A few Australian Natives...

Don’t think I’ve posted these before (maybe I have?!) … but they were all grown from seed in 2019. Been cleaned up over the last couple of weeks, starting to become something I think. I'm happy with their progression at any rate. First one is Melaleuca cuticularis, followed by Melaleuca rhaphiophylla … both endemic to WA… about as far west of me as you can get! Enjoying the challenge!!
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A repot for this Leptospermum today and a new pot.
It already had a fantastic pot (that I loved) but the tree was knocked off the rack a few months ago by a possum and it shattered, so I had the tree in a plastic thing over the winter and contacted a local potter (Bad Swan Ceramics) to make up something to replace it for me. Very happy with the new container and very happy to have this tree back in something more fitting for it to continue to develop.
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Another Melaleuca getting an early spring trim.
This tree was last posted in this thread in Feb 2023 ... Post #53, so you can see the evolution from there if you want to look back.
Keeping the bottom a tad more bushy than the top as it is very prone to preferencing the apex at the expense of lower branches.
I might actually remove some of that lower branch in any case (the bit that covers the trunk mostly) ... but for now it stays.
Oh ... and the pot is awful so that needs to be addressed at some point soon.
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I addressed the pot issue ☝️ with a nice one from a local potter 👇(well Australian anyway... just the other side!).
It was made by Bad Swan Ceramics for those wondering... it does a nice job of complimenting this tree I think and there is something nice about putting Australian natives in Australian made pots.
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Wow, that is quite the progress in just a few years. Very cool. I have one Laura's red manuka (related?) but it does not progress like that!
 
Wow, that is quite the progress in just a few years. Very cool. I have one Laura's red manuka (related?) but it does not progress like that!
Manuka is a different thing to Melaleuca, it is a Leptospermum scoparium (AKA tea tree here) that is also native to New Zealand. I know there are quite a few people who try them as bonsai though.
I don't have any (so no first hand experience) but there is a lot of "discussion" about how hardy they are to bonsai-related root work so that might be something to keep in mind. I have other Leptospermum that don't seem to have issues with root reduction/work so it doesn't apply to all. I think they tend to be a bit slower growing, but they do have an impressive flower display though so it's not all bad! Good luck with it!
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