Grafted Eucalypt Care

Soil types    

  1. These Dwarf Flowering Gums (Corymbia’s) are grafted onto either E. gummifera or maculata rootstocks, which are both incredibly tough trees, adaptable enough to grow in most parts of Australia.
  2. The gummifera rootstocks are particularly suitable for sandy or gravely soils, while the E. maculata rootstocks are particularly suitable for poorly drained clay or stony soils.

Position       

These plants are best planted where they get as much full sun as possible. In colder climates such as Canberra and Southern Highlands, they can survive and flower well if they can be planted in garden ‘hotspots’ and protect them in their tender years.

Frost             

Plants are frost hardy down to about -3 or -4 degrees when they are young (<3 years), and will need frost protection if harder frosts are predicted. After the fourth or fifth year, they are generally frost hardy.

Watering      

  1. Like all plants, they need good watering to get them established, usually for the first two or three weeks.
  2. It is best to make a watering depression around the plant and fill this as required, to soak the roots rather than just spray the leaves.
  3. They are tough plants and will survive well on minimal watering in dry times.

Maintenance

  1. Carefully cut any shoot from the stem if it comes from below the graft union. This will be from the rootstock, and if allowed to grow will compromise the vigour of the Flowering Gum scion.
  2. Prune whenever needed to shape or reduce the size of the tree. These are genuine dwarf trees and as such are slow growing but prolific flowerers. They will re-shoot after any hard pruning. The Dwarf Orange and Dwarf Crimson will only grow to about 3.0 m high x 3.0 m wide after 5-7 years.

Fertilizing     

  1. Any low Phosphorus (P < 2%) slow release fertilizer is suitable if your garden soil is known to be deficient in plant nutrients.
  2. Otherwise plant and water in with a half strength seaweed mixture such as “Maxicrop”.

Mulching      

  1. Any mulch is better than none when planted. They are not fussy about what type of mulch is used and will soon not need any.