Grow a Garden Under Gum Trees | Gardening 101 | Gardening Australia

[@alexnosek1066]

Karwarra is such an inspiring garden and they sell tonnes of cool native species in tubes.

[@timcornwall3375]

It's interesting the idea that nothing grows under eucalypts. We find on our farm that as the eucalypts get older, they seem to allow grass to grow almost up to the trunk. When they are younger, the allelopathy seems to be greater.

[@awdtw]

I have multiple dwarf almonds beneath spotted gums in our back yard and they are doing remarkably well and thriving now for the last 2-3 years. One gum is around 20 years and the other is around 50 years of age.

[@brucejensen3081]

The best tasting strawberries i grew were directly under big gumtrees. Apparently strawberries originally come from woodlands

[@sarah3796]

Loved this! And you can hear the lyer birds singing

[@Syzygyzzz]

I've been experimenting with what will grow under gums. So very handy information thanks GA!❤

[@wildlifegardenssydney7492]

Thank you GA. I needed this information to expand my repertoire.

[@GardeningAustralia]

You're welcome!

[@railiedouglas3018]

I’ve been busily establishing a perennial border under my enormous Cadaghi tree in my backyard. Not native. All looking pretty fab.

[@ashiola]

Why did you label the Lomandra as a Mat Rush and not provide a species? (You labelled it as a cv) Mat rush is applied to lots of different Lomandra inconsistently. That didn't look like a longifolia or a hystrix but it had an interesting shape and size and I'd love to know what it was. Using these commercial names is silly, especially those that change whenever Bunnings wants to sell us more of what they have in stock. Lomandra is something we can get from good native nurseries and council nurseries with local provenance.

[@GardeningAustralia]

It's probably a cultivar of Lomandra longifolia or hystrix, but we can't be sure which one was planted in this location. Mat-Rush is a general common name for both. There are many cultivars of native species bred to be useful in specific garden situations e.g. L. longifolia has quite spiky leaves so it might be preferable to have a softer cultivar such as 'Tanika' around kids and pets, without compromising on it's great ecological benefits. Definitely check out your local native nursery for advice on the best one to suit you! Thanks for watching ☀

[@lindenj6155]

Looks like Frosty Top to me. You can get them at Bunnings :)

[@rachelbaldock7393]

Thanks for the info I'm trying to grow a border of olives about 5 meters away from the gums for the last 3 years and they are struggling big Time. 😢

[@Malaka-r9p]

Also Depends on the type of olive trees and climate and pruning. I have paragon olive trees and few metres away big gums and the olive trees going ok after a year in the ground and adapted to the chilly frosty winter elevation outside Melbourne

[@ckucai]

😊

[@kaleintothewild2183]

I grow my herbs under my gum s and ferns

[@ralphdixon4727]

Ok so now how to reverse the effects of allelopathy on a veggie garden with eucalyptus trees above and around?

[@Tracertme]

Just dig the gum tree out and get ride of it…. There are so many trees which are better for the Australian environment and would be a lot safer in bush fire seasons… but the indigenous lovers cry too much…

[@Dedicated_to_Jesus_downunder]

All the native birds and animals need the trees for food and hollows to breed and raise their young. Gumtrees are awesome, wonderful cities of an innumerable number of species of insects, birds and animals. Sadly too many people are selfish ignorant and hard hearted and don't value them. BTW a lot of the fires are started by introduced invasive species like blackberry bushes or worse firebugs or human mismanagement of things. I can only hope God will open your heart and eyes and others like you to see the value and beauty of Australias amazing Gums and other trees.

[@Tracertme]

@@Dedicated_to_Jesus_downunder agree but the problem is there are many more tree species which will provide better foliage which birds and animals like to live in and around and alternatives keep the ground cooler… because the shade canopy is so sparse with gums, they just make a lot of mess and fuel fire seasons explosively, we won’t mention their nickname the widow maker… 😢

[@Malaka-r9p]

Silver Birch is even more combustible. Even when raining.

[@JohnSmith-pn1vv]

I have 80 acres of gums. You can dig on the weekend?

[@Dedicated_to_Jesus_downunder]

@@Tracertme they might provide shelter but not food, besides many loosing their leaves in winter where gums don't- so many native birds rely on gum blossom- even the seed eaters like rosellas red rumps etc feed their young on the pollen and so much more. We have more flooding and more insect born disease because we have cut too many down- overseas like in Israel for example they deliberately planted eucalyptus gums to sop up the water to reduce the risk of malaria. People will have more issues with native birds and animals if we keep cutting down the gums and replacing them with other species- introduced species can even die because our native animals destroy them whereas the gums weren't- people will have them scrounging through bins and nesting in roofs and causing allsorts of dramas simply because we removed their native shelter and food source.