Jan do you realise that the Grevillea robusta ( Silky Oak ) grows to a height of 30mts (100ft)
and it also has brittle branches. It would be too cold for it to grow in Melbourne
Do have a look at the link below you can pick your own tree Good Luck.....MM

Here is a link that might be useful: Flora for Fauna

Jan if you have Silky Oaks in your front Garden, I do hope it is a very big garden and the tree is no where near the house as they drop branches all the time. Cheers MM.

Hello Jan,

There was previously some discussion on this website about the Silky Oaks - whether and where they dropped branches. They grow all over Toowoomba and on only one occasion, when there were very high winds in a storm, did I see one tree drop one small branch. Possibly it might be more of a problem in more humid tropical areas, if they grow fast they may be more brittle (my speculation only). On that basis, Melbourne trees should be safe.

I suggest an Ivory Curl tree - Buckinghamia celcisima (or something like that)- also Proteaceae, has a grevillea-like long white scented flower, beautifully-shaped tree, does not grow as tall as a Silky Oak.

Cheers,
Frank

Look up Elaeocarpus reticulatus, 'Blueberry Ash'especially the pink flowered form.
It just might do what you are looking for?
Rob

blueberry ash sounds really good (not so sure about the pink flowered one, banned pink in my garden). Isn't it very messy tho' with the berries, we'll be having chairs etc underneath it. And, are the berries poisenous to humans?

Thanks for any info

Jan

I am not sure if Elaeocarpus reticulatus (Blueberry Ash) will give you the shade you want within a suitable time frame. I would certainly avoid Grevillea robusta as it can get too big and it tends to take ages to flower in the Southern regions.

How about some of the smaller Melaleucas or even the smaller growing Eucalyts such as E. leucoxylon ssp. megalocarpa which is a very pretty smaller growing gum with beautiful red flowers.
Melia azedarach (White Cedar)grows well in Victoria. I have seen it as a street tree in and around Fitzroy and Northcote. It is also pretty well deciduous in Melbourne.

We have a Silky Oak in our back garden (a 1/4 acre suburban block)and its far too large! It’s been here since we have moved in 36 years ago, it’s around 50-60ft tall! Wish we would have removed it then, but did not know much about trees back then! It has never dropped a branch in 36 years till our neighbours at the back had tree loppers remove all branches on their side making the tree unstable: we told the tree lopper that... but of course he was being paid by the fools at the back and since then we have had 2 very large branches fall, one today (over their side of the fence) and last week our side. This happened a couple of years ago with a huge Liquid Amber the neighbours at the side of us have ... they had it thinned out (I told the lady not to do it but they went ahead) and two of the most enormous branches fell on seperate windy days... thinning out also makes very large trees unstable, heard this on 3AW gardening show many years ago, so thought I should warn people of this phenomenon !! I can only say I would not plant this Silky Oak in a small suburban back yard! It’s a lovely tree for the birds, but very messy with its leaves falling forever at a certain time of the year, and we are truly tree lovers! We have built a deck around our Liquid Amber right outside our sun room - it’s at least 50-60ft and it has never done any damage to our pipes nor has it dropped a branch in 36 years maybe a couple of thin ones that the possums have had dinner on (lol). We just leave our trees alone, we also have another Liquid Amber at the front( same size) plus a Sycamore around 50-60 feet next to it not a branch has dropped from either... and no trouble with pipes in all these years! If I were Jan, (if she lives in Melbourne), I would put in a Jacaranda they are very dought tolerant and just stunning, I have just planted one in our back yard right hand corner as it looks like sadly the silky oak may have to go :-( This earth needs trees to survive ... they give us beautiful shade in summer and sunshine when the leaves fall in winter, they also give us great quality air and take in all the pollutants (we have lichen on our roof)... read some where that it only exits in pristine air areas, and we live near a Nepean Hwy with lots of traffic but the air around our house is beautiful... thanks to our wonderful trees :-)

Trees do have a limited life time and eventually they come down. If not with our help, then they'll do it themselves. When I bought my place there were a lot of big trees. Now, 14 years later I've had to remove quite a few of them and some of them have been collapsing. They can become killers if you don't watch out. But there's plenty of options for replacement, lots of species to choose from.