melaleuca quinquenervia

[squizzy]

Hi all,

This is a tray of melaleuca I purchased a while back that I wanted to fuse together. I had drawn inpiration from one of alpines threads and with no real knowledge I started the process.

I tied 8 seedlings together and strapped them into a squat pot with cotton twine. I then proceeded to twist them around each other as I wrapped the tree to about halfway up the current height of the trunk. I then wired that shape into place with some 4mm wire and left the structure to set.

Just today I have uncovered the group to see what progress has been made and I think I have partial sucsess.

Maybe one or two more could have been incorporated but there are also some interesting hollows as a result of the gaps.

the following are a few photos of what I saw today.

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P2260006.jpg

[Trent McKenzie]

very cool idea, I have an abundance of melaleuca seedling spouting in all my trees so I think I might give this a try, thanks for sharing Squizzy.

[jezz_39]

Looks good Squizzy, look forward to seeing it again in 12 months, should fuse up nicely and have an interesting swirling base

[squizzy]

Thanks for the responses.

Like I said this is an idea drawn from alpines "trident maple whips fused thread" and he may have some more tips for you to get it right Trent. I have learnt a few things from this one attempt but it will take a few more to iron out the creases. I cant decide yet if the problems are flaws or features yet. The gaps creating the hollow are interesting but possibly detrimental to the trees health? the bands lefet from the cotton tie wrapping are also possibly a feature and a flaw. I say get them while they are young though. That can only help. The beauty of this species with this method is that M. quinquenervias often look fused at the base in nature so this technique comes across more natural with this species in my opinion.

Squizz