This tree LOVES to grow. The gritty mix seems to make my plants very happy. I propagated the cuttings acquired from this tree's pruning in early March, and now have about 20 new Dawn Redwood trees. I have some planted in a forest style, and will probably field grow about half of the rooted cuttings for trunk fattening. They grow so fast. I love this game! I wish I would have discovered my passion for bonsai years ago. Even after dedicating over a year to attentive research, there is not much that can compare to the skills only acquired through experience. I have to learn the hard way sometimes, but if this hobby (obsession) was based on a scholactic scale, I think I've earned myself an even 'B' so far. Anyway, I figured I would keep anyone interested updated......(moochinka). This picture is probably almost 2 weeks old, too, so I'll try to post a more recent one later with a time frame for reference of how much my plants are growing. A big 'shout out' to Al and his enlightening posts that have helped me understand the Plant Kingdom a little better, as I am alone in my interest where I live, and can only learn through you all. Thank You! Mikey Lee G

I got rid of my dewdrops, too. Messy, huge, and very few blooms. I think that they need to be hacked down to about a foot every year and then they will bloom nicely. Who needs the work when there are other great blues out there. If you do have a standard and want to maintain it, I have found that you need to stay on top of the thing by basically thumbing off the new and tender green shoots as they develop. That's the easiest way rather then waiting til you have to saw off multi trunks to get it back to the single trunk. Cassia is another one that is a lot of work to maintain as a standard.

"Hire a pro if you can afford to" After you verify their competence. As I wrote in another thread, my next door neighbor hired someone to trim her JM and I stood and watched them do it with hedge clippers. It is now an ugly toadstool. I can't imagine many rural and small town type areas have JM pruners in the yellow pages- hell, the best nursery near me sells only Bloodgoods, Crimson Queens and Viridis, only this year they were feeling very progressive in offering a Trompenburg. Cutting edge varieties! The best advice I have is to stare at this tree for a long time and try to visualize things twelve ways from Sunday before you cut. I only have one JM in the public area of my garden (dozens out back) and I am sure neighbors have taken pause at me standing there staring like I am trapped in a never ending fugue state waiting for either inspiration or certainty to strike. I stare at trees a lot. I lay under them, I crawl behind them. I stare during winter when I can see the structure clearly and I even take photos and make notes about limbs I intend to remove when the right time rolls around. I might also suggest driving around your town looking for trees that have been aesthetically pruned in the correct manner. I stop at houses quite often and have never run across a homeowner who doesn't enjoy talking about how great their plants look. They could give you a pruning reference, or even come over for coffee and perhaps give you some tips and even find it impossible to resist helping. The beautiful waterfall look you are after is in there. All you need to do is acquire the skill to uncover it.

A. boormanii is naturally a multi-trunked (mallee) wattle. You can expect to see many more trunks appear from root suckers in the future, forming a clump style plant. They can take quite heavy pruning to whatever shape you want to give it. I know the ones at Burnley horticultural college in Melbourne are cut back to practically ground level every few years to keep them bushy.