoid any sort of buldging?
Thanks all

No idea on the budding question if you let it grow as is. Prior posts on Aubonsai have shown that a trunk chop will stimulate buds low down (this is how I have shaped my trees) and the same effect can be seen in nature after a fire.Not sure this applies to all eucalypts though.

Also no idea on how easy it is to approach/thread graft eucalypts. I don't recall seeing a post about that.

In terms of buds, budding in groups is common (in elms as well). One strategy mentioned in earlier posts is to thin down to two shoots in the first instance (in case one dies) and reduce to one before thickening occurs. You can rub off any groups you don't need.

Eucs as bonsai is still in its infancy. There is so much we only know a little about and much more we don't know at all.
Add to that different species appear to respond differently to the same procedures.

Great that you have had good back budding. My experience has been that most stop making new buds when branches start growing strongly. Then almost all growth is at the tips which eventually leads to long, bare sections. Pruning at that stage is hit and miss - sometimes the branches will bud well, other times the whole branch dies back and new shoots grow from the trunk so everything needs to be started over.
Most of the euc growers I have talked to report they allow the euc bonsai to grow slowly out with regular tip pruning but at some stage chop back hard and start over.

Always thin groups of shoots as mentioned by Terry. That applies to all species, native and exotic.

Eucs can be grafted. Commercial grafted trees are available in nurseries but I do not know the methods used. I recently tried some emergency grafting after a flowering gum in the garden broke off. Pretty sure none have survived.
Approach grafting is a much more sure method to get grafts. There's no reason it won't work for a Euc but I have had less success with low approach grafts because vigour is less lower down under the dominant canopy.

Let us know how you go.

I dont have much to add that hasn't already been said. I'm fairly new to euc as well, only have two years experience which with eucs is nothing. This article below i find to be a fantastic reference. Good luck.

viewtopic.php?f=78&t=28106

Oh yes that article is amazing i've read that many times!!

Thanks all for the comments I will be sure to update how things progress