AusBonsai

Hi everyone,

I collected my first ever melaleuca, a leucadendra, 4 weeks ago from a friends property. I found it growing out of a hollowed out trunk that had been knocked over on a river bed.

Anyway it was growing really well and not much soil so I thought it would make a perfect bonsai, even with its unusual shape. So I dug it out and brought it home straight into a mix of gravel and water.

New buds started to appear after about a week and they've been growing quite strongly.

Today, bordem got the better of me, so I carefully removed it from the mix ready to go into a training pot. I was quite surprised to see just how many new roots had formed in such a short time.

Now to see if I can keep it alive in a pot!

Yep will establish a developed root system very quickly best to keep in a deep pot and root prune every year.

Great start. It's because it has an unusual shape that it will make a great bonsai - you just have to harmonise the branches with the trunk as they grow. I don't know the species, but it sounds like it might like water bath for much of the rest of the summer...

Please keep posting it as it develops.

Gavin

GavinG wrote:Great start. It's because it has an unusual shape that it will make a great bonsai - you just have to harmonise the branches with the trunk as they grow. I don't know the species, but it sounds like it might like water bath for much of the rest of the summer...

Please keep posting it as it develops.

Gavin

Yes getting the branches to work with the c curve will be a challenge! Not sure how I'm going to work that just yet. It's a weeping type melaleuca