Hi Artie
First question would be what advanced stuff is available in Rocky, or is your friend willing to buy in if necessary? I'd be doing a nursery trawl with her if time permitted, seeing what's in stock, what she likes.

I have never needed to buy anything over a 6-8" pot from Rocky but in Mackay have done so. Mainly foxtail palms and Syzgyium paniculatum and S. australe. Checked the records today as the neighbour was inquiring, her spouse really likes the S. australe which screen our patio from their clothes line. They were planted in August '99, were trimmed comprehensively once only and are now about 5m tall. The label mentioned 3-4m.

Two S. paniculatum out front facing west are about 3m, planted Oct '99 and never lopped. They are outrageously healthy and have retained their lower branches thus screening across the street effectively.

Five advanced foxies in two locations (both west facing) have done well.

What's the distance from planting postion in the front to the house for "the tree"? i.e. what ultimate height is acceptable?

Is a clump of 3-5 native single palms a possible substitute for a tree?

Dense and green...hard to get away from lillypillies and you are well up on those. The only melaleucas that catch my eye as small shrubs are the M. 'Claret Tops' at the Northside Plaza near the servo and I imagine they are well watered.

There's a small tree Leptospermum up here which has a beautiful fluted trunk and weeping foliage; I've never properly attached a species name to it. Another tree possibility may be peanut tree, Sterculia quadrifida.

IMO, the more advanced plantings need more attention to planting technique and prolonged after care to avoid setbacks and dropping dead syndrome. But accept that there a degree of satisfaction at being able to see something substantial!

Cheers
Rose

Hi Rose,

Thanks for your reply - very detailed and extremely helpful, as always. I agree that the LillyPillies remain the best bet for the large shrubs, but its the feature tree that I am struggling with. Dont want to get something which will cause my friend problems down the line, but it has to be big enough to shade the front of the house.

I have considered palms, but my problem with most of them is finding the ideal height, and allowing for the movement of the sun as the seasons change. Unless you use something like MacArthur palms, you run the risk of having crowns which disappear out of sight in just a few years time. I also know from my own garden that the Rocky wind/sun combo really knocks newly-planted palms around - mine are just recovering from Summer, and its been nine months since they were planted.

Whilst I dislike the really big gums that abound in Rocky backyards, Corymbia Ptychocarpa sounds like it might just fit the bill. This summary is courtesy of the GA site:

Most of the eucalypts are far too big for the average suburban garden, but Corymbia ptychocarpa or Swamp Bloodwood has huge leathery leaves, beautiful flushes of new growth with huge clusters of pink flowers in summer, followed by decorative gumnuts with vertical ridges. It grows from 8 to 15 metres and is one of the most sought after smaller eucalypts in the tropics.

Whether Fitzroy Nurseries have one of these in a 25-litre bag remains to be seen, but I can think of worse choices. It would be especially gorgeous in flower, the entire front garden alive with small birds - so much better than the lifeless expanse that currently occupies the space.

Cheers,

Artie

What about bottle trees? (Brachychiton rupestre. Do they flourish in your climate? They are dense and green - some distance off the ground, though, and not till they have a bit of age on them. If planted in the open they bush up nicely into cute miniatures 2m high (the dense canopy taking up the top half of this space) in about 10 years, here. Their fire-resistance is another plus.
A parent of a child at my preschool 4 or 5 years ago - one Ted Sowerbutts - was starting an advanced tree business with his brother in Toowoomba. He donated some trees to the preschool which did well.
I didn't try an internet search for this undeniably distinctive surname. Telecom might help, too, if you decide it's worth pursuing.
Best of luck with the project. Sounds like fun!
Trish

Artie, a suggestion is to plant those species you think would fit the bill and behind them put in a screen of a local fast growing acacia. When your selections have grown to provide the required privacy then you can pull the acacias out.

Are there any pittosporums local to your area, they could fit the bill for a screen?

How do Callistemons do up your way? I was never a big fan of callistemons as other places I've lived the callistemons never grew very well but here they grow beautifully. We have a few weeping ones between 3 to 5m tall that flower several times a year. Not sure of the varieties here, mostly weeping reds but some have finer leaves than the others, as most were here when we moved here. We have started several from cuttings as well. The cuttings have grown very quickly now about 3m in 5yrs in full sun with no special care, shaley soil, and rainfall only. The parrots love them.

Thanks for the additional suggestions team, but each of them have their pitfalls (as does every plant on earth). Callistemon fans - if you want to see *large* Dawson River Weepers, come to Rocky, but its just not an attractive tree for mine. The Rainbow Lorikeets devour its annual flower quota in about a week, leaving nothing for any other species. I think the bottle tree is a desert species - have never seen one in central Qld - but the wattle suggestion is a good one. Personally, I prefer the smaller weeping varieties to their lankier cousins, but I'll definitely chase up my copy of 'Native Plants for the Fitzroy Basin'.

Have promised to take her to Yeppoon to see the largest known (by me, at any rate) specimen of Waterhousea Floribunda in existence this weekend :)

Artie, I can't help myself now that we're on 10c STD calls. Asked Rocky parks and gardens what's on their street list and was read out a draft list by a very obliging staff member. Accounting for my biases and the west position, it included S. australe and leuhmannii, Angophora (missed the sp.), Stenocarpus sinuatus, brachychitons, golden penda, harpullia and buckinghamia. Let's know if you want to know what's left out!

Agree about the palms, eventual telephone poles look not a good one with the taller spp.

Pittosporum ferrgineum and rhombifolium are local, and gorgeous in fruit, tidy when not.

The swamp bloodwood is popular for good reason, plenty here as feature trees. And I still like Euroshinus falcata (ribbonwood etc) a lot even though it's not fancy.

