New Zealand Natives as bonsai

[WeeTree58]

Hi there
I'm a kiwi living in Melbourne and have 4-5 NZ natives as bonsai but wondered if anyone out there has specifically done the Kauri or White Pine ( Kahikatea) as bonsai as I'm keen to know of any secrets or what tips an be offered for their success.
Mine are doing ok but have had issues with the Kauri being not too keen to back bud on old wood, but they will do it.
The White Pine I have is a young tree I'm styling as a formal upright for now which is what the Kauri started out as but because of the apex dying and no back budding I have changed it to an informal upright.
I also have a nice Pohutukawa and a Titoki as a literati with all doing well.
Any tips would be appreciated.
Cheers
Glenn

 

[Shibui]

There's a huge Kauri in the Albury Botanic gardens. Tallest tree in the garden and around 2m diameter. I had not even considered trying that for bonsai but good luck with yours.

There are a few Kiwis floating around B'nut. Maybe @fredman might have some tips of be able to refer you to someone else with more experience.

 

[WeeTree58]

Thanks for your reply Shibui nice to hear from you
Do you have any NZ trees at all?
I can recommend a Pohutukawa in my opinion they make a good bonsai, easy to grow and pretty hardy.
I have to put a branch bender on the trunk of my NZ White pine, I slip potted it into the next size nursery pot and the trunk has an ugly bend in it at soil level which really stood out when I removed some of the soil to get down to the first main roots, but the bender should do the trick.

 

[Fidur]

@WeeTree58 .Those species seem very interesting for bonsai and I definitely would try them. However I have never seen any of those in my nurseries.
What is avalaible here is the NZ tea tree (lepstospermum scoparium or as you call them manuka). I have some of them :



Two months back, when I prunned, cut roots and repotted they had this beautiful flowers:



I have also a burgundy double flower variety, wich is a bit more fragile and with longer internodes.
I guess this species is very avalaible for you, so you can try it whenever you want.
Good luck with your NZ natives.....

 

[WeeTree58]

Your trees are lovely especially the flowering ones.
All the NZ natives I have, have been bought here in Melbourne some were hard to get but managed it.
The rest of my trees here are Yew, Shimpaku Juniper x2, Firethorn, Atlantic Cedar, Boxwood, English Oak, Chinese Elm, Hinoki Cypress and a small Trident Maple
all of which are doing well except the Maple, for some reason I dont have much luck with Maples.
The Pohutukawa is not flowering yet but wish it did like your Tea Trees they look great.
I assume you are in the U.S ?
Nice to chat

 

[WeeTree58]

Sorry Ive just seen you are in Spain, all the best

 

[Shibui]

Do you have any NZ trees at all?

Don't think I have any strictly NZ species here but there are a few grey areas where species like L. scoparium overlap. The trees I have here definitely originate with Aussie populations and, by the look of the flowers, my guess is that those ones @Fidur has are also bred from Aussie species.
I have looked longingly at Pohutakawa. It seems to be a great species that adapts well to Bonsai but I already have way too many different species and have to draw the line somewhere.

BTW, updating your personal profile with a location means that pops up each time you post and allows all of to immediately see where someone is living and how that relates to the trees they are talking about or showing.

 

[fredman]

Maybe @fredman might have some tips of be able to refer you to someone else with more experience.

I'm sorry but the only NZ species I have experience with is Pohutukawa and Kowhai.
I recently bought a NZ white pine and a Celery pine...don't yet know what i'm going to do with them.
Hopefully @KiwiPlantGuy can help out some...

 

[WeeTree58]

I'm sorry but the only NZ species I have experience with is Pohutukawa and Kowhai.
I recently bought a NZ white pine and a Celery pine...don't yet know what i'm going to do with them.
Hopefully @KiwiPlantGuy can help out some...

Ok they're all beautiful trees
I think my NZ White Pine will hopefully end up being a nice tree once out of development styled as a formal upright is my aim.
Pohutukawa make nice bonsai so I'm hoping the same for the NZ White Pine it has such nice small leaves/foliage so here's hoping eh.
Pics included of my Pohutakawa and the White Pine after a bit of a hair cut, but my experience of the White Pine is that they're pretty hardy and will happily back bud on old wood so that's a couple of the hurdles overcome.