About 5 weeks ago I asked a question about my eucalyptus trees that seemed
to be dying. Well they have recovered and had a bit of a growth spurt. They
had been pot bound and I didn't plant them myself and we didn't know about
untangling the roots. I had read that you shouldn't stake them but having
read a previous post am wondering if I should have. They seem to be OK in
the wind that whips round.

I have no intention of letting them grow too big because I know they might
topple.

But I'm wondering if they are getting top heavy. The smaller one especially
is bowing over. Should I trim it to lighten the load? Stake it? The larger
one looks like it might go the same way. They are both leaning to the south
as if seeking the sun.

Photo at http://www.ilmiogiardino.co.uk/home/Eucs.jpg

Any help gratefully appreciated.

--
Steve

As they currently are, they look like they need some kind of support, especially that taller one. I think they have become too tall and straggly for the present trunks to become self-supporting, especially the taller one, so some surgery to reshape them will be necessary, but it is important first for them to become well-rooted in the ground. When you feel they are well-established (evidence of healthy growth) then wait until the next spring and then shorten them. Just cut the whole top somewhere like knee height to waist height, with an angle to the cut. They will send out lots of shoots from the stump, which you can then thin out if necessary. You are going to get a tree that branches out low down rather than a single stem, but basically this is the only choice you have if you want a tree that doesn't grow big. You'll have to give it a good prune every now and then to keep it to the size you want. You are going to have to make some kind of drastic action like this anyway in the long run to prevent them becoming big trees, so may as well start as you intend to go on.

I rescued a few tall thin and straggly pot-bound eucs from a euc nursery that was closing down, and treated as I described above, and they have all survived.

There are actually about 100 Euc species you can grow in Britain, yet mostly you only see about 3 or 4 species in most garden centres. The common ones are mostly huge, like gunnii, perriniana, glaucescens and dalrympleana, which is a shame as there are plenty of others that are more manageable garden trees that are seen less often. Nipophila (strictly pauciflora subsp nipophila) is probably the only smaller one that is anything like fairly easy to get (says he taking a quick look at RHS plantfinder). I'm growing mannifera subsp praecox, nova-anglica and pulverulenta - the first two are very rare in cultivation in Britian (RHS notes them as no longer listed). As I said, nipophila is the most commonly seen smaller Euc, but in my view the closely related pauciflora subsb pauciflora, and gregsoniana are more desirable. Crenulata is also a stunner. Pulverulenta is very non-typical, it is the one grown as foliage for the cut-flower trade, for which frequent cutting is necessary to get the right habit, a bush rather than a tree when grown like this. I'm growing the nova-anglica in the same fashion, it's a real beauty. Since it's the juvenile leaves that are so nice, its important to keep it cut back to retain them. In fact you can say the same of many eucs, like perriniana.

echinosum wrote:

: 'Steve Turner[_2_ Wrote:
:: ;812490']About 5 weeks ago I asked a question about my eucalyptus
:: trees that seemed to be dying.

[snip]

: As they currently are, they look like they need some kind of support,
: especially that taller one. I think they have become too tall and
: straggly for the present trunks to become self-supporting, especially
: the taller one, so some surgery to reshape them will be necessary, but
: it is important first for them to become well-rooted in the ground.
: When you feel they are well-established (evidence of healthy growth)

They seemed OK 5 weeks ago in that they were fairly upright (I've found the
photo I took) but they now have 2 to 3 times as many leaves and look much
better. So I'm taking that as evidence of healthy growth.

: then wait until the next spring and then shorten them. Just cut the
: whole top somewhere like knee height to waist height, with an angle to
: the cut. They will send out lots of shoots from the stump, which you
: can then thin out if necessary. You are going to get a tree that
: branches out low down rather than a single stem, but basically this is
: the only choice you have if you want a tree that doesn't grow big.

I don't think I can risk too tall a tree because the root ball might not
support it.

: You'll have to give it a good prune every now and then to keep it to
: the size you want. You are going to have to make some kind of drastic
: action like this anyway in the long run to prevent them becoming big
: trees, so may as well start as you intend to go on.

Thanks for the advice. At least I know I'm not likely to kill them with
drastic pruning.

--
Steve

"Steve Turner" wrote in message
About 5 weeks ago I asked a question about my eucalyptus trees that seemed
to be dying. Well they have recovered and had a bit of a growth spurt.
They
had been pot bound and I didn't plant them myself and we didn't know about
untangling the roots. I had read that you shouldn't stake them but having
read a previous post am wondering if I should have. They seem to be OK in
the wind that whips round.

I have no intention of letting them grow too big because I know they might
topple.

But I'm wondering if they are getting top heavy. The smaller one
especially
is bowing over. Should I trim it to lighten the load? Stake it? The larger
one looks like it might go the same way. They are both leaning to the
south
as if seeking the sun.

Photo at http://www.ilmiogiardino.co.uk/home/Eucs.jpg

A couple of points:
If they were root bound and the roots were curling in a corkscrew shape then
they probably won't too good long term anyway.

Don't stake them. Eucs need the top to whip around to give them good roots
and to get a good strong trunk. If you feel that you simply must stake them
(and that will be for your satisfaction not necessarily the trees), stake
them very low down (about ankle height), not up near the top.

That tall one, I would cut off directly above the lowest growth and I'd do
it now even though you are going into winter. Frost won't bother it.

Eucs are (generally) tough, I've seen them growing out of a crack in a
boulder and spreading the crack over years of observation. Don't cosset
them as here is Oz they grow in poor soil and survive and even if they look
dead they will often resprout from the lignotuber up to 2 years after you've
decided it's as dead as a Dodo.

In article , Steve
Turner writes
About 5 weeks ago I asked a question about my eucalyptus trees that seemed
to be dying. Well they have recovered and had a bit of a growth spurt. They
had been pot bound and I didn't plant them myself and we didn't know about
untangling the roots. I had read that you shouldn't stake them but having
read a previous post am wondering if I should have. They seem to be OK in
the wind that whips round.

I have no intention of letting them grow too big because I know they might
topple.

But I'm wondering if they are getting top heavy. The smaller one especially
is bowing over. Should I trim it to lighten the load? Stake it? The larger
one looks like it might go the same way. They are both leaning to the south
as if seeking the sun.

Photo at http://www.ilmiogiardino.co.uk/home/Eucs.jpg

Any help gratefully appreciated.



It won't matter in the spring when you cut hard back Steve! You can chop
the bend off entirely then.

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On Aug 25, 7:41*pm, "Steve Turner" wrote:
About 5 weeks ago I asked a question about my eucalyptus trees that seemed
to be dying. Well they have recovered and had a bit of a growth spurt. They
had been pot bound and I didn't plant them myself and we didn't know about
untangling the roots. I had read that you shouldn't stake them but having
read a previous post am wondering if I should have. They seem to be OK in
the wind that whips round.

I have no intention of letting them grow too big because I know they might
topple.

But I'm wondering if they are getting top heavy. The smaller one especially
is bowing over. Should I trim it to lighten the load? Stake it? The larger
one looks like it might go the same way. They are both leaning to the south
as if seeking the sun.

Photo athttp://www.ilmiogiardino.co.uk/home/Eucs.jpg

Any help gratefully appreciated.

--
Steve

At our last house we had eucalyptus Gunni and when new looked exactly
like yours. I staked it until it got some top growth and then took
out the stake it was straight and remained that way, furthermore, it
actually liked to be cut back when it got too high and I would try and
cut it into a large boule, they really are hardy and will take any
amount of punishment. HTH Steve.

Judith