AusBonsai

I think they both look great. Your first one actually reminds me of my crepe myrtle. I’ve now actually tried to model mine off yours.

Definitely an interesting thread Gavin, & a great topic to discuss.

The below picture of this Gum in nature somewhat displays the true 'beauty & awe" I previously mentioned of an AGED tree.
We've all seen them.
They hold magnificent stature.
Can the unique & incalculable branching characteristics of this native tree be captured whilst being container grown & using Japanese techniques (by means of regular clipping, constant pinching & wiring?) Take note of the many large dead limbs also on the ground.
I am reading here that no-one wants their Native tree to look like a Japanese tree (whilst we pack away our Japanese tool set after working on them)
Many also seem fine with showing their Native "non Japanese" trees still perched in Japanese made pots?....wait up ...I'm getting off topic.

If we are to strive for convincing looking AGED Eucs as bonsai, wouldn't traditional Bonsai techniques need to be used with caution?

and here's the symbol....

Matt S wrote:
Any other Eucalyptus out there?

Matt.

Can the unique & incalculable branching characteristics of this native tree be captured whilst being container grown & using Japanese techniques (by means of regular clipping, constant pinching & wiring?) Take note of the many large dead limbs also on the ground.

I see no reason why the standard techniques of bonsai can't be used to capture a native tree. It's the forms we create with those techniques that determine whether we are successful or not, and gum trees respond well to root pruning and wiring. Happy to be proven wrong of course.

You're right about deadwood being an important feature on Gums. The underside of branches often have dead limbs hanging downwards, which you can easily recreate by attaching dead sticks yourself. I reckon a tree on display should have dead branches scattered underneath, perhaps on the surface of the soil or as an accent. Chris Drinkwater once showed a beautiful red gum with a small tire hanging from a rope from one of the main branches. Not to everyone's taste but it was a nice touch of whimsy that proved popular.

Aussie made pots would obviously be a good match for a native tree, particularly if we can recreate some of the colours of the landscape you're trying to evoke. There are plenty of potters around that will make a custom pot for you, it's time for us to be creative.

While I think of it (and procrastinating at work), I'd love to see a nice multi-trunked mulga with spinifex like accents, with red topsoil or pot. Large red gums growing by a sandy bank on the River Murray are a favourite of mine with their exposed roots plunging into the river. Could this be recreated with an interesting pot? So many ideas...

Matt.

Yes Mulga have lovely tortured trunks in nature and often multiples...do they Bonsai? How annoying that when I lived in the Wimmera I didn't have my Bonsai hat on.....had 4000 acres to play in then with lots of native stands of Mulga and She & Bull oaks. etc etc.

Oh I love the miniature tyre idea! I’ve been aiming for years to get a tree advanced enough to hang a tyre from lol! Or a kite in the canopy, like it’s stuck

Matt S wrote:

Aussie made pots would obviously be a good match for a native tree, particularly if we can recreate some of the colours of the landscape you're trying to evoke. There are plenty of potters around that will make a custom pot for you, it's time for us to be creative.

Thanks for your continuing feedback Matt, your thoughts are well appreciated - Yes I have a few Penny Davis pots (Mudlark pottery) sitting unused in my shed. She uses colours in her glazes that really mimic our aussie bush (blue/greens, tans etc) The only problem is I need to get more into natives so I can use the pots!! Here is a pic of one which shows her bush greens I mentioned. So that's a shout out to Penny Davis - love ya work!

SueBee wrote:Yes Mulga have lovely tortured trunks in nature and often multiples...do they Bonsai?

Acacia Aneura, I wrote that name down after the Australian Plants as Bonsai Symposium in 2015. I remember somebody singing it's praises as a bonsai candidate ... I think it might have even been Gavin??!?!!

In short, I don't have one (although I have kept my eye out) but Mulga appear to have what it takes to bonsai, hopefully somebody who does have one can confirm/deny. I'd love to have a go...

Here's one of my snow gums . It's just coming out of the trunk growing stage so I haven't bothered to try and reduce the leaves . 8 or so years from seed . It's in an Aussie pot . Story of the pot is here .
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/forum/view ... 18&start=0 It needs to grow into the pot a bit so a couple of more years while I'm working on the branches .
There is a bloke in Canberra who has one ( great looking tree ) that has reduced the leaves .

This is one of the reasons why you grow Eucalyptus .

Well who knew- I had no idea Mulga was an Acacia- I just knew them as Mulga- my late husband used to love the hardness of the wood both for turning and for fires.LOL
On the lookout for Acacia Aneura now.

This Eucalyptus sideroxylon is still in development. Just been re-potted into a smaller pot.

regards,
Peter

Really enjoying seeing all these eucs, thanks!

SueBee wrote:Yes Mulga have lovely tortured trunks in nature and often multiples...do they Bonsai? How annoying that when I lived in the Wimmera I didn't have my Bonsai hat on.....had 4000 acres to play in then with lots of native stands of Mulga and She & Bull oaks. etc etc.

The Euc version would be Mallee style, certain species are more prone to grow multi trunks from a lignotuber and are more compact than the larger, well known trees. This would also probably suggest they would back bud well and likely have smaller leaves. I would definitely like to see some Mallee scrub style trees given they are such an iconic look in parts of Australia.

Watto, thanks for posting. At some stage would you think of reducing the number of leaves drastically? I can see that trunk supporting just a few wisps of foliage - a tree in a tough place, just managing. Or you can tell me to get lost. As you wish.

MattS, thanks for your trees. The first one has a wonderfully energetic trunk line - would you consider reducing the foliage quite a lot at some stage, to focus more attention on the trunk? I don't mind a single curved trunk on Eucs - it's my default position. There are plenty of central-trunked Eucs out there in the wild, as well as those that separate into rising sub-trunks. Lots of different patterns, if you want to look.

KCaR, yes there are wonderful majestic old trees out there, it's up to us to work out what we can transform in our work. For me, I'll take from your photo the large trunk/few leaves proportions, the large and strong dead branches, and the constant movement in the branches. If you want majestic in bonsai, you may need to go 1.2metres and up - Ted Poynton's Angophora for example, which is quite domineering in the bark. Mine are smaller. And yes, I'll use "Japanese" (Chinese?) techniques and tools on my natives, just as I do on ash trees and Deodar cedars. Symmetrical or formal pots don't seem to work for a lot of natives, for me.

SueBee: yes Mulga have great potential as bonsai, just search "Acacia aneura" - I don't know anyone else who's growing them. Hunt them up from some of the mail-order nurseries in the Riverina. Well worth sharing a dozen around a few of your mates. They won't dig from the wild, as I understand it.

Sno, thanks for the bark-peel photos - that and the new-shoot-colour are features unique to Eucalypts, wonderful to watch. The snow-gum is interesting - I think it's RogerH that has the other one. Both this and E. stellulata have curious "clunky" angles, not graceful at all, but can make a tree with a lot of character. Typical of high-country nasty-climate survivors.

PeterH, the E. sideroxylonj is already barking up really well, and can only get better with age. The red colour of the fine branches is a lovely feature too. How long has that taken, and did the trunk get ground-grown at all?

Thanks all, keep'em coming.

Gavin

Hi Gavin,

Try this.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5089