Lepto's, collected or nursery stock?

Jasonb · Post by **Jasonb** » February 25th, 2013, 12:06 pm

Hi all, before anything is said. I know that there are heaps of different types of lepto's and understand that this is an amazingly broad question because of that, ie: availability from your nursery or access to them in the wild.

In saying that I would like to ask what people prefer and why. Also which has given the most success for you all.

Jason

GavinG · Post by **GavinG** » February 25th, 2013, 2:28 pm

Although MattA has dug Lepto stumps from under the power lines, they're by reputation really touchy and unreliable to dig. On the other hand they thicken quite quickly in pots, and grow well from tube-stock - the advantage is that you can keep the foliage close to the base of the tree by pruning hard each spring, back to the last couple of leaves. Wild leptos are usually straggly, with little hope of getting foliage back close to the trunks.

That being said, the best models for designing your Leptos are out in the wild.... There are some seriously wild trunks out there. Best of luck.

Gavin

MattA · Post by **MattA** » February 25th, 2013, 9:07 pm

Thanks for the mention Gavin.

More than just a stump under powerlines.

Jasonb · Post by **Jasonb** » February 25th, 2013, 9:56 pm

Lets get some pics happening guys, I know that lepto's are very popular and what are we thinking for favourite species? What are the best styles for these species? I'd love to have a tinker with that one too Matt, was it there when I was?

Jason

MattA · Post by **MattA** » February 26th, 2013, 7:09 am

Popular with a few, the majority are still working from the old perspective that Leptospermum are "really touchy and unreliable". Using the search function I get a list of 77 individual topics for Leptospermum that show a mix of wild & nursery grown trees so I know its no just you & me who are keen. This thread gives a good breakdown of species being tried by other growers here & shows just how many are being worked with & some of the observations made viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9904&p=105453

The "stump" shown went to a grower on the Central Coast along with Chunky's brother. (Look forward to seeing what you did with him when your ready to show, the Claret Tops seems to have taken the shellacing in its stride)

LLK · Post by **LLK** » February 26th, 2013, 7:20 am

OK, here is my favourite, nursery-grown. I have had most success with a cultivar, Leptospermum "mesmer eyes". See photos from 2 yrs ago when I bought it" viewtopic.php?f=132&t=6656 The flowers are just incredible, and the trunk is angular and quite woody. Sorry, no recent photos, but it's growing well. Here in the ACT it's against the law to collect natives from the wild, and I'd be surprised if one could do it without a permit anywhere else in the country, except on private land.
Good on you, Oz!!!

Lisa

MattA · Post by **MattA** » February 26th, 2013, 8:15 am

Lisa,
Its against the law to collect from the wild anywhere in Australia, having said that there is a hell of a lot of bushland that gets ripped up for suburbia every year. Many do not see things the same way but personally I see no issue with collecting from this land (permission granted or not) as the trees will only end up bulldozed & shredded or burnt!

Mojo Moyogi · Post by **Mojo Moyogi** » February 26th, 2013, 9:50 am

Hi Jason, the best Leptospermum laevigatum bonsai I have seen have been grown from tubestock. Nursery stock from a wholesale nursery where there is a quick turnover of plants can sometimes yield good potential trees in 4" and 6"pots that can have movement wired into their trunks and can have roots spread and tidied up, I would avoid stock in 8" or larger and root-bound retail nursery chuck out stock if you like trees with nice trunks and radial nebari.

Cheers,
Mojo

Mojo Moyogi · Post by **Mojo Moyogi** » February 26th, 2013, 9:54 am

I'll add that it's widely considered down here in Victoria that L.laevigatum is the preferred bonsai species, it should be fine in the Blue Mountains (hopefully someone can confirm this if true).

Cheers,
Mojo

LLK · Post by **LLK** » February 26th, 2013, 10:31 am

Re: Lepto's, collected or nursery stock?
by MattA » Today, 9:15 am

Lisa,
Its against the law to collect from the wild anywhere in Australia, having said that there is a hell of a lot of bushland that gets ripped up for suburbia every year. Many do not see things the same way but personally I see no issue with collecting from this land (permission granted or not) as the trees will only end up bulldozed & shredded or burnt!

