Suggestions for a huge bottle brush tree

[Hbhaska]

I recently collected this tree from someone’s yard. It is huge, almost five feet tall from the ground up. I’m going to leave it for a while in the hope it survivors. Depending on where I get bud back, I’d like to either keep it the same height or cut off the top, as in the red line in the pic. Any suggestions? Thank you.

 

[Starfox]

That is big, if it does survive it should throw buds lower down then any decision to chop should be clearer.
I'd just concentrate on survival for the moment, make sure you keep the moisture up and wait. Even sitting the pot in a water tray may be beneficial.

 

[Shibui]

Callistemon are really tough. If anything will survive this treatment it will be callistemon. Summer is actually a good time to do transplant with most Australian trees so that is also in its favor.
You have it in a very small pot for the size of the tree and terracotta on top of the small size. It will need a lot of water. You probably cannot over water a callistemon in summer. I often sit my pots in shallow water tray just to give enough water. It must not dry out while growing new shoots.
Many Callistemon species love to throw new shoots on very old wood so I would not be surprised to see some shoots way back on the trunk. If is gets going strong and you don't get the required buds it can be chopped to the required height (probably a lot lower than the red line) and will almost certainly shoot all over the stump.

 

[Hbhaska]

That is big, if it does survive it should throw buds lower down then any decision to chop should be clearer.
I'd just concentrate on survival for the moment, make sure you keep the moisture up and wait. Even sitting the pot in a water tray may be beneficial.

Thank you!

 

[Hbhaska]

Callistemon are really tough. If anything will survive this treatment it will be callistemon. Summer is actually a good time to do transplant with most Australian trees so that is also in its favor.
You have it in a very small pot for the size of the tree and terracotta on top of the small size. It will need a lot of water. You probably cannot over water a callistemon in summer. I often sit my pots in shallow water tray just to give enough water. It must not dry out while growing new shoots.
Many Callistemon species love to throw new shoots on very old wood so I would not be surprised to see some shoots way back on the trunk. If is gets going strong and you don't get the required buds it can be chopped to the required height (probably a lot lower than the red line) and will almost certainly shoot all over the stump.

Thank you, Shibui. The soil has diatomaceous earth substrate to retain moisture but I will add a tray of water underneath as you suggest. Hope it doesn’t lead to root rot.

 

[Shibui]

I don't know what properties your substrate has. If you believe it will retain good moisture levels you should treat it as you see fit.

I cannot speak for California but I have done some trials over here. One pot was half submerged in a container of water for 18 months before it showed any signs of stress. A collection of closely related melaleucas spent all summer in a tray of water up to half pot depth all last summer and grew far more vigorously than similar pots without water. Natural habitat of many callistemon species is streamside where the roots can grow into water. I have not heard of root rot as a problem for callistemon.

 

[Hbhaska]

I don't know what properties your substrate has. If you believe it will retain good moisture levels you should treat it as you see fit.

I cannot speak for California but I have done some trials over here. One pot was half submerged in a container of water for 18 months before it showed any signs of stress. A collection of closely related melaleucas spent all summer in a tray of water up to half pot depth all last summer and grew far more vigorously than similar pots without water. Natural habitat of many callistemon species is streamside where the roots can grow into water. I have not heard of root rot as a problem for callistemon.

Thank you, Shibui. All of this makes perfect sense. I will add a water tray.