Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata – Blue Ice Cider Gum -1 of 8 members of the glorious gunnii group

How to use in the landscape and/or garden:

How to grow or train it to get the best out of it:  Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata is a good choice for shrubberies, growing in containers as a multistemmed bush, cut foliage plantations. 

Growing a full-sized standard: planting the tree and running away is an option, but it won’t necessarily give you the best results.

We suggest you maintain a leading shoot and tip prune the lateral shoots to encourage bushiness.  Keep all the sides shoots as they are building up the strength of the main trunk.

• To grow a large specimen, leave the tree to grow up naturally thereafter.
• For a small tree, tip prune the leader when it reaches 1.2m, thereafter let the head develop. Then prune the tree every March 18^th and end of May to keep your tree small and bushy.

For more, see our guidance notes for growing specimen Eucalyptus in our Help and Advice section.

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Growing shrub-on-a-stick clipped standard: this is an opportunity to grow a Eucalyptus in a confined space like a courtyard and also control its overall size. You can produce a small tree on a trunk with a height of anywhere between 2.4m (8ft) and 4m (12ft). Prune back growth every March 18^th or thereabouts and tip prune the annual growth back by up to 90% at the end of May. Light tip pruning can be done again during July, but no later. Don’t prune from August through to February.

Growing a multi-stemmed bush or tree.  Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata responds well to coppicing, once it has attained a trunk of some 125 mm in diameter and readily produces a multi-stemmed specimen.  Why would you want to do this?

To create:

• a tree with more body or ‘mass’ of branches and foliage for screening purposes. Once grown back up to its full potential, it will now have several main trunks
• an attractive multi-stemmed architectural tree, especially if it has exceptional bark
• to control height, whereby your Euc can be usefully maintained anywhere between 2.4m (8ft) and 7m (20ft), but genetically it will want to grow taller if ignored.

REMEMBER: No grass, no weeds and a thick boring bark chip mulch, to a depth of 150 mm (6 inches) are essential to assist with good establishment. Our research trials have demonstrated that grass around the trunks of newly planted Eucalyptus can prevent the trees from quickly establishing and also completely stop them from growing.

Pot Culture outdoors:  Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata can be successfully grown as a multi-stemmed shrub in a container provided you are prepared to pot on at the recommended intervals and to supply it with sufficient water and food during the growing season.

Always keep pot-grown Eucalyptus in the air-pot container system for healthy and happy trees.😊  They do not thrive in smooth-walled containers ☹

Click here for information on how to successfully grow Eucs in pots, visit our Blog entitled ‘How to grow a Eucalyptus in a pot and keep it alive!’

Hedge-Screens:  Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata can be grown as a loose billowing hedge-screen as it readily produces sub-lateral shoots – i.e. branches off the side-branches and finds no problem in becoming bushy.  This is unusual for most Eucs.

Always prune your hedge-screen March 18^th and maintain a profile like a capital ‘A’.  That is broad bottom, narrow shoulders and a flat head.  This allows light to all parts of the hedge and keeps it bushy.  If you let your hedge develop into the shape of a capital ‘V’, its bottom will open up…not a great look!

Floral Art:  Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata produces excellent cut foliage for Flower Farmers and floral art

Firewood Production:  Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata is not on our selected species list for Biomass or Firewood.

Do give us a call on 01905 888098 if you would like to discuss growing firewood with one of our consultants

 Rural/Agricultural:

• Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata can be used as a shade tree for livestock to stand under, but is best planted in groups as it has quite a light open, airy canopy Eucalyptus provide a cool environment for horses, cattle, llamas, sheep to shelter from the sun on hot days, as the mass evaporation of water through the leaves creates a cool shady canopy beneath. Good choice for silvopasture.

Ecology:

• All Eucalyptus produce flowers with nectar and pollen, but this species has useful flowers providing foraging for honey-bees and other pollinating insects
• Habitat creation and Game Cover: this species lends itself to providing good trouble-free habitat creation for wildlife and game cover, when planted in groups.  Birds enjoy roosting in Eucalyptus trees and Pheasants like rootling around underneath them.
• Chickens: The shredded foliage of Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata is excellent at keeping Chicken nest boxes and hen houses free of red mites, which detest the presence of Eucalyptol. I used to line our Chicken boxes with shredded leaves, strew the floor and pile up the spindly branches for the chickens to make nests. It was all great till the foxes moved into the next field L

Environmental:

• Growing on the Coast Eucalyptus gunnii and its subspecies grow well certainly close to the coast in Cornwall and Wales.

