AusBonsai

I was bored and interested to see in my area on the Central Coast which of these will shoot new growth first after being cut back hard.
I realize this isn't remotely scientific, but just a bit of fun and to satisfy my own curiosity.
I made heavy cut backs on 13th January 2016:

Moreton Bay fig
Port Jackson fig
Tiger bark fig
Banksia integrifolia
Allocasuarina torulosa
Allocasuarina littoralis
Eucalyptus bigleaf (no idea of the species)

and Bougainvilleas

Anyone wanna throw a guess as to which will be first off the mark?

Ive got my on the PJ!

The casuarinas?? (without seeing the cuts.... )

I don't know that it would be that simple to choose without knowing the relative sizes, ages, and health of each tree, as well as what fertiliser has been used, how much and when.

Or maybe I am overcomplicating

Craigg wrote:I don't know that it would be that simple to choose without knowing the relative sizes, ages, and health of each tree, as well as what fertiliser has been used, how much and when.

Or maybe I am overcomplicating

This isn't a test, its just a bit of fun. They all were in great health otherwise I wouldn't have cut back so hard. Only fertilizer I use is Powerfeed for natives about every 4 weeks or so when I can be bothered remembering, and Osmocote slow release.

treeman wrote:The casuarinas?? (without seeing the cuts.... )

FYI just for the casuarina, they were all cut so that there was at least one shoot below the cut to avoid any possible die-back. The optimum time for cutting back casys hard, in my opinion is November but I didn't have the guts to do them last year without the level of sun they get now.

Most cuts on all trees were about 2cm or so in diameter, so all were on older wood and in the case of the casys : fissured bark.

I have no idea, but my is banking on Banksia.

mcgee wrote:Ive got my on the PJ!

And full honors goes to mcgee...... however..... The Allocasuarina torulosa shot at exactly the same time as the PJ fig. But considering Mike put his on both Casuarinas, and only the torulosas shot first, Mike only gets a half mention.

Quite interesting though. I checked them all tonight, and the Port Jackson fig and the Allocasuarina torulosas had shot.
So they were cut on the 13th January and shot on the 22nd January. 9 days. I didn't think any of them would shoot that fast.

Missed this one earlier, but i woud have said PJ As well.
you will need to follow up with another one next year too

Ken

Haha stoked.. totally a guess.

Banksia

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angelozoras wrote:Banksia

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A wee bit late. But no, the Banksia still have not shot yet. The Allocasuarina littoralis have shot today, so its 10 days for the littoralis. The Moreton Bay figs have shot today now as well. So its 10 days for the Moretons too.

The Banksia / tiger bark fig / eucalyptus are still sulking.

I'm a teeny bit concerned I may have cut too far back on one of the older torulosa though as I noticed that there was no growth until about 15cm below the cut. I should not have made the chop in the dark, as I thought I saw some growth but it was a different branch.

Rory wrote:

angelozoras wrote:Banksia

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A wee bit late. But no, the Banksia still have not shot yet.

I'm surprised the banksia are still to sprout. Not saying you should be worried but I cut back hard (essentially trunk chopped) a few Integrifolias 4 days ago and have new buds/shoots rising up .... I guess it depends but given the growth rate I experience with them I'd have chucked em up at the top of the pile too(to be first to shoot). Hope they all throw some green for you soon!

To me it is interesting. I have done a lot of heavy cutting back on 17th August this year with :

Allocasuarina torulosa
Allocasuarina littoralis
Banksia integrifolia
Moreton Bay fig.

Anyone want to again throw out guesses as to which ones shoot first.

So far none of them have new shoots yet near the cuts. In early August there was significant new growth on all the above species, so I thought it would be okay to cut now.
This is day 14 and still no sign of any shoots yet.

I don't think I'll be cutting back again in August. It was more out of curiosity, but it is interesting to see the difference in growing rates at the different times of year.

I'll put my money on the Banksia.

Could I ask for a photo Mr Rory?

Jarad wrote:I'll put my money on the Banksia.

Could I ask for a photo Mr Rory?

goes to Jarad.
This time round, the Banksia were first off the mark.

If you want pictures of what I cut.... most of the photos that have a date of 17th-20th August were cut back:
gallery/album.php?album_id=324