Yes, I've often thought the same, that destruction of beautiful vegetation is really heartbreaking. We've seen a lot of it here in the ACT with road construction. And now the Cotter Dam is filling up and a big area of bushland will come under water. I'm not blaming anyone who tries to save some of the condemned plants, but take comfort from the fact that they are a small minority (the collectors and the plants both!). We need the conservation laws and it is just too darn impractical to work out where the public might dig up natives in the wild and where not. And once you allow yourself privately to find reasons for collecting them, where do you draw the line? Sometimes you can get permission to dig them, or workers on the spot will dig them for you. We have 4 big bottlebrushes that were street trees and that we were allowed to dig up when the street was widened.

How about getting in touch with landscape gardeners who are re-landscaping private gardens? We all know what superb stuff they dig up and discard because it doesn't fit into the new design!

Anyway, good luck to all who grow those difficult tea trees, wherever they were sourced.

Lisa

MattA · Post by **MattA** » February 26th, 2013, 1:15 pm

Lisa,
I work with a number of landscapers on a regular basis to acquire otherwise tip bound trees, but thats not what was asked.. the question was nursery stock or wild collected. For myself I will almost always choose wild stock over nursery & work with the less than 'perfect spreading nebari' that seems demanded by many growers these days.

Shibui,
There are several species I would consider just as good if not better than laevigatum for bonsai, having said that, there are precious few good bonsai of any Lepto species so for me the jury will remain out on what is best until enough time & growers have passed to actually be able to make an educated call. My personal fave is polygalafolium & its subspecies.

LLK · Post by **LLK** » February 26th, 2013, 2:06 pm

MattA wrote:

...the question was nursery stock or wild collected. For myself I will almost always choose wild stock over nursery & work with the less than 'perfect spreading nebari' that seems demanded by many growers these days.

OK, fair enough. Since I don't have the choice between nursery grown and wild stock, like most people here, the question which I prefer doesn't apply. I've already indicated above that my favourite is the cultivar L. "mesmer eyes", which is the only one I have been able to keep alive, after trying L. scoparium, L. petersonii and L. laevigatum.

Lisa

Jasonb · Post by **Jasonb** » February 27th, 2013, 10:03 pm

Cheers guys,

Some good stuff to take into consideration. Unfortunately llk I am on the other foot and have no nurseries that can supply me with anything, collected material for me.

Example:

Species is L.trivernum ( paper bark tea tree) local to me and I'm learning how to keep them alive very quickly. I have some that have died and some that are powering on champions. I don't know enough to be able to make any recommendations on after care, I am however hoping to specialise in the trivernum strain in my bonsai, there is just something about them that gives me goosebumps. I will be sure to keep you posted on any successes that I have with these beautiful trees.

Jason

LLK · Post by **LLK** » March 1st, 2013, 8:32 am

Unfortunately llk I am on the other foot and have no nurseries that can supply me with anything, collected material for me.

You are probably not really interested, but just in case I thought I'd help you a bit. Have you tried these? :
http://www.wildplantrescue.org.au/
http://www.bluemountains.org.au/nursery.shtml
and there are lots of general garden centres all through the Blue Mountains; I am sure that a number of these would be selling native stock.

lackhand · Post by **lackhand** » March 1st, 2013, 9:20 am

LLK wrote:
Unfortunately llk I am on the other foot and have no nurseries that can supply me with anything, collected material for me.
You are probably not really interested, but just in case I thought I'd help you a bit. Have you tried these? :
http://www.wildplantrescue.org.au/
http://www.bluemountains.org.au/nursery.shtml
and there are lots of general garden centres all through the Blue Mountains; I am sure that a number of these would be selling native stock.

I've been thinking of starting a plant rescue here locally. Lots of good stuff being ripped out of natural habitat and gardens alike every day, seems like if you could find a way to collect it reliably at all it could be a great way to go.

Jason, that is an amazing looking tree, I can see why they give you goosebumps!

I keep falling in love with more and more of the Aussie natives - might end up moving down there!