Rose or Weeping Sheoak

[anttal63]

This is an updated version of a recent thread i posted elsewhere. Now its home.

This tree has been in development for a little over 3 yrs. Purchased from a mitre 10 store for 15 bucks. It was half its girth but had good taper and base, with a gentle sweep.
I wired the trunk and put some more bend in it. culled the roots brutally and repotted into a poly box. 1.5 years later this is what it looked like.

[anttal63]

Four weeks ago was time to give this baby its 1st training pot. After a prune and wire i felt this tree is going places so time to ramify and build an apex. The roots have grown a pearler. this tree back buds well, developes a beautiful nebari, the bark is to die for and forms early on a young tree and just to boot grows very quickly. great aussie native for bonsai. check it out:

This is a torulosa. It was first barerooted in autumn 3 years ago and typically of me left with only a few roots. for me when i work a tree in its first stage its make or break, im not gonna cry if it falls over and dies. this tree has made it big time. Half way through spring and that week was nice and mild so bare rooting is no issue but i only lightly trimmed back the roots this time. enough to fit the pot.

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[anttal63]

I can see these trees being crowd stoppers at the shows. We just need to weed out the myths and have a serious go. i believe this specie is not as finickie as some natives. the one thing you have to be extremely careful of is the bark, for it is extemely delicate. It was a real chore to work it with no where much to hold it steady. For a naturalistic feeling, their attributes, especially the weeping foliage, lend themselves to the 5 S'S.

Styling, Sexy, Seductive, Softly, Sweeping. although getting into more angular forms would present a haunted feeling, a little more tension.

That semi cascading branch inside the curve sets this tree up nice and allows you to view both back and front. With the casc. branch pulling the tree back to get some nice depth and then allowing the 1st right hand branch to twist and slightly forward to the viewer, springs the tree up and forward.

Excellent post and excellent tree!
Awarded + 50 Tensuu
from AusBonsai

[anttal63]

Today this is an update photo. there was slight die back on juvenile shoots but look at the poppin thats going on.

[Jon Chown]

Great progressive series Antonio - Than you for shareing this series, you have tempted me to try one of these as we have them growing wild around here (at least one form of them).

Do they take collecting from the wild easily?

There was an excellent article in Bonsai Today about these growing in California I think. The branching that they had achieved was fantastic.

Yours in Bonsai
Jon

[anttal63]

Thanks for the feed back john. if they take this kind of brute treatment i imagine they would collect easily. Mid Spring i reckon.

[BonsaiBoy]

I really like this tree Anttal63! You said you have some pictures from when you started it. Can you post them here please?

[anttal63]

I really like this tree Anttal63! You said you have some pictures from when you started it. Can you post them here please?

thanks bb but no i dont have prior photos sorry. they were in a phone i got thrown in a pool with and alot of others too. sucks.

[anttal63]

UPDATE 28/12/08

[anttal63]

07/01/09 WIRE OFF AND A THINNING

[Marc]

Jeeze that's come up a rippa!! Absolutely great. You were brave, sometimes I just chop and chop and then every now and then we are rewarded. Cool.

[Steven]

Nice Ant! I love the movement in the trunk which is often hard to find in a Casuarina.
I'd be working on the crown tow to ensure it is nice and rounded, not too pointy.

Cheers,
Steven

[anttal63]

thanks fellas, so far so good. yes steven that crown will be rounded!

[anttal63]

ok it is time for an update; i am very pleased with its progress. thanks to constant wiring, thinning and pinching it is filling out well. it is extremely difficult and delicate work to wire these but very worth it. the next update now will be in november when it gets into its final pot which i have now picked out. enjoy

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[Elias]

Hi Ant,

Very nice tree, it is coming along very nicely, I like it!

Elias