AusBonsai

My little rippa. Purchased from Ray Nesci as advanced stock material. I really love this little beauty! Enjoy.7/4/2010

solid little bugger nice stock mate

nice like to see it when it heals over...great stock!!!

lowlegs wrote:nice like to see it when it heals over...great stock!!!

Thanx lowlegs, I dont think this one is ever gonna completely heal though. I will just carve it to look more natural.

does this tree have nice roots eddie???

and how long ago did u purchase this tree because a while back i was goin to purchase a banksia from ray n it looks strangely like ur one but never did

IS2SXC wrote:does this tree have nice roots eddie???

and how long ago did u purchase this tree because a while back i was goin to purchase a banksia from ray n it looks strangely like ur one but never did

Hi Minh, I think maybe 2 or maybe 3 years ago. Its probably the same one, but I remember he had a few of them, but this was the fattest he had. It was at Ray's nursery for months because everytime I went in, it was still there. Anyway I paid about $350 for it I think. I finally decided to buy it and am happy that I did. It doesnt have any surface roots at the moment. Its just a field job, it was just grown slashed back every few years and excavated using machinery and put it into a large black pot with what looks like soil that was not his standard aquarium pebble mix but it looks like soil from the original dug out site which I thought was interesting.

Hi Edward, I would be reluctant to carve banksia the wood is so soft it may be very difficult to maintain. I have found the wounds on these trees cover over quite nicely with time.
Craig

craigw60 wrote:Hi Edward, I would be reluctant to carve banksia the wood is so soft it may be very difficult to maintain. I have found the wounds on these trees cover over quite nicely with time.
Craig

G'day Craig, Thanx for the first hand advice, I really appreciate it! Cheers Edward

ive found if you carve the wound down just a few mm's the scar heals over a bit quicker and smoother

Shape the wounds to the line you want so the cuts blend with the tree's movement and then slightly hollow out the cut off area. With a Dremel lower the level all around the edge of the scar. Put Sealant on any major wounds and periodically [several times a year] score the callous at its base. This irritates the cambium and it will develop more callous and so it goes until the wound heals. Banksias do heal well but it is important to be sure the callous develops flat across the wound surface which is why you lower the wound level a bit.

It would also be reasonable to repot into a shallower pot so you are training roots horizontally instead of vertically. It will help the tree to develop better.