AusBonsai

All ,

This is a Melaleuca Rhaphiophylla , i purchased this tree from a bonsai nursery, it was just laying around .

The tree was most likely collected from somewhere around perth and had been left to fend for itself out the back of the nursery. It was totally rootbound when i got it and stood like 2meters high or something, i can't remember. The first thing i did was repot into a large bonsai pot, it measures 650x470x170mm, i did not do alot to the roots at that time but i did cut the bottom half of the rootball off with a saw .
I let the tree recover for some time and tried to decided what i could possibly do with this tree. The trunks had pretty much no taper and branching wasn't the greatest.So i finally thought the best outcome would be to reduce the height of the trunks. I figured that a burnt out look was the go, the tall tree will be hollow as is the fire burnt out the guts of it and the smaller trunk will be the same but different .
The main trunk was reduced to a height ,so the finished height of the tree will be around 5 times the the width of the base . The height ended up as 420mm high on the left and 185mm high on the right, the base of the trunk is 135mm accross.
The tree was now going to need to recover, from memory it was cut down in about early August , it slowly recovered and put out a good crop of new branches, there are a couple of places i was hoping buds would burst from ,but ahh not to be. Growing strong again i began pinching the extending shoots when they started to form 4 to 6 side shoots, and i have been repeating that process on a daily basis this spring.
As you can see i have opened up the trunk so it will begin to harden off and age. The tall trunk has a hole drilled right down the center of it and a hole for drainage at the bottom, ofcourse that will look alot different when i carve it all up .
thanks for reading, comments always welcome,

Progress looks good so far Craig - when will you start the carving ?

Bougy Fan wrote:Progress looks good so far Craig - when will you start the carving ?

Cheers Tony, not for a year or 2,

How come you drilled it out alredy then?
Just so it easier with fresh wood?

Ken

kcpoole wrote:How come you drilled it out alredy then?
Just so it easier with fresh wood?

Ken

Ken, i figure it's easier to drill it now ,rather than when there is alot more branches and foliage up top,.

Nice vision Craig! I was unsure as to what direction you were going to go when I saw the first pic.
I am excited about this one and can't wait to see the carving in the future and how the tree develops!
You have a really nice skeleton/frame to build on and I think you have done really well so far!
I am curious to see how you balance the over-all image especially with the two apecies as the trunks seem to very slightly go in oposite directions.
Well done on keeping the rear brach stub of the lowest/right hand trunk as you are obviously going to get a lot of depth from it. Also the branching on the lowest trunk is looking really good too.
One of the many things that has attracted me to bonsai is its creative aspects, especially the vision that is required to view stock and see just what is possible. Progressions such as this really help beginners like myself in that department.
Thanks, and top work!, Dario.

Thanks Dario, , I appreciate your reply mate, Sometimes to see the vision, you need to understand how the tree in question grows. Rhaphiophylla where i live grow in various ways, the swamp rhaphs, most usually have rotted out inside of their trunks, i have a couple here that are hollow as described, . So they rot when flooded with water and the bushfire burn them out in summer, thats the story this tree will tell with time,, thanks for being interested

Nice one Craig , guess you must have some magic specimens in the swamps over there . I remember as a kid seeing the flood plains in Gippsland covered with all types of Melalueca's , they too where contorted and hollowed out from fire and flood .Be good to see this in a couple of years .

Cheers Alpine

alpineart wrote:Nice one Craig , guess you must have some magic specimens in the swamps over there . I remember as a kid seeing the flood plains in Gippsland covered with all types of Melalueca's , they too where contorted and hollowed out from fire and flood .Be good to see this in a couple of years .

Cheers Alpine

Thanks Alpine, i have big plans for this tree, i too will be keen to see it in a couple of years , thanks mate

Craig when you are using the Burner make sure you protect the fine foliage as in the past I have burnt some and it took for ever to come back and not wher it was.

Your vision is to be commended. Looking forward to it development.

Pup

alpineart wrote:you must have some magic specimens in the swamps over there

Alpine i'm sure you've seen them but here's the link- gallery/album.php?album_id=210

Pup wrote:Your vision is to be commended

Pup, , With Mels like the one's in your collection to use as inspiration, how can one go wrong, thank you mate .
thanks for the tips aswell.

Hi Craig , mate i haven't seen these pics and by the look of the views hardly anyone has .I viewed them a couple of times .Maybe put them in Inspiration from Nature so others may be inspired too .

Cheers Alpine

hey craig is this the same mel that i gave you hand to move from myles???
looking 100% healthy already if it is...will be a good project..

krittas wrote:hey craig is this the same mel that i gave you hand to move from myles???
looking 100% healthy already if it is...will be a good project..

Same tree , cheers Krittas.

A good vision Craig. Pre drilling the trunk is a good idea although i guess you will still have branches to work around. I am keen on seeing its progression. Good work