AusBonsai

Not much to look at now but I love the rough bark. I bought it from Ray Nesci about a year ago. Ive only choped it futher back from what Ray had, and am regrowing to get some taper. Quoted from Ray as around 35 years old, it use to be the base part of a grevillia graft until that graft part died. Not easy to get bark like that on a silk oak tree thats such a small size. It will be a beatiful tree in the future.

Hi E.S.

Do you have much experience growing G.Robusta? I saved a small one last December from immanent death but can't find any info on growing them as bonsai.

Waltron wrote:Hi E.S.

Do you have much experience growing G.Robusta? I saved a small one last December from immanent death but can't find any info on growing them as bonsai.

Hi Waltron, Yes. Ive grown one from a chance seedling for over 15 years and they are one of the hardiest Aussie natives Ive come across. Will grow in just about all soils, even very poor dry conditions or even wet soils. Will live in full sun and semishade. A very good survivor. Some say that it doesnt make good bonsai because of the large leaves, I really cant accept that view so we'll see what happens. I really think not many has explored this tree's potential.

They make great bonsai. They are tough as nails. If you defoliate around mid-end December, a few weeks before they have their rest in January the leaves will grow to about 1/3 of the normal size. Just don't use chemical fert on them as they DO NOT like it. Mine lost all its new (small) leaves however it did reshoot.

EdwardH wrote:They make great bonsai. They are tough as nails. If you defoliate around mid-end December, a few weeks before they have their rest in January the leaves will grow to about 1/3 of the normal size. Just don't use chemical fert on them as they DO NOT like it. Mine lost all its new (small) leaves however it did reshoot.

Thank EdwardH for that good piece of first hand info. Im sure people here like me with silky oaks appreciate it. Thanx!!

Yeah thats what they said about desert ash Great little trunk Eddie! I'm growing one too. WE'LL showm

anttal63 wrote:Yeah thats what they said about desert ash Great little trunk Eddie! I'm growing one too. WE'LL showm

Thanx Ant, hey when are ya gonna show more of your stuff?

Chemical ferts? I give mine plenty of native Osmocote and it's powering away. It's resurrection this summer has been nothing short of miraculous. Are you referring to inorganic liquid ferts? Oh, and thanks for the defoliation tip.

I gave it some Brunnings All Purpose garden fertiser and paid the price. Whilst the tree has come back from the dead I have lost most of the branch structure so it's back to growing new branches and ramification. I have used slow release ferts like osmocote (native, roses etc), Miracle Grow, Dynamic Lifter all with good results. I was hoping to enter it in the comp just finished Oh well. There is always next year
I did see one in a bonsai show, either last year or the year before (I think it was at Pennant Hills in Sydney) and that is when I first saw a silky oak with small leaves. I spoke with Dorothy Koreshoff and she advised me to defoliate in November. I tried that but they came back only marginally smaller. I am not sure if my timing was out or if we simply had a lot of rain so the growing period was extended somewhat. So then I tried around mid Dec and it worked much better.
Hope this helps.

Beautiful stock tree Eddie and your right about getting good bark on them. Loving seeing all your trees you have a nice collection there.

Did Ray have any advice on repotting them? Or has anyone firsthand experience, timing etc. I have a large one in the garden i dug from my neighbours 2yrs ago, I want to move it into a pot next year.

Matt

Hi Eddie
silky oak seem to handle pot culture well.
As they are a grevillea, it is not surprising that hitting them with regular fertiliser can do them harm. I've not checked their roots for those special 'proteoid roots' that are so good at scavenging nutrients from low nutrient soils, but end up killing the plant when offered a super abundance, especially of phosphate. I suspect that is what happened with your tree. Use low phosphate fertilisers and you will be ok.
Kunzea

MattA wrote:Beautiful stock tree Eddie and your right about getting good bark on them. Loving seeing all your trees you have a nice collection there.

Did Ray have any advice on repotting them? Or has anyone firsthand experience, timing etc. I have a large one in the garden i dug from my neighbours 2yrs ago, I want to move it into a pot next year.

Matt

Thanx Matt, I repotted my other silky oak which Ive had for over a decade during springtime, and just rootprune like any other bonsai. My other silky oak is a semicascade and unfortuantely these guys thicken pretty quick in large pots and mine has bad wiring marks.

Kunzea wrote:Hi Eddie
silky oak seem to handle pot culture well.
As they are a grevillea, it is not surprising that hitting them with regular fertiliser can do them harm. I've not checked their roots for those special 'proteoid roots' that are so good at scavenging nutrients from low nutrient soils, but end up killing the plant when offered a super abundance, especially of phosphate. I suspect that is what happened with your tree. Use low phosphate fertilisers and you will be ok.
Kunzea

Thanx for your knowledgeable advice Kunzea, I really appreciate it! Cheers Edward.

Cheers Eddie. I cant wait to get this one out of the ground & into better light. You are not wrong about the way branches thicken on these guys. Even if you wanted to restyle & start them all over again it doesnt take long.

Keep up the good work & look forward to seeing more of your trees. Will post some pics of my robusta when the time comes to get it out the ground, too hard to get at for a photo.

Matt

How do you find them as cacscade? These are really strong apically and most branches tend upwards aswell, I bet it is a constant balancing of energy to keep looking good.

MattA wrote:Cheers Eddie. I cant wait to get this one out of the ground & into better light. You are not wrong about the way branches thicken on these guys. Even if you wanted to restyle & start them all over again it doesnt take long.

Keep up the good work & look forward to seeing more of your trees. Will post some pics of my robusta when the time comes to get it out the ground, too hard to get at for a photo.

Matt

How do you find them as cacscade? These are really strong apically and most branches tend upwards aswell, I bet it is a constant balancing of energy to keep looking good.

Actually, You are right Matt, they are difficult to wire because they just seem to straighten up. The branches are also brittle and can snap when you bend too much. Also it just doesnt look natural at as a semicascade for this type of tree. Especially at the moment with the large leaves. Im hoping the scars heal up and I will apply leaf reduction.