I have a eucalyptus tree which I bought at the beginning of the
summer. I say tree, but it is actually a single stalk, and is now over
now 7 ft tall! It has tiny offshoots but only above 4ft level.
How/where/when should I prune this to make it grow like a tree? (if in
fact possible)

"sheridan whiteside" wrote in message
om...
I have a eucalyptus tree which I bought at the beginning of the
summer. I say tree, but it is actually a single stalk, and is now over
now 7 ft tall! It has tiny offshoots but only above 4ft level.
How/where/when should I prune this to make it grow like a tree? (if in
fact possible)

hi i would leave it until it got more established,just remove any suckers at
the base & any untidy branches.When it gets to big you could cut it to the
ground ,it will send up new young growth.Or prune it to fit the space
available,its evergreen so prune at any time
good luck
keith

"sheridan whiteside" wrote in message
om...
I have a eucalyptus tree which I bought at the beginning of the
summer. I say tree, but it is actually a single stalk, and is now over
now 7 ft tall! It has tiny offshoots but only above 4ft level.
How/where/when should I prune this to make it grow like a tree? (if in
fact possible)

I aasume you are prepared for this to grow BIG and very quickly too?
How large an area do you have for the tree and how tall do you want it to
grow?
Depending on variety the can be huge!
AFAIK if you nip out the growing tip of the tree then it will 'bush up' at
the top as other shoots grow.
Again AFAIK if you want to limit the height you will need to cut the top
back quite a lot, and continue to cut it back on a regular basis.

We had one which we had to remove because it outgrew its space.
Our next but one neighbours have one which is about the size of a mature Oak
:-)

HTH
Dave R

"sheridan whiteside" wrote in message
om...
I have a eucalyptus tree which I bought at the beginning of the
summer. I say tree, but it is actually a single stalk, and is now over
now 7 ft tall! It has tiny offshoots but only above 4ft level.
How/where/when should I prune this to make it grow like a tree? (if in
fact possible)

Please do not prune it at all if you wish it to display the beautiful form
of a Eucalypt.
If you are not fussy about that, why did you buy it?

Franz

in article , sheridan
whiteside at wrote on 31/8/03 6:34 pm:

I have a eucalyptus tree which I bought at the beginning of the
summer. I say tree, but it is actually a single stalk, and is now over
now 7 ft tall! It has tiny offshoots but only above 4ft level.
How/where/when should I prune this to make it grow like a tree? (if in
fact possible)

Do you know which variety you have? Here is a useful Euc site
www.eucalyptus.co.uk/
If you want to keep your Euc shorter and bushier the general advice would be
to pinch out the top 4 inches or so but normally, it's better to give it two
years to get its feet down and establish some real rooting. However, look
at the site I've mentioned and talk to them, if you need to. They really
know their stuff. Your Euc IS growing like a tree! They're very vigorous
and quick growing. If you want to keep them smaller and more bushy,
retaining juvenile growth, you will have to trim them as I've suggested and
continue to do so from time to time. But do look at the site I've given -
this is their expertise.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove the 'x' to email me)

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message ...
"sheridan whiteside" wrote in message
om...
I have a eucalyptus tree which I bought at the beginning of the
summer. I say tree, but it is actually a single stalk, and is now over
now 7 ft tall! It has tiny offshoots but only above 4ft level.
How/where/when should I prune this to make it grow like a tree? (if in
fact possible)

Please do not prune it at all if you wish it to display the beautiful form
of a Eucalypt.
If you are not fussy about that, why did you buy it?

As an Australian, hear, hear! I don't really know what you mean by
growing "like a tree": if you mean "like a Pommy tree", well, it
won't, because they don't. They are absolutely beautiful, but have to
be given room to develop. Better still, they like to be in loose
groups of three or five if your spread's a bit on the baronial side.
In a smaller garden, you can of course grow them as coppiced specimens
cut back every year like golden osiers or red-barked dogwoods. You've
probably got E. gunnii, which responds best to being cut into an
artifical form, but I think they'll all take it.

To coppice it, wait till mid-March-April, then ruthlessly cut down to
just above ground level. Paint the top of the stump to keep rain and
nasties out. Give it a nice mulch, as you would a philadelphus or
something. Don't panic: these things are designed to recover from
bushfires, and in a few months the new growths could reach six feet!
Cut last year's growths back to the bottom at the same time every year
-- not as early as osiers or dogwoods, because the young shoots aren't
as hardy. Nice for flower-arrangements: you could probably sell the
best prunings at the WI jumble sale, or even to a florist.

A gumtree can also be grown as a bush, but it's more work, as you need
to prune in summer as well as spring. One branch will always try to
outgrow the others and make it back into a tree: these dominant shoots
will need to be cut back. I wouldn't bother with the bush form.

One advantage of gumtrees is that if you do let them rip, they don't
shade other plants as much as most European trees, even though
evergreen: the leaves tend to turn edge-on to the sun to save water.
Against that, they can develop vigorous root-systems!

Put a couple of leaves in your billy, and the tea will taste
wonderful. Not recommended for coffee, though!

Mike.

"sheridan whiteside" wrote in message
om...
I have a eucalyptus tree which I bought at the beginning of the
summer. I say tree, but it is actually a single stalk, and is now over
now 7 ft tall! It has tiny offshoots but only above 4ft level.
How/where/when should I prune this to make it grow like a tree? (if in
fact possible)


I hope its well away from any house or foundations because they have a nasty
habit of sending out roots 4inches thich and for 25 ft

My daughter had her patio lifted and very nearly major damage to house
foundations from a neighbours 6 ft high Eucalyptus .......the trunk of the
tree was only 4 inches in diameter and so were the roots 15ft away !!!!!!!!

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
om...
"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
"sheridan whiteside" wrote in message
om...
I have a eucalyptus tree which I bought at the beginning of the
summer. I say tree, but it is actually a single stalk, and is now over
now 7 ft tall! It has tiny offshoots but only above 4ft level.
How/where/when should I prune this to make it grow like a tree? (if in
fact possible)

Please do not prune it at all if you wish it to display the beautiful
form
of a Eucalypt.
If you are not fussy about that, why did you buy it?

As an Australian, hear, hear! I don't really know what you mean by
growing "like a tree": if you mean "like a Pommy tree", well, it
won't, because they don't.

I meant that it loses all its character if it is not grown such as to
display its natural habit. I have never been to Oz, but I have close
knowledge of the beauty of Eucalypt plantations in South Africa (originally
imported from Oz).

They are absolutely beautiful, but have to
be given room to develop. Better still, they like to be in loose
groups of three or five if your spread's a bit on the baronial side.

That whole paragraph is of the essence. The streets of the village where I
was born were laid out with sufficient width to let a waggon with a span of
twelve oxen turn round. They were lined with Bluegum trees which were a
delight to see in the spring. Later in the summer they provided us with an
abundance of pea-shooter ammunition.

[snip]

Franz