Casuarina Pruning

[Bretts]

I have never come across much information on pruning casuarinas. There is some info on the collecting root work and maybe styling but Even Robert Stevens article in Bonsai focus and his books has nothing more in depth than grab some needles/branches and pull.

I have been wondering when is the best time to do this. Should all the tree be done at once. How many nodes are best left and what have people experienced with them.
Here are two of mine for reference.

cas2.jpg

It received an all over prune in spring at the time of re potting. I kept a close look for new buds emerging. They didn't but I finally realised the needles where much longer than when I re potted it I have been tipping the growth haphazardly since then and have found some back budding but can't say I am any wiser.
I would not be keen to tip prune this one at the moment as I think I need to encourage more root growth. When I let the tree grow out for a bit I am tempted to just get in their with a pair of scissors as I found once the needles mature/harden I cause some damage buy pulling them.
You can see some history of this tree here
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=138

This is a little starter from the nursery this season. I plan on copying a shohin pine shape. Maybe even a lime green pot

This has had one prune when re potted and it back budded fairly well. No it back budded well I can see the start of all the branches I need so I can't ask for any better. Re potted and pruned in spring then left alone to recover.
I would consider an aimed prune of this tree now?

cas1.jpg

Does anyone have any experience to share in regard to pruning casuarina?

[Petra]

Hi Brett,
I just used the pinch and grow method on mine, and then i plucked the brown leaves off when needed.
I too grew my from a seedling since 2009. Sorry cannot find the photos from then. Last season I put it out in the ground, hasnt grown much.
Some branches snaped off from birds sittin on it.
Will post pictures of how it looks today, sometime tomorrow.

oct13.JPG

oct14.JPG

[MattA]

Hey Brett,

Thats coming along really nicely, sorry to say i cannot help with regards advice on pruning at this stage of its progression. I only have a couple & all are in the early stages of development. I just pull new young shoots to keep sections under control & allow other parts to grow wild & cut back hard every so often.

When & if you can find some more detailed info maybe you could post it up here for the rest of us

Matt

[craigw60]

Hi Brett, if your tree is at the stage where you want to start developing the branch ramification then you should be pruning it constantly. I do 90% of my pruning with fingers and do it very regularly, then on the odd occasion I go over it with scissors to remove twigs heading in the wrong direction and to reduce the number of growths from any one point. It is a good time to do any major pruning now while the weather is warm. You should do the whole tree at once. With regards to the number of nodes left I really don't think it will be an issue just depends how long you want the branches to be. Cassuarina have strong apical dominance so if you allow one shoot to extend on a branch the remaining foliage will weaken pretty quickly. If you break the new shoots with your fingers while they are young you can avoid the browning off on the tips which will happen if you prune with scissors.
Hope that is of some help
Craigw

[Bretts]

Thanks Guys

Here is some advice I got from a Guy growing them in the Phillipines

Hi. the best time to prune is right after summer, the tree can recover fast during this time (at least here). you can remove most of the leaves/branchlets and just keep the tips green. but remember that the greens are not leaves but branchlets, so you can grow branch from those "leaves". and if you wanted to grow some branches on some areas, you can keep one or two needles in that area.
..............................

the best time in our climate for the tree to recover faster is during the beginning of the rainy season. this is the season where i double the feeding volume on my casuarina.

With regards to my PM to you. I think the best time for you to prune is right after winter...or where your trees can recover faster.
I prune my casuarinas 2 times a year, sometimes 3. and that depends on the health of the particular branch.


regards,
jun

I might give both trees one more go over for the season and see how it goes.

[Pup]

Brett, at the moment my Casuarinas are putting growth of 1-3 cm a day I am constantly pinching. Like most of our natives they grow well in the high humidity, at the moment we are experiencing what Queensland has all the time. So my growth is unusually fast, but they do grow fast in the warm weather.

If you want a branch to thicken let it grow then when it is long enough, then pinch the end and it should start to send side growth, which you control in the same way.
If you do not have a branch where you want one, wait awhile you will probably get one, then treat it like I said before.

Cheers Pup

Feeling home sick putting the State floral emblem up as your Avatar, ps do you still want me to hold it for you

That sounds funny

[Ray]

Looking for some advice, my Casuarina has recently put out a spurt of new growth at the tips, today I notice the tips are browning off/dieback occurring. What could be the cause? I recently had another tree do the same, however as the tree was sickly when I bought it, I put it down to this.

My thinking is it's a watering issue, perhaps lack of? I water daily, tree is in full sun till late afternoon, should I move it to a sheltered location to help it recover. Soil mix is as purchased from garden centre. What type of soil mix is recomended? A fast draining type, or one that holds a bit more moisture?

Thanks for any help

[Steven]

G'day Ray,

I have found Casuarina very susceptible to browning off at the tips if they have been let dry out too much. As long as you keep the water up to them they will recover fine. Even if there is just a little bit of green left at the base they should recover okay.

I'd love to see a picture or 2 of the ones you are growing.

Regards,
Steven

[Ray]

Hi Steven,

Thanks for the advice.

Will post some pics when I can get home before dark, most likely the weekend... A local general nursery was having a closing down sale, so I picked up these and a couple of Port Jackson Figs for $5 a piece. The casuarina has some great fissured bark low down on the trunk. I seem to have killed off one already, so I'm trying to avoid a repeat treatment of the other one.

[Ray]

Casuarina tips.jpg

This is a pic of the tips "browning off"

Casuarina.jpg

Nice fissure's on the trunk, it's about 4-5cm diameter at the base.

The tree overall, it has a nice taper to it, I'd like to keep it about the current height, just develop some thicker branches/foilage pads, all in good time.