Shibui
Imperial Masterpiece
I'm not sure whether I've put this tree up on B'nut.
It is one of my early attempts at working with our Australian natives as bonsai. The tree is Callistemon sieberii - river bottlebrush which grows along the creeks and rivers in my area. I first noticed them in situ while looking for gold in the nearby Ovens river. On the banks they grow as larger, upright trees but where seed germinates in the cracks in the rocks close to the water the trees get smashed by flood water every year so all branches are elongated pointing downstream. Upstream side of the trunks are scarred from impacts with flood borne debris. Roots flow over the bare rock to find footholds in the cracks.
Not sure whether similar shaped trees grow along rivers in other parts of the world but I was impressed by the signs of resilience and survival in those trees so I set about growing a bonsai that expressed the same attributes. I've dubbed this waterswept style.
Here's the tree before work today:
Callistemon flower on the tips of last summer shoots like azalea so in order to see flowers I have to allow shoots to grow freely from late summer then prune back hard after flowering. This tree got a bit dry a couple of times through spring so has not flowered this season and now it is time to prune.
One of the good things about this species is that it sprouts easily from old wood. So easy that new shoots appear, even on very old trunks, without pruning.
Because I want to show sparse and elongated branches most of these shoots are rubbed off
The shoots that grew last season are pruned right back to one or 2 leaves or even removed completely knowing that new buds will sprout.
I've found that early summer is also a good time to repot this species. It has been drying out really quick through spring so I suspect it could need some more space in the pot.
It tolerates root pruning really well so roots are trimmed back quite hard. I forgot to take that photo though.......
pot prepared - that's drywall plaster tape covering the drainage holes.
and back into the pot with fresh potting mix. Like all my trees this one gets my standard bonsai mix complete with controlled release fertiliser.
The tree is back on its stand, under light shade cloth this year. I normally put up the shade cloth after Christmas but the sun was getting a bit hot quite early this spring so the shade went up early.
It is one of my early attempts at working with our Australian natives as bonsai. The tree is Callistemon sieberii - river bottlebrush which grows along the creeks and rivers in my area. I first noticed them in situ while looking for gold in the nearby Ovens river. On the banks they grow as larger, upright trees but where seed germinates in the cracks in the rocks close to the water the trees get smashed by flood water every year so all branches are elongated pointing downstream. Upstream side of the trunks are scarred from impacts with flood borne debris. Roots flow over the bare rock to find footholds in the cracks.
Not sure whether similar shaped trees grow along rivers in other parts of the world but I was impressed by the signs of resilience and survival in those trees so I set about growing a bonsai that expressed the same attributes. I've dubbed this waterswept style.
Here's the tree before work today:
Callistemon flower on the tips of last summer shoots like azalea so in order to see flowers I have to allow shoots to grow freely from late summer then prune back hard after flowering. This tree got a bit dry a couple of times through spring so has not flowered this season and now it is time to prune.
One of the good things about this species is that it sprouts easily from old wood. So easy that new shoots appear, even on very old trunks, without pruning.
Because I want to show sparse and elongated branches most of these shoots are rubbed off
The shoots that grew last season are pruned right back to one or 2 leaves or even removed completely knowing that new buds will sprout.
I've found that early summer is also a good time to repot this species. It has been drying out really quick through spring so I suspect it could need some more space in the pot.
It tolerates root pruning really well so roots are trimmed back quite hard. I forgot to take that photo though.......
pot prepared - that's drywall plaster tape covering the drainage holes.
and back into the pot with fresh potting mix. Like all my trees this one gets my standard bonsai mix complete with controlled release fertiliser.
The tree is back on its stand, under light shade cloth this year. I normally put up the shade cloth after Christmas but the sun was getting a bit hot quite early this spring so the shade went up early.