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Planting trees is an efficient way to add greenery to the Landscape with out compromising the budget. Trees offer value for money and add more impact to the landscape compared to ground covers and shrubs. Given our increased consciousness of planting drought tolerant plants planting trees instead make sense. If the right species are chosen there water requirements are less than a lot of ground covers and shrubs.
Today we are seeing larger houses being built on smaller lots with less space allocated to gardens and even less to soft landscapes. Trees can be the answer adding vertical foliage to soften a hard landscape.
We should look at the range of species available and treat them differently rather than keep looking for newer and better cultivars. Remember that unlike small plants and shrubs it may take up to 20 years or longer to realise the success of new cultivars. A prime example was Alnus jorullensis 10 years ago; the label described them as a tree to 3m hardly the case and subsequently rarely grown any more.
Look at different pruning techniques like pleaching, hedging and coppicing to create an effective landscape as our garden spaces are becoming smaller. These management techniques are an effective way to create a good quality landscape in a smaller area.
Considering the following trees in the smaller landscape:
Screen trees
Syzygium australe ‘Aussie Southern’
Even though it does become a medium tree, more than often it is planted out as a hedge and grows to 4m tall.
Has lime green new growth unlike other Syzygium
Has few berries or if clipped at the right time will not produce any.
Drought tolerant.
Ficus hillii Hills Fig
If let go it will grow into a very large tree. However pruned to create a hedge or pleached, this tree is very effective at producing a green canopy quickly.
It is difficult to grow plants under Ficus so we recommend a root barrier to limit roots of these trees.
Will tolerate dry conditions once established.
Waterhousea floribunda Weeping Lilly Pilly
Another species of Lilly Pilly that performs well as a hedge its quick growing and being a rainforest tree from northern Australia it will grow in sun and shade.
Flush of new growth in tone of Pink
Weeping foliage
Drought tolerant.
Feature trees Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei Crepe Myrtle
There are a number of new Cultivars available over the last 10 years, including ‘Tuscarora’, ‘Natchez’, ‘Sioux’ and ‘Biloxi’.
The benefit of these new cultivars is that they are faster growing and powdery mildew resistant. This is beneficial in Melbourne as if we have a mild summer they will still flower and for a longer period of time than indica. Small to medium tree 6-9m
Growth rate medium
Attractive flowers over summer (very few trees flower in summer)
Good autumn colour
Smooth exfoliating bark
While they are drought tolerant they do prefer heavier soils.
Pyrus nivalis Snow Pear.
It’s one of the forgotten Pyrus & deserves greater attention. Its origins from Turkey and Eastern Europe indicate that it’s also drought tolerate.
Small to medium fast growing tree .8 -12m
Broad to rounded canopy
General shape not unlike Pyrus ussuriensis - the Manchurian Pear.
Pure white blossoms in spring.
Silvery grey foliage changing to autumn foliage of yellows through to orange.
Tones of yellows to orange in autumn foliage. It will produce good colour even in milder climates.
Agonis flexuosa ‘Burgundy'
However it is worth considering as a feature tree because of its dark red burgundy tips. A great contrast to green in any garden.
Small to Medium tree. 5-7m
Being an Agonis it is drought tolerant and will grow in light soils.
Tolerates coastal situations.
After care
Initial after care of a tree once it is planted is critical to successful establishment.
One point to remember is that in a nursery the tree would have been watered every day over summer up to 3 times a day. This is best achieved in the newly planted landscape by mounding a well (berm or dam ) over the existing rootball, and watering the tree by hand on connecting a drip irrigation system to the rootball. General spray irrigation system will not water trees properly. The water must go into the existing root ball of the tree as that is where the roots are not in the surrounding garden.
We see this as the main failure in planting established trees in inadequate watering.
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