Trees for my tramway

[tramcar trev]

My tramway is elevated and our climate rated as cool but if summer temps in the high 30's are cool im stumpped weh ave cold winters and hot summers....
Now with a tramway I don't have a great need for trees as trams run mainly in a city scape but I will have a parkland area around my rotunda ( band stand) and Im thinking that I could grow plants in water well pots sunk into the base board. To this end I threw some stone fruit seeds out last summer into some soil and they germinated this spring and are now around 60cm tall. In early spring I propose to transplant and prune them, both foliage and roots and put them into pots. I'm kind of hoping that this will sort of bonsai them and with some sort of watering system I have yet to devise allow them to at least stay alive.
There are many Natives with smaller leaves but they can be quite temeramental grown in pots and I thought the fruit trees would be a better proposition. I may gather some acorns in Autumn and see if I can get them to germinate. My idea is to have a discreetly hidden bunch of small trees in pots that I can swap around as the need arises....

Thoughts form those with green thumbs???

 

[maxi-model]

Sounds interesting. The only thing I know about growing small trees to match in with a garden railway is that by restricting their root growth through potting most species of conifer (particularly "compressa" slow growing dwarf types) can have their growth restricted. These still potted trees can even be planted in the open ground but don't forget to cover the hole in the bottom of the pot if you don't want them to grow up.

Also a lot of shrubs can be kept small, and viable, while being fashioned and pruned to look like dwarf trees without affecting their life expectancy unduly. No need to pot here.

If you grow trees potted, indoors or planted out in a border this way, don't forget to provide some extra vital nutrients to these plans as they wont be able to get them from the surrounding soil. Plant nurseries and BBC's "Gardeners' Question Time" told me all that.

I'd like to know more about growing other "dwarf" deciduous types as you seem to be trying. True Bonsai growing and maintainace can be a time consuming and trickey business.
Max.

 

[tramcar trev]

Yes true Bonsai can be very time consuming...I'm going for the prune and root bound in pot technique. You can and I have done up root really mature trees in winter and cut them back and prune the roots and they will shoot in spring and grow happily away... eg bear root fruit trees.... growing them on in the ground for a few years lets the trunks get some girth. If you look closely Bunnings actually plant any bear root stock that does not sell in spring into pots....
I wasn't going to use dwarf species far too expensive so I'm trying the seeds first, they germinate quite well if you let them dry out then press them into the ground do not cover and let the frost get to them....

 

[dunnyrail]

Not sure if they grow in your neck of the woods. But you could try Cotoneaster, I have had great success with these in Bonsai Pots and also contained within pots in the Garden. They are very forgiving of abuse and can be shaped into many different designs. I have one that is very like an Apple Tree in shape, completed when the when the Berries are present. This one is in the rockery. Others are shaped to be as hit by the wind.

Another Good option is Crassuia sarcocauiis described as a 'Bushy Perennial Succulent' which requires 'fertile to well-drained soil in full sun. This baby should be right u your Street if you can get hold of it.

JonD

 

[simon@mgr]

Trev, go up to Cockington Green, or have a look at their website . All they do to keep the trees small is prune them to the desired shape and only keep the new growth they want.
When you do prune remove any thing that grows down from the branches, full sized trees tend to set new branches upwards

 

[tramcar trev]

Not sure if they grow in your neck of the woods. But you could try Cotoneaster, I have had great success with these in Bonsai Pots and also contained within pots in the Garden.

Yes cotoneaster is a declared weed here so of course grows very well..... I'll try it.

 

[tramcar trev]

Trev, go up to Cockington Green, or have a look at their website . All they do to keep the trees small is prune them to the desired shape and only keep the new growth they want.
When you do prune remove any thing that grows down from the branches, full sized trees tend to set new branches upwards

Yes that's an idea... But because my setup is elevated way up off the ground I have to grow trees in pots.....

 

[royale]

You could try boxwood or miniature boxwood. They have very small leaves, can easily be pruned into any shape, cuttings can be taken from them very easily, they will happily grow in pots or in the open and are evergreen. They make great trees on my railway of all different sizes and shapes.

 

[tramcar trev]

Sunny outside so I took the Knew Knee on an endurance mission; to see how long I could stand on it before it signalled a retreat was in order.

If you have been following my blog you will recall that on ANZAC Day 2012 I was given a real Lone Pine, complete with certificate of authenticity and I potted it up to get it to “grow on” to be planted as part of the Tramway Soldiers Memorial.  Well to day I spent an hour or so snuggling it down in its new “modular” pot and wiring the branches into place to try and replicate the original. This species does not look neat and “conical” like most pines but rather straggly and unkempt so to try an achieve this and remembering from Bonsai 101 I wired up the branches to create the look I want. I little more about my tree`s lineage here; http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2011/10/lone-pine-seeds-grown-into-a-living-memorial/

The work has to be done in Spring while the sap is rising, maybe the wire can come off in 12 months as the tree is now as tall as I want it to fit into the time scale of the tramway it will get an annual prune and re-pot to keep it Bonsaied.    I think it looks quite nice with its tortured exposed roots and straggly appearance.

Once the knee can tolerate longer endurance I`ll drill its hole in the plot of land where the memorial will stand, I have not started work on that yet, still trying to find a bronze WWI digger about 80 – 100 mm tall, I may go with a Simpson and his Donkey though. I need to get it finished in time for the ANZAC Day 2015 Centenary.
From This.......

to this.....

The WWI memorial site is conveniently located adjacent to The Rock terminus and the car sidings....