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Callitris anyone?
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Posted by justcorreas Australia (My Page) on Thu, Aug 3, 06 at 0:06
| All the gardening books I have on Natives, suggest that the Callitris varieties are grown from seed. I've found mention by Edna Walling on the internet that Callitris columellaris will grow by cuttings or seed. This form is an 18 metre tree, but what about the other forms of Callitris.
I've put cuttings of C. oblonga & C. rhomboidea down, now what I'd like to know is if these two forms will strike from cuttings.
Has anyone any experience with Callitris - as they're new to me. |
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RE: Callitris anyone?
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I haven't tried propagating them, but do have four species growing: C. endlicheri, C.monticola, C. rhomboidea , and C. baileyi (which is a rather rare species from this area). The most outstanding of these at present is one of the endlicheri, which is a dense column of dark foliage about 3-4 metres high, in a very nice formal candle-flame shape. I have trimmed it once, a few years ago, but would attribute most of the nice shape and density to its natural growth habit. From trees seen in the wild, I imagine it will eventually develop a bare trunk and lose the density of the foliage. Old trees have gnarled branches which make a lovely silhouette against the sky. However, I also think it might be possible to keep it to its current size by regular trimming, as is done by some gardeners to introduced cypresses. I don't know whether this has been done - perhaps there is more research that could be done here to discover this plant's potential in formal applications.
C. monticola is a miniature, which naturally grows on the granite belt in the Stanthorpe area on shallow very well drained soils on top of granite, which tends to keep a steady water-supply on top of the rock base. I have mine in a sand bed about 20cm deep on top of heavy red basalt clay. It is thriving despite the drought. I do occasionally chuck a jug of water on it, but wouldn't have done this more than half a dozen times in the last year. Planted two years ago it's just over knee-height now, and starting to bush up.
I have just put in seed of another variety, C. inophloia, another granite species which I expect to come up fairly readily given the experience of a local friend.
Best of luck with your lot.
Trish |
RE: Callitris anyone?
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| Trish - It's interesting to see that you trim your Callitris, as the owner of a local C. oblonga near me has theirs trimmed to 2.4m in height. Maybe not all that extraordinary until you know it's 30 years old. It looks great at this height. |
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