This Callistemon Little John found me when I was looking at the collection of a bonsai friend, Neville. I loved the roots and aged bark (and the old Pat Kennedy pot which I had never seen one like before). After a bit of a wrestle it found its way back to my garden. Following is how it was looking when I first noticed it on Nevilles bench.
Neville told me that he had been the custodian for about 10 years and that he had purchased it from Ray Nesci (Makes it an X-ray tree
). I asked Ray about it and he remembered purchasing it from a tube stock supplier of his. This one had been their Mother tree and they had been striking cuttings from it for a couple of decades. Ray said it would probably be 30 to 40 years old.I fed and watered lots over the next year and this is how it was looking a couple of months ago before the Illawarra TOPS weekend.
I took it along to the TOPS to workshop on with Robert Steven. I had thought it would make a pretty dynamic wind/water swept tree like the ones Robert is famous for but I had an open mind. At the beginning of the workshop we were told to find our best 'viewing angle' and explain the reason why we had chosen it. I chose the position that best showed off the exposed roots. Robert agreed and we began to discuss the tree and its future. Robert was familiar with Callistemon and said he had a couple in his collection however they were much younger stock.
After a couple of hours the structure was set and I now have a clear direction of the future for a natural looking tree. Following is how it was looking when it got back to my garden. Love them or hate them, I couldn't resist the little Sulfur Crested Cockatoo figurines which were hand made by Janet Selby.
I let the tree recover for a couple of months after the workshop and last week I repotted it out of one PK pot and into another. The tree was given a trim all over and a bit of additional wire was added to dome secondary branches.
I'm going to train it from here by clip and grow which will hopefully help create a natural looking canopy with plenty of open space for the Cockatoos to fly.
It currently stands 500mm tall x 500mm wide and the root spread is 220mm wide at the soil level.
Regards,
Steven
I was originally going to style it as a windswept but Robert suggested this instead. He's the Master so I went with his vision.