Cheers
Rose

Artie,

My own bias makes me partially agree with Rose's latest list on brachychiton, golden penda, buckinghamia and pittosporum rhombifolium.

Euroschinus falcata is a great dry rainforest tree, well shaped, good shade but a specimen I have seen in its original environment was maybe 10 to 12m high - don't know whether you want that size. Another big tree is the North Qld Tree Waratah - great shape, tremendous red flowers. Otherwise there are several species of Flindersia that might also be suitable, but check their size.

Rose says the swamp bloodwood looks good in your area, but in mine (SE Qld, Brisbane to Toowoomba) I have always found it a scrappy, spindly tree. Also when you buy them, the labels don't promise the colour you want, but say it can vary from white to pink to red. Maybe try the Eucalyptus "Summer Beauty" for a pink flowering grafted tree or the E. "Summer Red" for a red variety.

I also agree with using wattle as a pioneer species.

To the above list, check whether Native (broad-leafed) Gardenia is suitable.

Cheers,
Frank

Wow - this thread has really taken off, hasnt it ? Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions. I am reasonably au fait with most of the suggestions for the feature tree, with the exception of the bottle tree, but plants such as Native Gardenia are something of an unknown. I am also very wary of the impact of the Rocky sun on many rainforest species, even those marked 'full sun' : establishing the microclimate which allows these plants to take full sun is probably better left to species such as acacia and melaleuca. Experience has taught me that there are exceptions, and the Penda in my last garden has gone from strength to strength in the furnace that is our afternoon sun - its currently alive with yellow flowers and is bushy right to its bootstraps.

I have recommended the various E. Ficifolia / E. Ptychocarpa hybrids (now Corymbias, I believe) to my friend, but the grafted rootstock seems to constrain them to no more than 5-6 metres, and I believe that I need something more in the 12m plus range to shield the front of the house from the blistering afternoon sun. It also needs to be sufficiently dense at the top to make 'worthwhile' shade, without being a menace to people standing beneath it.

Ultimately, it will come down to the stock that Fitzroy Nurseries have in May - most of the other nurseries just dont persist with anything larger than 14" pots. I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers,

Artie

My own experience with fast-growing wattles as pioneers was that they were a big mistake. Fast-growing, yes. Greedy and water-hungry also, to the extend that everything in range just marked time, until the wattles were eventually removed. Removal was not a simple job. I now restrict my wattle planting to species that don't have to involve my husband and the chainsaw. (He won't let me use it myself - afraid that I'll cut off something essential by mistake.) Either they have to be small enough for my big secateurs to handle when they pass their use-by date, or they have to be long-lived species.
If I want pioners now I'd rather use dry rainforest species, which handle sun well and don't have greedy roots.
Can't wait to hear what you really plant, after all this helpful advice!
Trish

Hi Trish,

At this stage, I am leaning heavily (no pun intended) toward the Weeping Lillypilly, Waterhousea Floribunda, with the proviso that I need to find a good-sized specimen out at Fitzroy Nurseries. The remaining shrubs/small trees will be a combination of various Syzygium species and a selection from the plants Rose mentioned earlier.

Cheers,

Artie

I personally would steer clear of Pittosporum rhombifolium - there is a mature one in the garden here, and I think every one of the seeds germinates.

I'm disappointed to hear that Pittosporum rhombifolium is a weed tree in your area Liatris. It's just amazing how differently various species seem to behave in slightly different climates. I have the same tree in the Toowoomba district that is not mature but flowered fully last year and again this year. In spite of its being mulched underneath, I didn't notice any seedlings from last year's many bright orange berries, and there is a new load of them now hanging on the tree. These berries are a spectacular feature of the tree. Maybe just grow grass underneath the tree rather than mulching, and regular mowing would stop any seedlings from developing. (This species is used as a street tree in Toowoomba, maybe that's the right spot for it in Artie's case.)

Incidentally, the feral Golden Rain trees that the Council has planted across the street from me will soon start shedding their seeds and they grow everywhere - I am always pulling out the seedlings, and they don't need mulch to help them germinate. I just wish the Council would take all of them out - it has taken a hard line against all the Norfolk Island Hibiscus trees that it had planted as street trees - taken them all out, just because some people **might** complain about some seed pods causing itches to passers-by.

Artie,

I just love the Waterhousea floribunda, it's a beautiful tree. Does it get any psyllid problems in your area?

Cheers,
Frank

Hi Frank,

Havent had any psyllids at my current garden, but they did attack the WF at my previous abode. One treatment (Confidor, from memory) and they never bothered that plant again. Like most pests, psyllids seem to relish plants that have been neglected/stressed or badly positioned - they tried to establish a foothold in my LillyPilly Elite hedge at one stage, and I'm convinced that they were attracted to the foliage which had started to suffer from too much density. Keep your plants well watered and allow plenty of airflow around them, and I believe that many pests will be picked off by the birds and other predatory insects. (Note to the environmentalists: I realise that Confidor isnt as discerning as it could be, but I was young and naive then :) )

I find it a bit of a contradiction having to apply insecticides on Native plants in a native garden, especially Waterhousia. Waterhousia will get very big eventually so if psyllids appear it is best just to live with them. The more diverse the species and genera you plant, it tends to inhibit the infestation.

This is a really interesting conversation! I hope you're taking photos, artie.
Trish

Hi Trish,

I really do need to get some 'before and after' photos together, but L. (my GF) is really making me work for this. Like most of us, she wants it all but doesnt want to pay a great deal for it, and I still cant seem to get it through to her that it wont look like a Blitz garden when the plants are in - maybe I'll point her to the numbers that they flash up at the end of each show.

Cheers,

Artie