I live in a house with an informal Garden. I am in India so a 'Mali' takes care of the Garden . I have almost no knowledge of gardening.. My wife does. Now I wish I had.. The reason is this - there is a beautiful Eucalyptus tree nearby .. The exceptional thing about this tree is that it has an unblemished bark... Eucalyptus trees abound everywhere especially beside highways, however invariably these have very patchy barks.. Now how can I go about growing such a tree.. There is no way I can cut this tree - it is public property and is maybe 30 meters tall.
Wait for that tree to fruit, collect some seed when that falls, and then plant it in your yard. If you have soil and water, it will grow, or at least that is my experience with Eucalyptus. Here, they are becoming nuisance weeds in our parks. Once the tree is about 5 meters tall, and you wish to ensure that the bark remains unblemished, carefully light the tree on fire once a year. This may sound odd, but it rejuvinates the tree and burns off all of the old bark and leaves. Just, be careful about it, because Eucalyptus really really burn, and if it's close to the house there are hazards. Here in Ecuador, we do it on new year's eve with the other traditional fires.
Some kinds shed the rough outer bark to develop a smooth trunk with age. That may be what you are seeing. If the smooth-barked tree is one of those part of the branches up high will still have the rough bark, as these these stems are younger than the main trunk.
Thank You !! Lorax and Ron B.. Will post pictures of both kind of trees which I refer too. The one with the smooth bark had a different colour too..
That was a lot of very interesting information.. So I am going to trouble you for more.. When could I expect the tree to flower.. Winter will start by the end of November. The rainy season has just ended... Regards,
The picture would really help so variety can be worked out. I have rough and smooth types in my paddocks that are local species to my state. There are also beautiful inland species with smoth barks some are even pink. There are I think over 600 varieties to choose from. Burning is a bit drastic when it may actualy be a smooth barked varity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus some pics right at the bottom of the above web page We are in spring early summer and most are in flower now. If it forms seed "nuts" I suspect they will be there in autumn. Maybe there is a local animal that eats them that is why you have not seen any. By the way make sure it is a Eucalypt by rubbing a leaf and see if it has the strong smell of gum trees. Liz
I still have to take the picture.. Yes it certainly is Eucalyptus.. I remember playing with the seeds . They are like a wine glass.. They would spin for a long time.. Is it ok if they are dry.. ( are these seeds ?) I still have not looked for the seeds . Will do so tomorrow.
A little heat should open them. If the top of the wine glass is split from memory a cross sort of shape then the seeds are gone. If not try a little oven heat (pretend fire) for I guess about 5 minutes and see if that makes it open. Don't over do it. If you have a hair drier that might work too. Liz
Do the heat thing if the top is not already open. If it is you will have to wait till next season. Any photos yet?????????????????? http://www.anbg.gov.au/PROPGATE/collecti.htm liz
I am posting 2 more pictures so that you can see what I mean .. These are uncut as they are within the limits. They need to be downloaded and viewed though, as even the enlarged size does not show the unblemished nature of the bark very clearly.
That bark is normal for the tree. It may be an inland variety. Some like that have a pink hue. Are you sure you want a big one like that in your garden?? We have a mountain ash here that has smooth bark for most of the trunk but then has big strips of peeled bark hanging down. I am fairly sure it is not one of them. Liz
Well that tree is old . Maybe over 70 years.. And it occupies perhaps only a few square feet of land... ---- I still have to check if there are seeds on the ground. No reason why a few should not be there . Then I'll send you pictures of those to... :) The internet is unbelievable.
Picture of some seeds . If I plant them now ( October 29th temp between 20 deg C to 32 deg C ) will it be OK.
If you knock them out of the case and scatter them on top of some good potting mix [don't fertilise] and put a bit of soil over the top [a millimeter or two] pat down firmly and water something should happen. It may take a while so be patient and keep damp. Australian native plants are not big users of fertiliser so the only stuff I would use is good compost or blood and bone meal if it is available. Anything with a lot of phosphorous is bad as our soils are deplete of it. As you are in India you probably do not have access to commercial native fertilizer so if you decide to use some commercial stuff read the packet. Liz
Judging from your photo, I'd say the seeds have already been released from the capsules. There may be a scant few remaining. Most are fine, like ground black pepper. You may have to look for other seed capsules that are still closed. Drying them for a few days should allow them to open and release the seed. Cheers, Barrie.
Thank you Liz and LPN .. I had not checked the replies. I am going to collect again as the 'Mali' said there were no seeds in them .. Or perhaps I 'll wait for spring..
