Melaleuca Nesophila - Shohin Project

[Patmet]

I bought this Melaleuca Nesophila as a tubestock from a nursery around about September 2021.

I initially wired up an interesting trunk line, but never re-applied wire after it bit in. From what I can remember it became relatively long and straight again, so I cut it back hard.

Leaving it to it's own devices, it now grew multiple trunks from fairly low, so I decided I might try and make it a shohin. From then until now it's just been letting grow and cutting back hard.

It's starting to take shape into something now as an open and outwards growing tree. I'm thinking maybe a small flame style shape.

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December 2021. Initial trunk shape.

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April 2022. After cutting back hard.

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Feb 2024 after a cut back.

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

The leaf size reduction is really noticeable - a nice low but super dense broom style could be on the cards also? Let's wait & see.....

[Promethius]

Really nice.
I’ve had a couple of these as stock for around 2 years - they don’t seem to thrive in Melbourne compared to my other Mel species, and have been slow to thicken despite letting growth elongate.
Do you keep them in a water tray at any point?

[Patmet]

Really nice.
I’ve had a couple of these as stock for around 2 years - they don’t seem to thrive in Melbourne compared to my other Mel species, and have been slow to thicken despite letting growth elongate.
Do you keep them in a water tray at any point?

They are a great species. I've seen a few nice one's here in WA, but they are nowhere near as commonly used as Mel Raphiophylla or Cuticularis.

They are a little slower to thicken than other species. I have a mel raphiophylla I got as tubestock the same time as this one, and it's more than twice as thick. I've used the same techniques with each and roughly the same size pots.

I don't keep any of my growing stock in large plastic pots like this in a water tray. I just water them heavily on the daily. The only trees I have in water trays are ones in shallow bonsai pots that dry out quite rapidly in the summer.


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[Patmet]

This has grown very well since the last prune so I've cut it back again and also some wiring this time. It's beginning to compact in now to shohin size and better proportion with the trunk size.

I'm really happy with where this is at. I could picture a mel growing like this in nature, so for me it's less stylised than some of my other work.

Currently sitting at just under 20cm from the root base.

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Before

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After

[Rory]

I never had much luck with leaf reduction on these. Nice little tree Pat.
I gave up on them as I preferred smaller leaf sized Mels after downsizing.