Autumn is the best time for Australian trees, shrubs: Peter Cundall

WE CAN plant Australian trees and shrubs at any time of the year, but autumn is the best time of all.

WE CAN plant Australian trees and shrubs at any time of the year, but autumn is the best time of all.

The soil still contains sufficient warmth, and more importantly a relatively moist winter lies ahead.

This allows these plants to begin growing straight away. They continue to do so slowly right through the coldest months.

In spring, warmer conditions and increasing daylight hours stimulate powerful new growth, usually without any further need for watering. So they never look back.

This is another advantage of growing Australian plants. Those selected for gardens are not only incredibly beautiful, but have an extraordinary resistance to drought conditions.

Many, especially some of the most attractive bottlebrushes such as melaleuca and callistemon will continue to thrive despite heavy soils, wet, chilly winters and bone dry summers.

Almost all Australian plants have a low need for fertilisers. A huge range can grow with remarkable vigour in highly-impoverished soils where few exotic plants would survive.

The secret of success with all Australian plants is to avoid any form of mollycoddling right from the start.

A common blunder is to purchase large, lanky plants. They are often top-heavy and badly root-bound.

Large, container-grown eucalypts and acacias not only cost the earth but also have a reputation for “sulking” for months after being planted out.

It is also common to see these big expensive trees and shrubs secured to stakes — which is another mistake.

The best plants to buy are small ones, usually available at very low prices in tubes or small, extra-long containers. After planting they soon overtake any extra-large plants that went in at the same time.

Long pots allow Australian plant seedlings to send down roots deeply.

This is how they survive our fairly harsh, dry climate in the wild.

If the garden soil is dry, give it a good, deep soaking a day or so before planting.

Make sure the plants go in at the same level as containers. In fact it is always better to plant slightly shallowly rather than too deeply.

I’ve planted many thousands of Australian trees, shrubs and other plants in a wide range of soils and never felt the need to add fertilisers.

Another serious error when first planting Australian trees or shrubs is to tie them to supporting stakes. These unnecessary supports actually have a weakening effect because plants tend to become dependent on them.

It is common for garden stakes to break off at ground level after a couple of years. Consequently, any weakened, top-heavy plants flop over and either die or remain stunted.

All young plants need wind movement because it strengthens stems while providing vital flexibility.

Stakes may be necessary with very small plants of course, but only as markers to prevent them from being accidentally trodden on.

Most eucalypts grow too large for most suburban gardens. Forest trees grow with great speed and are notorious for dangerous branch dropping.

In an urban environment, they can be particularly expensive to remove because of the proximity of buildings.

There are many highly attractive small eucalypts that grow only a few metres high. A marvellous example is the famous Silver Princess (Eucalyptus caesia) with enormous reddish-pink flowers followed by clusters of silvery-white, bell-shape gum nuts.

Most banksia, grevillea, melaleuca, leptospermum and prostanthera species and cultivated varieties are easily kept under control. Just give them an occasional hard pruning — always after flowering.

However, a warning.

Almost all Australian plants burn easily and some may dramatically burst into flame if ignited by windblown embers.

In fact many are “fire followers” and have long depended on occasional bushfires to help release seeds and assist germination.

This susceptibility to fire is why it is best to avoid planting Australian plants too close to homes and other buildings.

The good news is that once they become established they attract a huge variety of native birds.

And from my experience, these are the greatest and most efficient pest controllers of all.