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Australian Native Plants

Australian Grass Tree

11 years ago

I have been growing what I think is Xanthorrhoea glauca for some years here in New Zealand. some think it might be subspecies angustifolia, I am not sure how to tell the difference. They grow very well here and will flower in under 10 years. I have had 5 yr old specimens flowering in the planter bag. Consequently we have lots of seed an we find it germinates very easily. I really enjoy seeing the grass trees in their native habitat when I go to Australia. Is there anyone else out there who grows these?

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Comments (5)

pos02
10 years ago
I have a couple of Xanthorrhoea in the garden grown from seed. I think the oldest is about 6 years old, so not flowers yet. They are great looking plants, but I don't expect to see them grow the distinctive trunk. Nevertheless, I think they add a great dimension to any garden with their whispy growth when young. Hopefully I'll see them flower soon!
funnelweb
10 years ago
I currently have 3 grown from seed that I've had in for about 10 years. They took a few years to flower but once they did they developed multiple heads and while they still look ok, they aren't as attractive as when they had just a single head. Flower/seed spikes go up each year and are very bird attractive, when the spike falls or you cut it down, if you leave it on the ground to rot down seedlings spring up. The thing with grass trees is they like a fire through them every few years or if you can't provide that a good cut back will benefit - you may have noticed that after a bush-fire grass trees are the first plants to regenerate. I've managed to transplant them ok by restricting root disturbance as much as possible, however, they generally don't like being disturbed and can take up to 2 years to die as a result.
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I think the micro organisms would be dead by now. They hate to be disturb particularly the root system. There is a very long large root. It goes deep to moisture. If that is cut it’s game over. if everything is done correct, on a transplant of that size its still 50/50. This tree has no chance unfortunately. They take about 6 months to die, they will die slowly. I know your optimistic so I tell you what you can do but it wouldn’t make any difference in this late stage. Go back and gather a meter square of the soil from where it came. Then get a large pot and replant it in there in that soil (Big plastic pot). Then once a week for Two weeks feed it a large bucket (6) litres Water to 300grms of brown sugar. Boil water and dissolve the brown sugar into the bucket. Make sure the water is room temp before pouring on tree. Then feed it monthly. The sugar is for the microbs. strong microns means strong tree. Then feed the tree water but try to use no fluoride in the water. Once a week but make sure there is drainage. In the pot it may concentrate better the soil than in the ground. I still think this is way too late. But it’s the best hope
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lippies
10 years ago
yep you will see a lot of these grass trees growing in the wild and in the suburbs around western Sydney,they are very popular over here.
lenno
10 years ago
http://www.replants.com/planting-and-care/grass-tree-heath-care

Western Australian company that 'Replant' grass trees from bush that is about to be developed. Some great info, hope this helps.
jperry261
7 years ago
I currently sowed some grass tree seeds about 3 weeks ago, how long does it take to germinate?

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