When we moved in to our current house, amongst the various trees and shrubs in our garden was a fairly young (3-4 years) eucalyptus tree. 9 years later the tree has grown substantially and has always appeared to be healthy until this summer when it has shed most of its thin outer bark. Is this normal and, if so, how often is it likely to happen. Any ideas much appreciated.
Hello Brian T., welcome to the forums. Many eucalyptus do shed bark in papery strips. I don't know what type you have, but I think there is a good chance this is normal. Look up info and photos of the species/cultivar you have to see what a mature tree looks like.
Hi Brian, Since you are in the UK, this nursery sells eucalyptus commonly found where you live. Maybe you can id it from here. http://www.eucalyptus.co.uk/index2.htm Newt
Thanks Newt It looks like my tree is Eucalyptus niphophila, although it's a little hard to tell from the only pic on the website you pointed me to. Will see if I can find other pictures on the web. Will also take a pic of my tree and post it later
Greetings Brian, You may find that most euc species in britain are of the smooth bark varieties. The trees at 9 years old are becoming mature. With maturity comes annual or biennial bark fall as the tree branches increase girth size fairly quickly. You should find in the lower trunk area, that the beautiful mottled bark has been replaced with a harder corky type of bark also. Eucalypts grow to become very large trees and have a tendancy to drop large branches without notice. Never ever cut roots thicker than 50mm as this will invoke a decent branch to drop with very little notice,