AusBonsai

Hi all,
I have a Melaleuca quinquenervia that I potted down from a grow-box recently, had to remove alot of the lower roots and thus thin out alot of the foliage but it needed it anyway, after the strong growth it put on since the chop from a lanky 2 metres to around 0.5m. I don't have a pre-chop pic, it was cut around a year or two ago. Alot of the foliage was removed before potting down and after looking at how the photos turned out, it could probably use some more!
I'm hoping to emulate some of the Melaleuca bonsai that I have seen on this site and around the place, maybe a 'mother & daughter' or 'father & son' type of arrangement, I might have to let it grow on again so that it is easier to make the determination. The lack of curves is something I think will probably make it easier to make a 'father & son' styling. I'm open to all comments.. 25-02-2010
26-09-2010
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Thanks

As the quin develops the character of the thickening tree and the bark will moderate any juvenile straightness. I don't think you have to worry on that score. It has a quiet, elegant beauty. Just don't let it get too tall but it is good in the large grow on box as it should thicken to convey the Melaleuca quin's age and solidity. Nice start. You are doing well.

Thanks MelaQuin, I hope it pulls through the big root chop though..I removed some of the roots in the middle which may or may not have included some of the trunk! The large knots at the trunk/root divide are gone but hopefully the potential bonsai won't be..
I've heard how tough these species are so I gave it a fair whack, for aftercare I just have it sitting in the shade cloth area, giving it two good mistings per day and a big soak in the mornings. That's about right for Melaleuca's, isn't it?
My irrational affinity for zeolite as a soil cover is also apparent..

G'day Bonscythe, Last time I was in Sydney I saw this species used as street trees and thought then what fantastic bonsai they would make. I would have thought you would need them to be quite large bonsai to accommodate the leaf size which seems quite large. It looks to me you have the tree potted right at the back of the pot and I was wondering why that is so maybe its just the way the pic looks ?. If this were my tree I would wire it from top to bottom now and get the branching sorted.
Craigw

G,day Craig, this is one species I have only been working for a little over a year now. With a lot of positives, the one tree I had ==have, was lent to a young man from Chile, exchange student. He wanted to try some Australian natives.

So I loaned him my one and only, but took a cutting from it. That was successful. So I have been working that, I have found foliage reduction is good using the method of cutting of the large leaves. I do however, feel they might, not work to well at anything under about 40cm.

I could be wrong, as Melaquin has had more time with them, maybe she can help us. As I would love to be able to produce a Chuhin or even a Shohin of them.

Cheers Pup

Hi Craig,
There are alot of them around my area as street plantings, although up the road they have some Callistemon sp. (I think it's C. viminalis) and it seems they enjoy the electricity company coming along and chopping them in half a bit more than the M. quin's in my street, if that's anything to go by!
Yes the leaves can get quite large but it appears that after some dilligent pinching and also large leaf removal (as Pup stated) they eventually come back tiny.
I'll post a picture of the leaf reduction if I get time tomorrow, it is substantial, which gives promise.
Yeah, it does look like it's planted at the back of the pot in those pictures but it is due to the slight mound in the middle of the pot (too big a root-mass to get any lower this time), it was deliberately planted off center - slightly towards the back and slightly right. I thought that was the way to go for aesthetics, did I peform some sort of styling faux pas?
Thanks all