Melaleuca Nodosa development questions

[MattM]

M.Nodosa is a local native plant to my area that I love and I am trying to develop 20 of them for bonsai. The problem is alot of them shoot like crazy from a growth at the base of the trunk. It's ball shaped.

Should I leave the shoots on the base of the trunk to thicken the trunk? Or does that not work?

How do I remove these growths permanently without killing the plants?

Thanks,
Matt

[MattM]

Another close up photo of the growth with shoots removed.

[shibui]

That ball shaped growth at the base of some native plants is known as a lignotuber. It seems to be an adaptation to survive harsh climate, fires, etc.
If the top is killed the lignotuber can send up new shoots and keep the plant going.
All that means is that you will probably have trouble preventing those new shoots. On the + side there's usually no problem rubbing them off provided the main trunk is still healthy. Olives do the same and I often get frustrated about how much effort I need to expend getting rid of the basal suckers.
If you can keep the main trunk growing strong and rub off basal shoots before they get strong you may be able to reduce growth from down there but I suspect you'll always have some work to do.

Leaving basal shoots will thicken the lignotuber but not the trunk above so you'll just end up with a small trunk sticking out of a huge ball. I'd be rubbing them off every time you go past while still small.

[MattM]

Thanks for the reply, that makes sense. You are very free with your knowledge and I appreciate it.
The strange thing is not all the plants have the lignotuber?? But I think they have great potential as bonsai.
Thanks again.