[CraigM] Leptospermum Petersonii

[CraigM]

Noticed this tree in local nursery over weekend, lower trunk caught my eye. Reading all the posts, thought I would give it a go as well

Current height from soil surface +- 120 cm
Cost $29
Diaco's Garden Nursery, Heatherton

[CraigM]

Pruned the tree today, you can see the intended apex middle of the tree currently stands around 23cm, so need to work on everything below. Have left the branches to try and promote thickening of the trunk, won't disturb the roots for some time. Plan to leave to grow until Mar/ Apr 2017 and repot towards end of summer. Hopefully get some branches lower down, so far happy with result.

[Watto]

Good start, great trunk.

[CraigM]

Update - not much has changed since pruning, eagerly awaiting new buds, hopefully soon with the weather warming up.

Was going to wait to repot, thinking the tree would have pushed new growth without disturbing the roots. Would it be better to repot now, and prune back to force new buds?

[CraigM]

Update, not much happening at present, tree is starting to put on some growth now. With repot and pruning expected better growth, has been very slow to get going.

Decided to change design, the more I look at native trees, the less I like informal upright as a style for natives. Route I'm going for now is a more natural style. The moss needs thinning, was originally placed to protect roots. When I repotted found another inch of trunk beneath the soil, which is not bad as the taper is good, but also pushed me over the height limit, another motivator for change in design.

[CraigM]

Not much happening at this stage, tree was slow to reshoot. Seems to now be moving, will leave to grow and thicken.

[CraigM]

Not much progress since last update, hope things pick up in spring.

[CraigM]

Not much development since last update, just looking at the picture you cannot see the branch in the back, still have three. Will wire the growth towards the end of the comp and see where we are.

[CraigM]

Final entry... pretty happy with end result, height just under 24cm. Tree was left to grow to try and put on some growth / thickness, pruned back for final pictures and wired. From here the tree should hopefully improve as ramification and branch thickness / structure improves. Look forward to development after the comp.

[Watto]

I like it, and it was very interesting to see all the usual bonsai techniques used and the tree looks very healthy, a big plus for the natives.

[CraigM]

Reload pictures...

[CraigM]

Can someone confirm if pictures ok, fine on PC but incorrect when viewed on iPhone. I know there was a post around addressing this, cannot find it.

[SueBee]

All right way up CraigM. Lovely Lepto - thanks for the inspiration.