AusBonsai

This is my third attempt to dig one of these from my garden. I think its a leptospermum but not sure as they were self sown in one of my pots. It has been ground grow for the last 3 yrs, it was cut back last year along with another that was dug after flowering. Last years attempt didnt survive transplant, this year I have dug as the tree is firing up in the hopes that it makes a difference. I was also able to get a larger root ball than last year so heres hoping. Its currently soaking & will be potted up tomorow with more pics to come.

Matt

Hi matt ,great trunk on that one . When you say it's now soaking, did you pot it first or wrap the rootball up tight to hold keep some original soil around the rootball?. I find with touchy trees like this it's best to not soak first because you lose all the original soil needed to sustain them untill new feeder roots can develop, best repotting and then soaking the pot and all. Keep us posted , hopefully this one pulls thru

Looks a bit like a Kunzea ambigua. They are good as bonsai but don't re-shoot well (at all in my experience) if cut back past foliage. Looks like it could make a nice tree. Good luck!

Joel

Craig,
It was just soaking loose, thankfully (or not) the soil is heavy clay and remained fairly intact. Have potted it up now, trying to work some better soil down into the ball without damaging the existing roots. Will definitely keep it in mind as i often collect from ground that doesnt hold together well.

Joel,
That was one of the possible ID's we discussed last year... Time will tell eventually what it is.. first I have to get it to survive.

Regarding shooting back, from the little bit of testing I have done with these in ground, they will shoot mainly at the base, even cutting back hard but leaving some growth, it doesnt respond at the cut ends but from the base....

Matt

MattA wrote:Craig,
It was just soaking loose, thankfully (or not) the soil is heavy clay and remained fairly intact. Have potted it up now, trying to work some better soil down into the ball without damaging the existing roots. Will definitely keep it in mind as i often collect from ground that doesnt hold together well.

Joel,
That was one of the possible ID's we discussed last year... Time will tell eventually what it is.. first I have to get it to survive.

Regarding shooting back, from the little bit of testing I have done with these in ground, they will shoot mainly at the base, even cutting back hard but leaving some growth, it doesnt respond at the cut ends but from the base....

Matt

Sorry. I have a terrible memory!

Joel

Joel wrote:

MattA wrote:Craig,
It was just soaking loose, thankfully (or not) the soil is heavy clay and remained fairly intact. Have potted it up now, trying to work some better soil down into the ball without damaging the existing roots. Will definitely keep it in mind as i often collect from ground that doesnt hold together well.

Joel,
That was one of the possible ID's we discussed last year... Time will tell eventually what it is.. first I have to get it to survive.

Regarding shooting back, from the little bit of testing I have done with these in ground, they will shoot mainly at the base, even cutting back hard but leaving some growth, it doesnt respond at the cut ends but from the base....

Matt

Sorry. I have a terrible memory!

Joel

Your cool bud, I have enough trouble remembering my own stuff let alone others trees too.... Never been too fussed about ID as long as it grows....

This little baby has kept on going without skipping a beat. Buds are starting to form & extend so i thought a little tidy up woudl give me a chance to start assessing its possibilities. I will probably end up removing the upper line & go with a windswept but lots of growing & time before then...

Any comments or suggestion always welcome.

Matt

On a recent nursery visit I spotted something that looked very like my mystery tree, sure enough it is!!
Baeckea linifolia

New growth is extending really well and today I lifted the pot to have a look at the drainage holes, sure enough a few roots can be seen at each hole. Matt

G'day Matt, looks good, glad to see it's still kicking on , the last pic takes me as a possible front, would that work?

Craig wrote: G'day Matt, looks good, glad to see it's still kicking on , the last pic takes me as a possible front, would that work?

Keeping both lines or only one? Wanna maybe do a virt of what your thinking for me? Please, pretty please with custard on top????

This is my dodgy attempt, atleast I can see how it would look with the top line removed, I tried it out with a jin but didnt like the effect. Matt

ok,i'll c what i can come up with Matt

A very promising tree indeed. It will look superb in flower.

After looking at your pics for a while Matt ,i came to like what the 1st pic may offer up, so i did a virt of that one 1st, ofcourse it's very rough, but you see where i'm heading,,,,i borrowed some foliage from one of Pup's trees

cracking base on this one!

I always thought baekea would bud back really strong, I am sure I have seen them used as ball hedging/topiary type bushes in structured landscaped gardens.

like the looks of the virts to craig, nice work