AusBonsai

Not sure if this should go in 'inspirations' ? Spent the day in the Sandhills near Point Hicks and came across these two .

nice, showing the struggle, tuff life but very appealing.
thanks for sharing
Scott

This brings back memories....

My first "bonsai" was almost exactly the same as this. At the age of 17 (623 years ago now) I dug it up from a sand hill - two roots went down about 400 metres, and of course the damn thing died in about 15 minutes. But the bug stayed alive, through many years of stuffing up. I'm still trying to make a version of that tree, forty years later.

Thanks for posting.

Gavin

Just goes to show how resilient plants can be.

Ken

two roots went down about 400 metres

That was my first though too Gavin (though I have not been silly enough to try to dig one out)
I also rflected on how plants survive in sandy areas. Sand constantly shifts so plants need to either grow fast to keep their heads above it as it rises or propagate fast to ensure their genes survive when they are overcome by moving sand. They also need to be able to mange when the level falls leaving roots exposed - I assume that's what has happened in first photo - Even though the top 2 m of root is exposed there's still 398m going down into the sand to keep it in place and provide water and nurtients.
Speaking of nutrients, what do plants in such environments survive on? Pure sand like this is almost devoid of soluble nutrients so what do they do for a feed?

shibui wrote:what do plants in such environments survive on? Pure sand like this is almost devoid of soluble nutrients so what do they do for a feed?

The occasional dose of organic seasol?