Anyone got a Eucalyptus?

Hi all, I planted a Euacalyptus tree sp. Pauciflora Niphophilila in my garden in the summer. I found a lovely 1 1/2ft specimin, the perfect size for planting. Anyone else have one of these or any kind of Eucalyptus in their gardens.

Just hope mine ends up looking like one of these....

 

Hi, r2oo! Well, what can I say ... but I live amongst the orange trees and am surrounded by the Eucalyptus. They are a problem here because when we have our summer fires they are the first to burn ... and the first to return. Like the Arbutus (strawberry tree) fire does not affect their life.

Onto yours, we had one in Bucks and it thrived but it was in a sheltered position. It grew very quickly and I did nothing in particular with it .. just let it do it's own thing really (must say this was in the early 1980s)!

They do tolerate frost but not prolonged and intense ... but as already said, they are virtually indestructible!

Good luck with yours and welcome to GC in case I haven't said so already!

[ 09. November 2006, 11:11 PM: Message edited by: Lady of Leisure ]

 

They grow impossibly tall!! My neighbour has two monsters and they dwarf the local oaks and poplars. I would never plant them and they are pretty useless for our wildlife too. I wish a really hard frost would kill my neighbour's eucs but I doubt it.

 

As I said, HB, they are virtually indestructible ... good for us not for you! :(

 

I have got 2 different sorts of eucalyptus trees .As they grow so fast they make brilliant screening ..And you can keep them to the height you want them to be..by yearly pruning..one of mine grew 5 foot last year and its now bushed out..Its good if you are overlooked as they provide really fast screening..As they are evergreen its also nice to see something leafy left during the winter..

 

Not if you pick the right sub-species Hornbeam.

Some of them do grow tall but if you do your homework you can pick one that won't grow into a giant.

The species I have chose will grow to around 35 ft in perfect conditions. You pick the wrong one like Eucalyptus dalrympleana & you are looking at a 150ft mature tree!!

Any of you Euc lovers could post some pics of your trees that would be good.

 

Ok - I'm sure you are correct, but I still don't want one. Nasty foreign things that smell of paraffin - ugh!

 

I have got 3 of this one dont ask me what species it is as i throw labels away..i have to say i bought some bamboo for screening and its hardly grown at all so this eucalyptus has done what i wanted..i didnt realise that i had 3 of them.. :eek:

 

And this one is also a eucalyptus..

 

You said you were moving, WF? Probably a good thing!

 

I have currently 4 Eucalyptus here in larbert. The reason I have them is the fact that the last owners were besotted with Australia and when we came here 15 years ago they had just left for 60 acres of virgin ( Can you say that nowadays!!!) countryside near Cairns. We inherited 5 eucalypts and signs such a 'kangaroos' amd 'wombats' etc. They went very fast into the bin.

Two trees died that very cold -20 C new year time we had and they were both over roof height. But they have a remarkable ability to regenerate from the root and one is now almost succeeding but I will keep it in bush-like proportions.

The reason for that is the Eucalyptus Gunnii that I did not keep down and it eventually grew to almost 100 feet. I gather that they are shallow rooters and this, given the winds we get, put either the house or the main A9 road in peril. So down it came. I had it done professionally by tree fellers ( No jokes please) but there were three of them who, with a chipper, worked remarkable efficiently and who, when asked to take down a conifer that died in the drought conditions of the summer and not in the original estimate, would not take any more money for doing it.

Before the chop



The young guy donned the spikes and, chopping off the branches as he went, climbed to near the top. The trunk was then taken down slice by slice because of it's situation and, as I did not want a large Cotinus to suffer, they threw each slice over the top on to the path. I was greatly impressed with their service.



My general thoughts on the day were mixed, sad to see some mature trees cut down, they also took down a Scot's Pine and a Sea Buckthorn but excited about the whole idea of redesigning and replanting too.

My vow --- Keep the Eucalypts under control in future.

Platty

 

I am moving in 2008 i will be leaving it all behind and just take some cuttings with me..and my butterbur of course..I feel sorry for the new owner of this house as their is chamomile and ox eyes sprouting in concrete.. :D and i wont mention the feverfew..as i know i am going i have lost interest a bit so it can all grow and spread to its hearts content.. :D

 

This was our Eucalyptus last December when we had a, never seen here before !! hoar frost ....

and this is it, this morning .....




SO I CAN confirm that they do survive the most extreme conditions M-L

 

As eucalyptus is used as a insect reppellant ..i thought i would tell you that my friend visits her son who lives in the country and he has a huge eucalyptus and they have noticed if they sit underneath it to have their bbq etc they dont get bitten by insects..so the tree is protecting them.. :D Mona lisa your trees are awesome..