AusBonsai

Hi all,

This coral gum was grown from collected seed just over two years ago. Definitely time for a repot and prune as the water isn't getting in as well as it should and it is getting too tall (1.3m). It seems to grow all year round for me, so I have been reducing the amount of water it receives to get it to slow down. I suspect christmas beetles have also been helping to reduce any new growth, seems to be clouds of them around on warm nights. No tender new growth at present, so I guess it's time to bite the bullet. I haven't root pruned a Eucalypt (except when this was a seedling), so I'm not really sure how hard I can go. I will also happily take any advice re styling. I have indicated where I think I should cut but given Eucalypts generally have longer flowing branches is this too short? I like the low angle, reminiscent of growth over a river or billabong but I'm open to all ideas.

Thanks in advance

Sorry I cant offer advice on cutting as I don't grow these, but I gotta comment on how good that lower trunk area looks in "side 2 close up"

Hi Terry any chance of rotating side 1 image 180 degrees please, I can see something there if it lines up, i can draw for you, I m looking at the fatter guy in the middle, he is my focus for a lean for you...post tonight (at work)....cheers

Keep Calm and Ramify wrote:Sorry I cant offer advice on cutting as I don't grow these, but I gotta comment on how good that lower trunk area looks in "side 2 close up"

My thoughts EXACTLY! Looks really good mate

I haven't grown this Euc, but I have no problem cutting them way back to bare wood - I will usually do them in November, not earlier. If you do them in the extreme heat make sure they get plenty of water through the day,in a free-draining mix. Others might recommend shade if you're unsure, but mine go back in full sun.

Best of luck. You've identified the interesting part of the tree. You can get quite a thick trunk in five or ten years if you cut hard, then grow long and unpainted for a year before you cut again - the long growth fattens the trunks.

Gavin

There should be no problem root pruning this now. I also found that they rarely stop growing so in desperation I root pruned some in full growth and it did not hurt them. I believe the key is warmer weather, not dormancy for successful repotting of Eucs.
I think it is too early to be picking a preferred side - far too much growing and change will occur before then. Agree with Gavin that you can prune Eucs as hard as you like in summer as most species will shoot from all over. Even if the stems don't shoot they will usually sprout from the lignotuber.
This species should do well in SA but does not particularly like my colder climate here. Persisting in the gardens but, like many other WA natives, definitely not thriving here.

I still hope we can make some smaller Euc bonsai but so far, the best ones I have seen are in the larger sizes.

Please keep posting with your results as this one develops (or even if it doesn't ) Anything you can learn will be useful for the rest of us.

Neal, there are some lovely small-leafed Eucs around that grow well here, and should make good small-to-medium trees - E. crenulata, (should be compulsory for all growers!) E. parvula, E. dalrympleana, E. bridgesiana to name a few. I should have some nice photos in ten years or so... E.cren and E.bridges in particular thicken up quite quickly, and bark up early. Sorry to hijack the thread.

Gavin

anthonyW wrote:Hi Terry any chance of rotating side 1 image 180 degrees please, I can see something there if it lines up, i can draw for you, I m looking at the fatter guy in the middle, he is my focus for a lean for you...post tonight (at work)....cheers

Hi Anthony,
Thanks for the interest. Here it is leaning toward you (180 degrees from side 1). and for completeness

Thanks KCAR & DangerousDave, this species has rough trunk bark but the branch bark is smooth. Quite a nice contrast. Only thing I have done so far is crank the two trunks a little closer together.

Many thanks for the advice Gavin & Shibui,

GavinG wrote:I haven't grown this Euc, but I have no problem cutting them way back to bare wood - I will usually do them in November, not earlier. If you do them in the extreme heat make sure they get plenty of water through the day,in a free-draining mix.

They certainly like water. I grew this sitting in a tray of water (in the colander) for the first year, before the colander went into the pot. Drank the whole tray every day. Gavin, are my suggested cut sites reasonable in your opinion?

shibui wrote:There should be no problem root pruning this now. I also found that they rarely stop growing so in desperation I root pruned some in full growth and it did not hurt them. I believe the key is warmer weather, not dormancy for successful repotting of Eucs.

How hard did you go on the roots? I will certainly cut everything outside the colander but will look to reduce further to allow the water to percolate better. Guess I won't know what is there until I poke around. Also do you know if I can bare root Eucs?

shibui wrote:Please keep posting with your results as this one develops (or even if it doesn't ) Anything you can learn will be useful for the rest of us.

Will do.

Terry

I just looked this up to see if I could get a view of a mature tree, and wow, what an impressive flower! I agree with Neil and Gavin that it'll probably look best as a medium to larger tree, especially if it's going to be allowed to flower. Keen to see what Anthony suggests, and looking forward to its development!

How hard did you go on the roots? I will certainly cut everything outside the colander but will look to reduce further to allow the water to percolate better. Guess I won't know what is there until I poke around. Also do you know if I can bare root Eucs?

I have cut back roots of several Euc sp quite hard - well over 1/2 of the root mass and most have coped very well during warmer weather. I've cut some back quite a lot more - 3/4 at least and most have survived the experience. Several times I've cut all roots and shoots back to the lignotuber and planted the lignotuber like a bulb - new roots and shoots follow quite quickly.
Bare root seems to be no problem with the ones I have been playing with.
None of the above with E. torquate but I'm hoping it is not too different to other species and will play the game.

Pruning the tops is still a mystery to me Sometimes they bud back all over, sometimes whole sections refuse to bud and die off Maybe this is a time of year thing? On the + side I don't think any have died completely after pruning. Always some new buds from somewhere

Neal, there are some lovely small-leafed Eucs around that grow well here, and should make good small-to-medium trees - E. crenulata, (should be compulsory for all growers!) E. parvula, E. dalrympleana, E. bridgesiana to name a few. I should have some nice photos in ten years or so... E.cren and E.bridges in particular thicken up quite quickly, and bark up early. Sorry to hijack the thread.

Leaf size, bark and thickening are beside the point. Biggest issue for me has been internodes and ramification. You just can't make a great small euc bonsai if it won't give you lots of branches and twigs to work with but it will be lovely to see when you have managed to crack the codes Gavin

Okay Terry I have had a good look at your images and as you know not easy trying to make out angles and so on from a screen but I can see some good stuff there..

I see two possibilities at this time and both doable with the parts you have, how far you start from the ground is up to you, but long and flowing will suit better to my eye as a medium tree at least suits gums with there bigger leaf most times.

With the single trunk you can wire a little more gentle curve I think this will enhance a bit more, tilt with trunk will maybe take a little time depending how much that rootball can lay over with time,...I have given you a tighter head and little more spread in the images your call there...but you only need two or three branches at most and then spur off that a couple of times keep it simple mate like the drawing, too many people over complicate with too many branches.

The multi trunk I like too, using odd numbers, but keep the trunks tight together this will make the foliage look more plentiful if need be and make sure the second branch is more at the front as a feature.

The angles for both are the most pleasing after studying near ground level of all your pics...cheers Anthony

Once again, wonderful advice provided by numerous folk in this thread. I must say that I do like AnthonyW’s line drawings. Anthony, I have seen you do these drawings on a number of different threads now and they are simple, clear and helpful. Good stuff. Interestingly, one of the things I find most helpful in the Koreshoff book are the line drawings too. Again, simple and elegant ways of showing options. [THUMBS UP SIGN]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for your kind comments Mark, appreciate it mate ..... cheers Anthony