AusBonsai

I collected this Casuarina cunninghamiana in July 2008 as a bit of a trial to see how they would react. The tree was growing on the banks of the Turon River on my property.
I wrapped the roots in hessian with soil taken from the same spot and then tied it up with twine. The hessian was then soaked in the river and placed in a plastic bag. It sat this way for over 24 hours until I got back home.
Due to time constraints I didn't get a chance to pot it up for 5 days and when I finally did, it was put into a bucket with holes drilled in the bottom

6 months later and you can see that it has back shot very well and now I have a predicament...
Should I create a Literati using the whole tree and take advantage of the natural movement (caused by raging river water) or should I use the lower section to create a more natural looking tree?

Your input and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Steven

My opinion - Trunk chop it low and let the growing strength be redirected to the lower foliage and see what happens.

Jon

Jon Chown wrote:My opinion - Trunk chop it low and let the growing strength be redirected to the lower foliage and see what happens.

Jon

But then he should have gone out and brought a $5 6" pot from a nursery and done what you suggest. But I'm just a beginner who reads a lot.

I like this material, Literati would be the best suited. Its long, slender, wonderful curves and if was a woman, I'm going to guess... a brunette.
I would choose one of the two branches, I would prefer branch 1, but two maybe more useful being shorter. From the image you have the branches to start with pad formation and being able to reduce needles makes it work well.
As you can see I would pull the branch down onto its self . I would add a twist in where it comes down to later add effect if you want a trunk long shari.
Everything in red removed.

That's what I would try out. It fits with the current curves of the tree.

hmmm... damned spellings...

Hey Steven......or should i say Wilson!
You look an awful lot like Wilson, Tim the tool man's neighbour!
I always thought that he was into bonsai.
Peter

Oh...the tree. You could do a lot with it as it is really only very young and still very pliable so its really limited by your imagination.
Nice property mate...very picturesque.

I am just bowled over by the pot and that wonderful blue colour, that Bunning's Special colour. It just... it just ... it just blows my mind. At least you won't miss it in the pack.... that's one good thing about it. But it does the job and that's a lovely find. I don't see how you could reduce that willowy trunk and lose those wonderful curves that are almost impossible to achieve by hand wiring. Nature does it so much better. I would let it develop with literati in mind but seeing what nature provides that utilises that wonderful trunk movement. To lose that would be to lose all that you worked for.

I like the Bunjngi style very much.
As we all or should all know that Casuarina cunninghamii shoot back all over the place while you water them .
Keeping that in mind your branch placement is all up to you.
Just wait for one to pop where you want it. Getting rid of the rest is a problem they just keep popping. I have to pinch mine every day at the moment.
The grace and charm I see in your stock is very natural. So after all that I agree a Bunjingi would be the way to go. Pup

certainly literati

love that type of tree, and the movement in that stock... you don't see in every literati tree.

good luck with it

Steven, Can you keep both options going for now and see what develops?
Asus, do you mean Carol Burnett?
Penny.

Hey Steven......or should i say Wilson!

LOL Peter that was what I was thinking.

It's got insufficient branching options to make a good literati style tree, in my opinion. To that end, I'm with Jon. I'd be reducing the height to see what it throws back low or pruning the top reasonably heavily and seeing whether it pushes enough growth to go with a cascade.

Hector Johnson wrote:It's got insufficient branching options to make a good literati style tree, in my opinion. To that end, I'm with Jon. I'd be reducing the height to see what it throws back low or pruning the top reasonably heavily and seeing whether it pushes enough growth to go with a cascade.

Why collect the tree if you where to do this?

Why collect it? Because you're looking for a substantial root system that leads into a trunk that you can form into a taper.

The strong roots will feed a leader that you can thicken up and then chop again if necessary, to force the taper you want. You are aiming for a trunk thickness to height ratio of approximately 6:1 unless you're aiming for a literati style tree.

If the trunk you collect already does that then you can shave a few years off the process.

So Wilson.........whats it gunna be mate. You going to show yourself, or just lurk in the background and hide behind a palling fence to give the verdict!

Peter.

Thanks for your opinions and suggestions.

Jon Chown wrote:Trunk chop it low and let the growing strength be redirected to the lower foliage...

Hector Johnson wrote: I'd be reducing the height to see what it throws back low...

Jon and Hector, this is what I originally thought however there is very little taper in the lower section of trunk which is not appealing. To fix this by choosing a new leader would take far too long for my liking. I can always collect another one with different qualities.

MelaQuin wrote:I would let it develop with literati in mind but seeing what nature provides that utilises that wonderful trunk movement. To lose that would be to lose all that you worked for.

Lee, your right. I could have collected any one of hundreds of She-Oaks on the bank, however it was the natural curves on this one attracted me.

Pup wrote:The grace and charm I see in your stock is very natural. So after all that I agree a Bunjingi would be the way to go.

Asus101 wrote:Literati would be the best suited. Its long, slender, wonderful curves

"Grace and charm", "wonderful curves". That's how I feel but I thought I was going over the top a bit. Reading your comments has confirmed to me that this trunk is pretty special and the design of the tree needs to be carefully considered.

PeterW wrote:Nice property mate...very picturesque.

Greetings neighbor and thanks, this place is my idea of paradise!

Well, all comments have been considered and I am leaning towards creating a literati to take advantage of the natural movement. I'm going to sketch up what I envisage and will post my idea here for discussion before I commit.

Cheers,
Steven
AKA Wilson

So are these Casuarina thingys the same as sheoaks because there are millions of them around here and I've been thinking of helping myself to a few of them but I've never seen such straighter looking boring trunks before 'cept for the last time I went up to Mt Crawford to get some Pines and then when I finally found this creek bed with some decent wild specimens in it I planned my attack and came back with all me tools only to find some wacky land care group had got there before me and murdered everything that wasn't there before Captain Cooks times.