* La Puce wrote, On 16/04/2007 13:10:
On 16 Apr, 11:45, Serena Blanchflower
wrote:
I had a eucalyptus cut down, about a year ago, in the hope of turning
it into a large shrub. After a few months, there was a huge amount of
new growth and, in the autumn, the new shoots were thinned down, just
leaving a few of the stronger ones. They are now looking rather
floppy and sorry for themselves.
What can I do to encourage them to grow up and develop into a strong
shrub? Will it be enough to give them some support, to get them going
in the right direction? At the moment, they can hardly see the light,
as there are a number of taller shrubs surrounding them. You can see
a photo of it at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66407485@N00/461346555/ - the previous
picture in the set is the same eucalyptus last August, when it had
started sprouting enthusiastically.
Hullo Serena. Why did you thin it out so much?! Looked so great when
it was bushy.
There was a question on Gardeners' Question Time, last autumn, about
cutting back eucalyptus to turn it into a shrub and they recommended
cutting it back to only half a dozen shoots, to allow those to develop
well. Mine hasn't been cut back quite that ferociously but not far
off. It did look lovely when it was bushy though; I don't know what
it would be like now though, if it hadn't been thinned out. I suspect
the shoots would be even thinner and stragglier than they are.
The remaining branches don't look floppy they are ust
seeking light and looks like they're going to have a job competing
with the bushes surrounding it. I can't think of anything you can do,
other off course reducing the surrounding bushes which I'd imagine is
out of the question. It probably won't look really nice for a while,
but giving it time it might, once pass the shade, pick up a bit and
look brighter.
Hmm, thinking about it, it's got a Leycesteria next to it and that's
tough as old boots and would be quite happy to be cut back hard to
allow some extra light in. Would some supports, to encourage the
shoots to grow upwards (it'll only get a short head start before the
Leycesteria grows up again) be a good idea?
We had to fell our eucalyptus a couple of month ago. It broke my
heart. It had fallen on the next door house in the storms, because the
canopy had eventually reached and passed over the houses roofs and the
wind just took hold of it.
Before ...
http://cjoint.com/?eqodjoZqWo
After ....
http://cjoint.com/?eqodWz6yeH
We're not getting any shoots on the stump because we're buildind a
decking area over it. We can't take the stump/roots out as it's been
in there for 10 years and the girth was over 30 cam and the roots are
under our house .... I've axed it several time to make sure we don't
get shoots and removed as many roots as I could, at least those the
size of my arms!! It's not guaranteed that this will work but there's
very little else we can do (without using chemicals coz I won't) ...
or is there?!
Not that I know of!
My eucalyptus was a tactical error on my part, when I had the bed cut,
getting on for ten years ago. I thought it would look lovely there,
especially with its grey leaves next to the purple Cotinus... I
forgot that in a few years, the lovely grey leaves would be yards
above all it's neighbours! The plan now is to allow it to grow into a
sizable shrub and to keep it cut back to around 8-12'.
I've put a few more photos of that bit of the garden, including the
euclayptus being taken down, on
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66407485@N00/?saved=1.
--
Cheers, Serena
Walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one
(George Fox)