A few experiments

[Starfox]

Just thought I'd share a few starter trees I have that will hopefully develop in time.

First up is this Acacia longifolia, these are declared weeds here and this one came from the vacant block next to me as there are loads of them coming up from my neighbours trees. I practically hand ripped it from the ground during a storm 2 to 3 years ago when it was about 2ft tall, it died back and I had left it for dead but come spring it was shooting from the base so I let it grow.
Last year it was looking pretty straight and boring so I thought I'd wire the trunk up and it gave it some interesting movement and this year for better or worse I have started putting a corkscrew bend into it as well as gave it a mica pot, repotting it rewarded me with the lower down branch appearing so that can stay hopefully as a sacrifice or I may leave it, dunno.

Due to the leaf size it will be a taller tree so my plan is to finish the corkscrew off, point the leader back upwards and develop the branching above the twist if possible. From what I can tell is the leaves reduce on these naturally when there is a lot of leaves, cutting back hard creates even larger new growth but it will shoot freely when cut back. Hoping next spring will see it flower, fingers crossed.



Next a little Agonis flexuosa it started life as the tall tree third from left in the pic below.



I cut it right back last autumn to what it is today and it has no issues with back budding.



In fact it has a lignotuber just above soil line and that is a constant game of rubbing new buds off but it adds interest and will likely grow out at some point.



Finally is a Casuarina cunninghamiana, again that was the second tree from the left in the above pic. This was cut back and wired and just left to grow until I realised the wire had been left on too long. They grow quick.




All in all not much but they are all healthy and now I have a place to keep track of their progression. I may add a tree or two as well.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Nice, I like them all. The foliage on the 4th tree (rightmost) in the picture looks cool, what is that?

Casuarina - I don't know your plans, but I would either re-wire and make much more exaggerated curves, even corkscrews and start the curves just barely above the soil line. Get movement into is now before wood has hardened off and becomes brittle. They are sometimes called ironwood, which means get those bends in there early.

Acacia - As for the Casuarina, it it were mine I would have started the corkscrew much closer to where the trunk and soil meet. If the wood is already too hard to bend, I would do as you did with the Agonis. With the acacia, you have a very linear section of trunk, from the soil line up then suddenly this cork screw. Trees tend to have the ''forces of nature'' working on them consistently. To have a long relatively straight section, followed by a sudden corkscrew looks artificial. Try to continue the corkscrew toward the base of the trunk. If the wood will bend see if you can get the corkscrew bend to go down all the way. If wood is too hard, you might have to chop.

Like in fractal mathematics, a tree is attractive when a curve, a line or an angle is repeated over and over, with each repeat being either incrementally smaller or incrementally larger, depending on the fractal direction. This looks pleasing to the eye, for example the fiddlehead of a fern uncoiling.

Agonis - for us North Americans not familiar - many trees in this genus used to be called Eucalyptus. I like where and the angle to the trunk the second branch makes, it is on the outside of a curve. I think that branch should be your new leader. You don't have to wire it up much, not sure I would move it at all. Keep your first branch, use it as a sacrifice to thicken the trunk. Let more of the suckers from the lignotuber grow as sacrifices, You could make a nice zig zag trunk here. Think about whether you want a single leader, or more of a multiple sub trunks sort of informal broom look to this tree. I would be tempted as a single leader informal upright.

Something to remember, when making bends, or angle changes in seedling and young smaller diameter trees that you plan to allow to thicken up over time, the bends and curves will appear to smooth out over time. What seemed abrupt in a 1 cm diameter trunk will look a gentle curve when that same trunk becomes a 10 cm diameter trunk.

All in all 3 fun, interesting species, project trees I would not mind having on my bench. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Starfox]

Nice, I like them all. The foliage on the 4th tree (rightmost) in the picture looks cool, what is that?

Cheers Leo, the one on the right is a Banksia speciosa that I wanted for the landscape but it went downhill quickly after planting out pretty sure it's dead but I'm still watering it just in case.

