Gday Blue!

Sounds like the tree you have is only a seedling*. If you wish to achieve greater trunk girth, you'd be better off trimming the roots and placing the tree into a 150mm nursery pot. Be careful not to remove too much root mass on such a young tree - perhaps ¼ to ⅓. This can be tricky, given that most of the root mass of pot grown Eucs can be based around a single taproot. Also, without seeing the tree in question, I'd have to advise you to remove all foliage during the repotting process.

Good luck.

FlyBri.

* This is not to say that it cannot one day become convincing Bonsai - it just takes time and patience. I'll try to get a pic today of the River Red Gum (E. camaldulensis) that I have grown from a similar sized tree in a 50mm forestry tube.

Hello,

I thought I was crazy when I bought my Eucalyptus seeds (Euc Globulus) to convert them in Bonsai. It is true that in my country (France) it is not usual to see those trees. Your thread give me hope and I hope that my tiny 3 cm plants will grow to the one you show.

Good Luck

Gday Patrick!

E. globulus is Tasmanian Blue Gum, if I remember rightly. I have little experience with the species, but I know they grow VERY quickly from seed - possibly a good species for multiple trunk chops. Just watch the length of the internodes during the early growth, as the nodal spacing can be as large as 10cm, even on a very young tree. Also, I am unsure as to how well the leaves will reduce, as both juvenile and mature foliage are very large. You might want to grow your seedlings into 60cm+ trees - and they'll reach that height in no time.

While I'm here, I might as well post a pic of my most recent Euc acquisition: a nicely shaped E. citriodora (Lemon Scented Gum) which was in the 'Cheap & Nasty' section at a local nursery. It was in a 20cm pot and cost me $4 AUD. Apologies for the pic - it's a hard time of year for me to get good natural light.

Note the inset pic of the swollen lignotuber - I believe that I can work around this by allowing the top to grow vigourously for the next couple of years, and removing/rubbing off any new growth on the tuber.

This tree has been root-pruned and repotted - all foliage was removed in the process. I hope to post follow-up pics soon.

Thanks.

FlyBri.

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G'day flybri and all the other fellow wombats in the gum tree thread.

I've been facinated with your thread here about natives as bonsai. I used to live next door to Dorothy and Vita Koreshoff's bonsai nursery in Castle Hill. Only just read the other day they have both since died which is rather sad. Mind you this is thirty or so years ago, so i guess no one lasts for ever.

As to native bonsai, what ya reckon about the Ghost Gum? I aint seent one in years now i live in far north queensland but I vividly remember them on the way to the snow when I lived at Moss Vale.

Now they have to be my favorite gum tree of all time.
I'm working on a few callistemons at the moment, Oz has some fantastic trees for Bonsai.
The only thing that worries me about eucalypts is their tendancy to drop branches(especially on my 4WD about 18 yeras ago)

Anyway great thread, I'm off into the rainforest to collect some more granite pot rocks.

Happy growing guys!
Tai
NQ

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Gday Taipan!

Sorry for the delay in responding to your Ghost Gum query - I've done a little bit of STFWing, and the short answer is "I don't know". Give it a go, I say. Nice pic, BTW.

While I'm here, I thought I might as well post a few more pics in a vain attempt to keep the viewer interested. Please find attached photos of some River Reds in Mill Park, in Melbourne's outer Northern suburbs. Some of the best examples of mature Redgums can be found in here. This area has been pasture for a number of years, and is quickly becoming over-developed into suburban sprawl. I am of the belief - the hope? - that the remaining Reds are protected. Being protected is one thing, but have a look at how close the construction is to these ancient trees... >( Can't be good for a very old root system. The developers might learn a lesson or two once these big fellas start dropping 500kg+ branches on their rooves and/or customers...



Apologies in advance for the quality of the pics - 'twas a little overcast, and - try as I may - I was unable to frame out the obvious signs of 'civilisation'. Hopefully they show enough to be of some inspiration.

Thanks.

FlyBri.

PS: I hope to update my project tree pics soon...

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MMmmmmmmmmm looks like the Kebabs and Pizza place is open....

Just kidding, nice trees! I'll try to take some pictures of Eucs around here....you would be amazed at how well they grow here. They were planted as quick growing wood for railroad tracks, which they proved singularly unsuitable for. Then for windbreaks.....well.... they sure do break in the wind!

Now they just grow and drop big branches and make a nuisance. But people love their look and their twisty trunks....

