Camphor Laurel

[bonsaipotter]

There are a couple of indusputables about the camphor laurel tree. One is that as a mature tree there are few its equal as a beautiful majestic tree. The second is that there is no doubt about it's toxic invasiveness in the southern Queensland and northern NSW environment. It was introduced here from China, Taiwan, Japan in the early 1800s and many people will be familiar with its use in the old days for building clothes chests. The camphor oils in the timber are an inbuilt insect killer.

I have been aware of a couple in my back yard that have sprung up presumably from bird droppings. They have taken off and it's time for them to go. But they do make a beautiful tree, so why not experiment with a half way house through a bonsai experience for them. They are classified as a class 3 weed in Queensland, along with the Celtis and the Privet so I think I'm not offending any laws by growing them in a pot. Control by landholders is not mandatory, you just can't 'supply' it. Class 2 weeds can't be supplied or kept.

I cut the first one back over 2 years ago never thinking about recovering it. But then some months ago after it had reshot substantially, I cut it again and pulled it out and replanted it in the ground where I can keep an eye on it. The extraction was quite a job. It had a tap root that was about 100mm in diameter and went straight down.

P1130498 cl1 top.jpg

With spring here the stump has shot very well with many more still coming so it has survived easily. I'll probably leave it there for a year before I top and tail it again.

P1130499 cl1 root.jpg

This was what I chainsawed off the bottom. You can see the tap root that supported it.

P1130502 CL2.jpg

And this is the second of the two. Like the first one it has been a multiple seed germination and the seedlings have now fused into a simgle trunk mass. At this point it's about 750MM high. It was about 3 meters high but I've cut that off, sealed the cuts and trimmed the roots all 'round. It now has small shoots coming out all over and in a couple of months will be a mass of foliage.
I'll force the shoots back down the trunks cut the tap root and then let it stay here a little longer. It should make a spectacular bonsai in 10 years - I'll just have to give it a different name!!

I'm looking forward to making pots for them.

Happy Potter
http://www.bonsaipotterycoy.blogspot.com

[kcpoole]

I love the smell of Camphor wood,
do you know if the leavers reduce?

ken

[bonsaipotter]

Back in September I posted two camphol laurel trees I'm working on. One that I dug up with a huge tap root and another still in-situ. The dug tree has really struggled with so few roots other than the tap root. It has only one small live branch left. The second one shot well and put on a new head of foliage, particularly once the weather broke and we got some rain.

P1160122a.jpg

As you can see most of the new growth shot from the higher areas of the trunks I'd left; too high to actually to be able to use. Today I got the chain saw out and cut the trunks down much closer to the lengths I want them to finish up at. I hope it now shoots again.

P1160126a.jpg

Over the last couple of months I cut a couple of trenches next to the trunk, filled them with good soil and regularly watered to try to promote some fresh roots close to the surface. I'm sure this one has a big tap root too and I need to get some fresh roots going before digging it up. Providing it shoots again root are the priority.