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Rainbow Eucalyptus
On 1/12/11 11:36 PM, Golden One wrote:
On Jan 10, 12:27 pm, "David Hare-Scott" wrote: MiamiCuse wrote: I really like this tree. Saw a specimen of it in the ground at a local nursery, it was about 15' tall with a tree trunk about six inches in diameter. They said it has been there since 1998. They planted it about five feet from the wall of the store. They have some for sale right now. http://eucalyptusdeglupta.com/trunk02a.jpg http://eucalyptusdeglupta.com/trunk03.jpg http://eucalyptusdeglupta.com/5tree.jpg The problem is according to my search, in it's native habitat it grows to 250 feet with huge trunk. The local nusery said in here (miami, south Florida) it will not grow to near that size, but they can't tell me anything more. They planted one right next to their foundation wall and it has not grown to be huge. It's certain not to grow to that size in any timeframe that the nursery would care about but that isn't the answer to your question. So my question is whether I should take a risk and plant one. On my property I can plant one 25' or 30' from the house. I don't know if this is enough distance, the guy at the nusery says no problem, but he was trying to sell me a tree. Anyone has experience with this tree? How close is your climate and soil to those of its native range? Will it get full sun? The closer you are to its native environment the closer it will get to its maximum size. Even though many eucalypts are fast growing it is unlikely to make 200ft in your lifetime :-) Big trees near the house are a risk of falling over or dropping branches. Some Eucalypts have additional risks in that they shed branches at unpredictable times - that is you don't have to wait for a wind storm. I don't know if this one has that habit as being a foreigner it isn't in any of my books. Even if it only makes 60-80ft high, 30ft from the house is too close for me. When you see houses crushed under eucalypts on the TV news after every big storm because optimists don't think it can happen to them you get cautious. Are you prepared to take it down in 10-20 years time if necessary? In addition it is likely to be messy like most eucalypts, they drop leaves all year round and this one sheds bark as well. You will not have much success at growing anything under it, they use all available water. Maybe bromeliads that you can overhead water. All trees drop leaves. Some drop throughout the year. Ask anyone who has a pine tree or a southern magnolia. Others drop leaves seasonally. I have mounds of leaves on my patio and paths because the garden-waste bin is full of leaves, all from my ash tree. My compost pile has all the leaves it can handle without disrupting the composting process. My flower and shrub beds are mulched with enough leaves to keep the soil cool and moist this coming summer. And the tree is still dropping. Even palms drop their fronds. Also, while this particular eucalyptus sheds bark, there are "iron-bark" eucalyptus trees that do not shed. These include the red-flowering gum and the pink ironbark. -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19) Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary |
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