Eucalyptus gunii, the most wonderful of trees, sat at the end of our garden with it’s long swaying branches and it’s attractive foliage. It’s a sight to behold, to hear, to touch and to smell.
However it’s probably not the best tree to follow through a year because as an evergreen it doesn’t do all that much to be able to follow it monthly.
Having said that there have been a few changes in the last few months since posting my previous update:
- For one thing the tree has grown. Another foot at least since April.
- It’s also bushed out and continues to send out a flush of new growth from each and every branch tip.
- The root system at ground level has got thicker so would presume more roots have been created under the ground too.
- The trunk is much more artistic now, bearing it’s traditional mottled cream and grey bark which looks very attractive.
- The birds are now using the tree as a stopping point to catch some food within our garden or just to sit and take a minute to relax.
The disease I was concerned about doesn’t seem to have materialised any further. Some leaves still look dull, with raised red spots on them, but I think this is a moisture problem rather than a disease. I’m very grateful as the tree is firmly a structure, a big friend almost, in the garden and I don’t want to loose it now.
Where as in previous years the eucalyptus has tended to drop a load of leaves in summer (because presumably it still thinks it lives in Australia?), this year it hasn’t shed nearly as many which might have something to do with the fact that perhaps after all these years of being in the ground (at least five) it’s finally adjusted to it’s surroundings and has reached the nutrients it needs to grow well.
I don’t know much about the physiology of trees (well actually I don’t know any), but I like to think of the Eucalyptus and me really turning a corner this year :-)
