My new Leptospernum

austindecker

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I revently wired my new semi-new leptospernum and I have tried to invision where to go with this cool double trunk and I was hoping to get a couple of new fresh sets of eyes on the tree to see what they think about where I have this going. If anyone has any tips or ideas about how this tree could look in the future I would appreciate anyones ideas and words.
PXL_20210914_205147451.jpg
 

DonovanC

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I don’t know the species, but if it were mine I’d let it be and let it gain strength. I like what you’ve done, I like the two trunks. It this point I personally wouldn’t worry about the branches any more than what you’ve done. And again, what you’ve done looks great to me.
You’ll want to thicken the trunk a good bit and you don’t want your primary branches to be the same thickness as your trunk. So plan on replacing your current branches with new ones as the trunk thickens. A thick trunk with thinner primary branches gives a greater sense of miniature scale.
I would let it grow and only prune for ramification. The more top growth you get the faster the trunk will thicken.

Edit:
I’m reading that this species hates back-budding so keeping it compact while also allowing it to grow and thicken will probably be a long process. I’d make use of a sacrifice branch on each trunk.
Hopefully someone with experience with this species is of more help.
 

austindecker

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Yea this is a slow growing tree (especially compared to my serissa which just grows like crazy) but the branches get pretty stiff and are not very malleable once they have any girth so I was trying to catch it early enough to make my life easier later down the road. Its a flowering Australian native so it will have blooms next spring also. The two lowest branches on either of the trunks can easily be sacrifice branches for me in the future but they were just coming straight out towards the camera and I didn't like their placement so those two wirings are probably the ones for a more temporary purpose.
 

Forsoothe!

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One thing that you can do with long, thin branches that you can't do with short branches is to bend them into the arcs of a windswept...
lepto 4.JPG
I think quite a bit more arc could be had than is illustrated here. It doesn't take much to arc the main trunk at the top with less and less as you go down the trunk. The only rule is that since all the branches are the product of the same conditions, they have to look like they all belong on the same tree. The lowest left is almost flat, and all subsequent branches have increasing amounts of arc, however the arcs need to be very similar and trace each other. The 7 left branches need to have about the same amount of space between branches, which is to say, they need to be evenly spaced so as to reinforce the image of trailing in the wind without getting bunched-up in one place and loosing the grace of the windswept look. The upwind side has shorter branches that are upturned towards the ends, again, by about the same amount and it's important to keep the open space similar. Open space allows the viewer to see the branches' arc. You can't see an arc if branches are too bushy or the foliage interweaves together. Sideways or sub-branches follow the same rules of having been influenced by the wind, so clouds are flat-ish, but the continuing arc of the top of a cloud can flow into any open space, front or rear.

The front view is the golden triangle having 3 unequal sides: bottom is longest, windward is shortest, and downwind is intermediate. The plan view looking down thru the top is also a golden triangle: The front is ~flat and the longest, the rear of downwind intermediate, and the rear windward is shortest with the intersection of the two rears meeting approximately behind the main trunk, and all 3 peaking at the top of the main trunk. Think about that!
 

_#1_

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Please, for the dignity of the tree don't try windswept.

It's only one of the more difficult image to style to look good.
 

Shibui

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Agree that Leptos quickly get stiff so early wiring is a good idea. Gradual bending over time can also be a strategy. Bend a little more every 2-3 weeks as the cells relax and allow more bend. i do most shaping of Lepto through pruning. Chop to a convenient side shoot, allow it to grow then chop again to get the trunk movement you want. That strategy also gives valuable taper which bending alone won't give.
I agree that good windswept are great but very few attempts are good. Not a great style for beginners IMHO.
I would just concentrate on cut and grow for now. There is not much to work with in this young tree so searching for a great tree in it is futile. As in most bonsai, time is the best strategy.
 

austindecker

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I can do the side shoot trimming like you mentioned as well. I agree with you that windswept looks far to advanced for me at this current time but I also dont think the double trunk of this Lepto would suit the look I envision for it. I wont move that route, but I am aware that it will take time for this to really turn into anything that can be labelled a more mature bonsai but the early wiring just allowed for shaping in a way that will better suit a more finished product when that time comes. I know that some sources say that Leptos dont appreciate backbudding very much, have you seen this be the case in your own trees? Is letting the branches gain more length before a trimming a better idea with this species? I've grown Serissas and Ficus's but this is my first Lepto and its a very different tree than the others. I'll try and show where I'm thinking this tree may eventually end up but I would appreciate your more advanced advice on it as well.
 

austindecker

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I want the right one to probably be the more prominent and larger of the two trunks, and then the left kind of being kept smaller and trimmed to only 1/3 or maybe 2/5 the size of the larger of the two. Another idea was to try and get the left to be more of a cascading trunk while the other curves back into the center of the two and is again the fuller and beefier of the two trunks. Just as I move forward I think an idea of where the end could be, will help with some of the middle steps down the road in decision making.
 

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Shibui

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There are many species of Leptospermum and many more cultivars now they are becoming more popular as garden plants. Different species have differing abilities to back bud.
L. petersonii is one that buds profusely from old wood so I can allow that one to grow and then chop hard knowing there will be lots of new shoots like ficus or serissa.
Many others do not back bud much so it is important to keep trimming to maintain growth where it will be needed. Frustrating as regular trimming reduces thickening so some can take forever to become thicker and when branches all get long there is no way to recover a compact tree. I often use the strategy to cut back to a shorter, lower branch and regrow the branch/trunk when parts have become too long and bare.
 
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