Sheoak raft

[delisea]

I read that the she in sheoak is the sound the wind makes when it blows through the branches. On a windy day this one 'shees' too.

I collected this in as a root growing over a path near the beach. Now it might be an island in a river with trees beaten down by floods or perhaps a windy headland.

It has just been pruned for spring, leaving pairs of thin hairy branches long to thicken.

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Cheers,
Symon

[shibui]

Love that tree Symon.

Not sure about she being the noise. I was told that 'she' was a derogatory english term so Sheoak is something like oak but not as good (referring to the wood)

[Sno]

Every thing is great about this . I like your version of the whispering winds .In my mind I can hear the wind blow .

[boom64]

Awesome Symon ,great vision and great skills well done. John.

[dansai]

I also heard it is called sheoak due to being inferior timber to oak. I prefer to call the casuarina now because of that. Although I like your story better. I grew up amongst almost pure stands of Casuarina on a point in the middle of a lake so nearly always wind blowing through them. I didn't really appreciate it at the time, probably due to my dad considering them a pest as they made a "mess" and were forever sending up suckers in the lawn and deforming the driveway. Definitely appreciate them now.

As for you composition, I love it. Whats the slab its planted on?

[Watto]

Love the idea of the "floating" rock. Looks great

[delisea]

Thanks people. It has been years in the making and lots of fun. I was quite pleased to pull off the floating 'rock', which is actually a piece of wood.

As for you composition, I love it. Whats the slab its planted on?

I think the slab is turpentine, Syncarpia, it litters the forest floor from when this way was logged 30-50+ years ago. I have stabilised it with an acrylic resin that museums use for fossils. The tree has sat in the slab for about a year. I will do a repot in summer to see if there is any rot.
Cheers,
Symon

[Stuartxt]

Very nice, I love the elevated base.

[delisea]

Spring haircut

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Cheers,
Symon

[Promethius]

This is fantastic.

[Ryceman3]

Looks great! Love the idea of this composition and it is starting to develop into something very striking. Might have missed it but do you know the species? Whatever it is, it’s capable of pulling off a convincing display at what looks to be a compact size.
Sheoaks are versatile! Great job.

[delisea]

Thanks people. I assume it is A. litoralis but I have never got around to identifying it properly. It is a great genus - see Rycemans work to see what can be done.

They are well suited to kabudashi/raft style like this one as they send up suckers from roots. Digging up a piece of exposed root is a great way to get a head start.

A tip. I used to break the needles (which are actually photosynthetic branches) at the nodes when pruning, as it is supposed to stop browning of the tips. A sharp pair of scissors works much better and is faster.

Cheers,
S

[Rory]

That is definitely not Allocasuarina littoralis.

Flush aged bark would point to many other varieties but definitely not littoralis.

[dansai]

Possibly C. glauca. Pretty common along the coast up this way. You often see ones growing pretty prostrate on the headlands and more upright where there is more protection. Gets the craggily bark but doesn't fissure.

[delisea]

Hey Dan,
I really don't know what it is. I am curious now. I am OS at the moment, when I get back I will grab some some material from the sourse tree and ID it.
Cheers,
S