AusBonsai

I dug this bottle brush from a local garden in July 2010. Probably not the best time to dig this species in this area, but it was a choice of dig it, or it was going to the tip the next day as the lady who owned the house was having a new fence installed and this was in the way.
It had been pruned on a number of occasions while it was in the garden and some of the cuts were a bit rough, but it was healthy.
It has flowered a bit every season so far, but now is the time to start its progression towards being a bonsai. I was lucky enough to have a conversation with Grant Bowie last weekend about Callistemon and just after flowering is the perfect time to trim, so yesterday I gave it a trim - not too severe yet but enough to see what is available to work with.
I am unsure if I should keep it "as is" or would it be better if I just kept the branch on the right and cut off the main part of the trunk to improve the taper and to reduce the size. I would appreciate some comments.
Anyway, here is the start of this trees journey into bonsai.

Looks like it has sprouted ,after being cut back, into a broom like shape on the main trunk. Is this so?

Grant

Definatley a lot of potential there! Look forward to seeing where you take it

Yes it is "broom shape" after a cut, but by the look of it it was cut in a similar position on a few occasions. I have attached a post trim photo that shows that area a bit better.

Hello,

Nice bark.

I would consider cutting the top back to one leader and regrowing the branches. It should sprout near the new wound easily. There is a nice fat branch at the front that could be used for the new leader with the tapering cut at the back.

AG

AGarcia wrote:Nice bark.I would consider cutting the top back to one leader and regrowing the branches. It should sprout near the new wound easily. There is a nice fat branch at the front that could be used for the new leader with the tapering cut at the back.AG

Yes, very nice bark and trunk.

You could cut it back to just the branch suggested here but that front branch looks seriously STRAIGHT! If you wanted to go that way might I suggest getting some movement into that branch, more in keeping with the lower branch which has nice movement, before the chop. That way, if the bending goes crack, instead of bend, you have others to chose from.

Maybe keep two branches at the old cut point, one to train on as leader and one to train as second branch? I would seem to be a shame to loose the nice bark/trunk line, but a carved (broken off by wind, flood, whatever) could also give you a nice wind (or flood) swept tree.

Nice save, look forward to seeing where you go with this one.

Jan.