Joanie

There's a free video download of creation of a gum tree bonsai using material with a ligno tuber at http://www.bonsaifarm.tv/content/view/24/37/
Cheers
Lindsay Farr

Hello you Eucalyptophiles,

I am just amazed at the vigor on a eucalyptus specimen my neighbor was about to put away. it was growing on a narrow and long pot, got almost 2 meters high, and had very large leaves.

I cut it back to its present size (about 25-30cm). A lot of roots where lost when my neighbor uprooted it, but it's doing fine. It has rebudded very heavily, the leaves are becoming very small through continuous prunning.

Any suggestions as to where to go from here are very welcome and appreciated.

thanks in advance.

Philippe Hunziker
Guatemala

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Howdy folks!

Please find attached the latest pic of my very first River Red (previously seen here and here.) I have thinned out quite a lot of growth and trimmed back in order to find a workable structure within the tree. The trunk is now a little over 35mm at the widest point, just above the never-before-seen 'nebari'. I hope to repot in the next couple of weeks, as the roots are beginning to circle the edges of the pot. Who knows - it may even be time to start looking at a real pot for this one?.. I'll keep the reader posted.

---

Gday Philippe!

Unfortunately, the only advice I'd give for this tree is to let it grow for a month or six. I believe that you have gotten off to a good start by cutting back the existing growth, thereby keeping the internodes near the trunk short, but at this point in time, what the tree needs is more foliage to thicken the branches and trunk. Keep an eye on any strong vertical growth. Good luck!

Gday Lindsay!

Thanks for taking the time to post - it's good to hear from one with your level of experience! How long have you been working with Eucs/Oz native trees? I'd be interested in seeing some of your more mature specimens. (It is with some shame that I admit to never having visited your nursery - the times at which I drive past, it tends not to be open... But I will make the effort soon!) Also, I'm open to suggestions, comments and criticism of this article as it stands - in fact, it would be much appreciated!

How do, Joanie?

I would be interested in seeing pics of the Eucs in your area - I bet they grow like weeds! (I think it's hilarious that Eucs have indeed become weeds in many parts of the world, given that so much of the natural ecology of Oz has been ruined by the (often deliberate) introduction of exotic species: Privet, Blackberry, Bridal Veil Creeper, Ivy, Boneseed, Bunnies, Foxes, Cane Toads, Cats, Dogs, Sheep, Moo-Cows, White Fellas, Me, etc... I'm not saying that the Euc takeover of the rest of the world is good or right, just a little ironic...)

I wonder which species were planted in your area, as there are species of Euc which prove suitable for both railway sleepers (River Red Gum is a traditional favourite) and windbreaks (Sugar Gum (E. cladocalyx) coppices nicely and provides good firewood at the same time).

Thanks all!

FlyBri.

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Morning all!

It's now just over a year since I started a number of the small Eucs which are seen earlier in this article. I thought it might be a good time to take a look at how the roots were developing, and didn't really expect to do any root-pruning at this stage (see "Root-Pruning and Repotting" above, post #2). Growth on this River Red had slowed quite considerably, and I assumed that this was due to a mid-Winter lull - but I have been wrong before... It turns out that roots had circled the pot, and that a repot was in order. My thinking here was that a mid-Winter repot should allow the tree to recover sufficiently to take full advantage of the Spring/Summer growth spurt.

Previous pics of this tree can be seen below:

June 2004

January 2005

The 1st pic here shows the River Red as it appeared yesterday morning. It has been tip-pruned once since the previous pic was taken. The trunk - especially the base - has thickened considerably since last year, and the lower bark is beginning to take on the thick, cracked appearance that is characteristic of the species. (The trunk is now about 30mm at the widest point, and I'd guess it was about 20mm this time last year.) The yellow mark indicates the point where I will make the trunk chop.

Pic 2 gives some indication of Eucs' propensity for growing tap roots - despite having severed the main tap root(s) during the initial repot, this root mass is due to new roots growing straight down to the bottom of the pot. All of this root mass was removed (as well as the shade cloth which was placed in the bottom of the nursery pot to prevent soil loss). During root-pruning, I removed about 60% of the roots, leaving a 100mm x 40mm pad of fine feeder roots and the 'nebari' intact.

Pic 3 shows the River Red repotted, pruned and wired. Not very impressive I know, but look at the amount of growth I have achieved within one year from nursery stock! I repotted into my standard soil (see post #7) along with a generous handful of Dynamic Lifter (pellets of composted chook manure). The tree stands at about 250mm tall, and I expect that its finished height might be around 400mm.

The next update on this tree should appear within 6 months. Thanks for your time.

Fly.

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