"Franz Heymann" wrote in message ...
"John T" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 2 Aug 2003 14:59:58 +0100,
(Jim W) wrote:

John T wrote:


Should our Eucolyptus tree be shedding bark, particularly in the
summer months?

if you know please reply by email, taking out "the rubbish"

cheers

John T

Aye, that they do.. Some of em!.. Depends on the species but its one of
the attractions folk buy 'em for!

Ooh Argh!-)
//
Jim


Cheers.
The only problem now is getting a hydraulic platform through the house
to top the b*gg*r again!

What a way to treat a magnificient tree. [Franz Heymann]

Good on yer, mate! A mature gum-tree is a wonderful specimen, though
distinctly non-British in appearance. (Back in the fifties my mother
was visiting some English friends who asked her what a gum-tree looked
like. She looked about and pointed to a rangy-looking character in the
distance, and said "Rather like that"; "Oh," they said, "that's been
struck by lightning". Well, we thought it was funny, anyhow.)

If it's really too big for your garden -- and, like all my
fellow-Australians, they do like the broad canvas -- you should get
away with cutting it right down in spring instead of topping it. A
gum-tree grown from seed has a thing called a lignotuber at the base,
from which it springs up after bush-fires.

If that doesn't work you can treat it as disposable: some of them grow
so fast (as you've noticed!) that a new one will fill the scene quite
nicely in no time. *Eucalyptus gunnii*, is easy to get in Britain, and
very swift. I find, though, that the best Australian nostalgia comes
from my *E. niphophila* and manna gum (*E. viminalis* if it was
correctly labelled, but I have my doubts: it looks a lot like
*dalrympleana*), whose bark peels beautifully and whose longer leaves
emphasize that languid sunny-weather dangle. My *gunnii* is much more
understated. The snow-gum (*niphophila*) didn't move for about six
years, but then got going well.

European alternatives for roughly the same kind of elegance are silver
birch or, on suitable soil, arbutus.

Mike.