New growth on eucalyptus

Last year (probably late autumn) my son gave our tall eucalyptus tree it's annual hair cut .... it does grow very quickly so have had to do this for the past 12 years or so .... but son seemed to have cropped too short as nothing started growing this year and I thought it was dead but decided to leave it in anyway ... a couple of days ago, althought their was nothing at all growing at top, I noticed something small growing at the bottom in the actual trunk in one or two places .... not sure what they were, but today I decided to rub them and to my surprise they smelled strongly of eucalyptus !! woo hoo ! is my tree growing again then from bottom of trunk upwards ?? Definately not a shoot or runner sent out as they are definately in the trunk about 1 - 1 half inches from ground level .... if they are, what should I do - leave them or plant in pot or what ??

Val

 

Depends a bit on the variety of Eucalyptus, but in general they are not fully hardy, so last Winter's cold may have killed the top part, and its coming back from the bottom.

I'd leave it and see how it develops before doing anything further - it may, yet, sprout from higher up the trunk.

 

No idea of the variety now - years since we bought it ... will leave if and see what happens ... next to this tree I have a very small rose bush (used to be sold as indoor ones for a pot) it came out of my mum's garden when she died .... in all these years it has never lost every single leaf not even through winter - same with the cold winter just passed - still had one green leaf on !

Val

 

I've usually prune eucalyptus in late spring.

They dont have a dormant period and quite often they can still be making active growth in autumn.
Then the cold comes and they stop growing.
But its best if they still have a good few branches, with leaves, to carry them through.

Then a hard prune in late spring when the plant is putting out new growth.

I'd leave the shoots you have as you wont get them to root.

 

Really don't want it as a shrub - this is an 8 - 10 foot tree and I have always kept it for top growth ..... think I will leave it in for a year or so and see if anything happens - might buy another small one and keep in a pot for a while 'just in case' .....

Thanks for all the input

Val