Casuarina - I don't know your plans, but I would either re-wire and make much more exaggerated curves, even corkscrews and start the curves just barely above the soil line. Get movement into is now before wood has hardened off and becomes brittle. They are sometimes called ironwood, which means get those bends in there early.

Not overly sure myself where I'm headed with this one, I've had a few ideas but realistically it needs more growing. Cutting back recently produced that low down shoot so I'm hoping that will help with taper a bit but I can incorporate it. To be honest I need more time looking at it and looking at others trees while it's growing for inspiration. I can get some more bend in the main trunk now but it is already getting pretty solid so nothing drastic, I can do more with the younger growth.

Acacia - As for the Casuarina, it it were mine I would have started the corkscrew much closer to where the trunk and soil meet. If the wood is already too hard to bend, I would do as you did with the Agonis. With the acacia, you have a very linear section of trunk, from the soil line up then suddenly this cork screw. Trees tend to have the ''forces of nature'' working on them consistently. To have a long relatively straight section, followed by a sudden corkscrew looks artificial. Try to continue the corkscrew toward the base of the trunk. If the wood will bend see if you can get the corkscrew bend to go down all the way. If wood is too hard, you might have to chop.

Like in fractal mathematics, a tree is attractive when a curve, a line or an angle is repeated over and over, with each repeat being either incrementally smaller or incrementally larger, depending on the fractal direction. This looks pleasing to the eye, for example the fiddlehead of a fern uncoiling.

By the time I thought about wiring this it was already too late for any major bends or twists down low, I have checked and could put some more movement into the wood that has browned off but to get much more low down I'd need a bending clamp I think so that is at least an excuse to order a couple of them. I do see what you mean, over time what is a nice but not drastic curve will probably straighten out. I can bring the top half down lower easy enough though, need to think that through first. It's nearly time to take what wire is there off and redo it anyway as they grow quick too and bite early so I'll have a go at doing something. I'm not overly keen on chopping it, I'll probably only have a few more years with my trees here before we are off so it's more a learning curve but I can hopefully make it more interesting even if only slightly.

Agonis - for us North Americans not familiar - many trees in this genus used to be called Eucalyptus. I like where and the angle to the trunk the second branch makes, it is on the outside of a curve. I think that branch should be your new leader. You don't have to wire it up much, not sure I would move it at all. Keep your first branch, use it as a sacrifice to thicken the trunk. Let more of the suckers from the lignotuber grow as sacrifices, You could make a nice zig zag trunk here. Think about whether you want a single leader, or more of a multiple sub trunks sort of informal broom look to this tree. I would be tempted as a single leader informal upright.

West Australian peppermint, they are cool the leaves have a real pleasant smell when crushed like many Eucalyptus do. Often called a Willow myrtle for their weeping habit so in time I'm hoping to have it with that weeping look or at least on it's way to it.
I think I'm pretty much in agreement with the informal upright take on it , I'd slightly wire that second branch up(maybe) and go from there. From what I have read clip and grow should work fine. I have been rubbing the ligno suckers off in fear they will create a massive tennis ball on the trunk maybe that is not right but as soon as I take that top section off I'll have plenty of sacrifices volunteering themselves.

Something to remember, when making bends, or angle changes in seedling and young smaller diameter trees that you plan to allow to thicken up over time, the bends and curves will appear to smooth out over time. What seemed abrupt in a 1 cm diameter trunk will look a gentle curve when that same trunk becomes a 10 cm diameter trunk.

That is a good nugget because it is easily forgotten and more so on relative newcomers like me who may have read that but have not actually put it to practice and that is where I'm at now. So while I can still move stuff I better get to it.

All in all 3 fun, interesting species, project trees I would not mind having on my bench. Thank you for sharing.

No worries, looking forward to sharing more as they grow.
For info's sake the tree on the far left of the pic of 4 is a Melaleuca ericifolia, Ill probably add that to this thread too in the near future and maybe a couple of others that are realistically all at the same stage of being young nursery stock, all Aussie natives.