To make this work, we recommend that:

• you plant a smaller specimen (1 litre, 3 litre or 5 litre at around 1m-1.2m tall)
• encourage fast establishment in a deeply prepared planting pit (follow our planting advice), to encourage deep rooting to grow an upright, stable tree.
• Staking will be required.
• Newly planted trees will very likely require a wind break shelter for their first winter in the ground with you.
• Zero grass or weeds during the period of establishment is non-negotiable!

Drying up wet soils

Like its cousin straight Eucalyptus gunnii, Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata does enjoy moisture at its roots over the summer months. We have it growing at Grafton Nursery on our swampy, heavy, yellow clay soil.  This species grows well for us.

Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata is very at home in moist soils, such as a draining clay, draining peaty/loamy soils and draining sandy loams. It must be remembered that Eucalyptus are not aquatic like a Mangrove, but several species tolerate flooding for up to 6 months of the year in their native lands.  This is a great species to help you regain the use of intermittently boggy ground.

• Dry up wet ground that intermittently floods
• gain remedial treatment for winter boggy ground or which suffers from outflow from a Septic tank system or unwanted intermittent seasonal ‘ponding’.

If you have un-usable winter-wet land, planting a group of swamp-tolerant gums will help towards draining an area of ground. The timber could possibly be harvested to yield a crop of firewood logs too, if coppiced every 6-8 years.

• Please note: Timber harvested from areas suspected to be contaminated with sewage should never be burned, but could be used in rustic garden construction, bug hotel, bean poles, edging pathways & borders etc.

Sustainable Drainage Systems aka SUDS Needs trialling, but planted singly or in groups, Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata will most likely draw on drain water percolating into swales or similar. Coppice or pollard every few years if you need to control the overall height of the trees. Eucalyptus draw on ground water for twelve months of the year, unlike willows, which lie dormant for 5 months through the winter.

• Eucalypts grown on continually wet ground The overall height of Eucalypts, grown on continually wet soils in inhabited areas, needs to be considered (as with any tree species of great height), especially in areas subject to strong gales. Selecting your tree with a radial root-system is vital and therefore only use Air-Pot grown or air-root-pruned stock.  Eucalypts grown in smooth-walled pots are a ticking-timebomb liability and we can speak from personal experience.  Encouraging deep rooting by following our planting recommendations is essential. In addition, it may be prudent to consider pollarding or coppicing after 8 years of growth, to control the height down to around 10m, to mitigate the risk of the trees being forced over in high winds. Once coppiced/pollarded, it is recommended to maintain overall height at 10m or less thereafter. This practice usually only needs carrying out once every 8 years or so.

Tolerant of cold and exposed growing environments inland Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata will grow in open fields and pasture, once established.

We recommend

• you plant a smaller specimen (less than 1.8m tall in a 3 or 5 litre air-pot)
• encourage fast establishment in a deeply prepared planting pit (follow our planting advice), to encourage deep rooting to grow an upright, stable tree
• Staking will be required
• In exposed locations, newly planted trees will very likely require a wind break shelter made from horticultural fleece or sail cloth, for their first winter in the ground with you; this very much depends on the level of exposure
• Zero grass or weeds during the period of establishment is non-negotiable! 

Tolerant of poor stony soils once established   Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata does not require a rich soil and can survive in poor, stony soils.   Tolerant of arid environments, poor stony dry soils once established. It is essential that your Euc. is given our recommended quantity of water for its first 2 growing seasons in your grounds, during its establishment phase before you abandon it to its fate.  The tree needs to establish a good, deep root system before it can survive in dry, challenging conditions. No grass, no weeds and a thick bark chip mulch, to a depth of 150 mm (6 inches) are essential to assist with good establishment. Growth on impoverished soils will always be reduced.