Pruning a Waratah

20 years ago

My neighbour has a huge Waratah tree - about 10 metres high which has wonderful blooms - but - they are right at the top of the tree where they cabn't be appreciated fully except by the black parrots that seems to like the tree. He asked me if he could prune it to a 'manageable height' - i.e. so they could reach and pick flowers. I have no experience whatsoever with Waratah, and wonder if anyone could advise. He obviously wants to do it right and not end up killing the tree.

Thanks Linda

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Comments (3)

lomatia
20 years ago
Linda, they sprout from cut stems quite readily. I'm surprised, if we are talking about the NSW waratah, that the flowers haven't broken the branches. That certainly happens to mine at Marysville.
cosmicgardener
Original Author
20 years ago
So if he were to reduce its height by a couple of meters, do you think the tree will come to no harm? It is a Tasmanian Waratah ( Waratah Truncata) but I assume its in the same family as the NSW one. I don't know a lot about them but would hate to tell him to cut it down in size and end up killing it. It is a very big tree, the back of his garden was developed by a person who worked for parks and wildlife and overplanted the block with a lot of really lovely trees, but most of which are not really suited to an average garden. My neighbour is trying to be selective and tidy things up a bit, and this is one treet that the rare Tasmanian black parrot really loves, so he is keen to keep it but within a reasonable height. I looked it up on the net and apparently they normally reach 3 meters but it is not uncommon for them to reach 10 meters "in the wild" so the original planter did achieve his aim to recreate the bush!
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lomatia
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I also have a large T. oreodes which is a Victorian species and a large tree. The flowers are all over the tree (high and low) and I wouldn't consider chopping it back. They're not the cut flower that the NSW waratah is.

Pruning a Waratah

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lomatia

cosmicgardener
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Pruning a Waratah

Comments (3)

lomatia

cosmicgardenerOriginal Author

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cosmicgardener
Original Author