{"title":"Wattle","description":"\u003cp\u003eWattles are the first act of the Australian flowering year, turning whole hillsides gold while the rest of the garden is still asleep. This page lists every acacia available from our partner farms.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe nation's floral emblem, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-pycnantha\"\u003egolden wattle\u003c\/a\u003e (Acacia pycnantha), heads the list, joined by silver wattle (A. dealbata) with its ferny blue foliage and the purple-flushed Cootamundra wattle form Purpurea. For foliage rather than flower, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-cognata-limelight-pbr\"\u003eLimelight\u003c\/a\u003e turns the bower wattle into a lime-green cushion that has become one of the most planted native foliage plants in the country, with Copper Tips as its bronze-tipped sibling and the blue-leafed A. covenyi for silver contrast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe trees carry real landscape weight: \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-melanoxylon-blackwood\"\u003eblackwood\u003c\/a\u003e (A. melanoxylon) is a long-lived shade and timber tree, weeping myall (A. pendula) makes a silver weeping feature for dry inland gardens, and lightwood (A. implexa) covers tough sites. Coastal wattle, prostrate A. saligna and the fast A. floribunda fill screening and stabilising roles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrowing notes: wattles are the sprinters of the bush, fast to establish, fast to flower, and content in poor soil with no feeding beyond a little native fertiliser. Give them sun and drainage, tip-prune after flowering to keep shrubby species dense, and accept the trade-off that the fastest species live one to two decades rather than a lifetime; blackwood and myall are the long-lived exceptions. Winter flowers feed bees when little else is open.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBrowse companions in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/natives\"\u003eAustralian natives\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/gum-trees\"\u003egum trees\u003c\/a\u003e. Every order ships farm-direct with flat $99 delivery across QLD, NSW, VIC, SA, ACT and WA, a $399 minimum order, and the 30-Day Healthy Plant Guarantee.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-cognata-copper-tips","title":"Bower Wattle - Acacia cognata Copper Tips","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat sets Acacia cognata apart from most wattles is the foliage. Instead of broad phyllodes it carries very fine, almost pendulous strap-like leaves that give the whole plant a soft weeping outline, and on Copper Tips the flushes of new growth come away in warm bronze and copper tones before hardening to green. Flowering is a scatter of small pale cream to lemon balls rather than the heavy gold of a Cootamundra.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt works as a soft informal screen where you want movement rather than a solid wall, and it takes light tip pruning well; cutting back into bare old wood usually does not reshoot. The thing that catches people out is drainage. Cognata selections resent wet feet and can go from healthy to collapsed in a single season on heavy clay, so plant high on a mound with grit through the backfill and keep mulch off the trunk. Full sun keeps it dense, while shade makes it sparse and floppy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 400mm, at $309.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"400mm","offer_id":64308199620977,"sku":null,"price":309.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/l_1i_7ntR1vsetbjnHQBG_TxerCRsM.jpg?v=1787627028"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-implexa-wildwood","title":"Wattle - Acacia implexa [Wildwood]","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost wattles have finished flowering by the time Acacia implexa starts. Lightwood, as it is usually called, carries pale cream flower heads through the warmer months, well after the winter and spring gold has gone over, which makes it useful for stretching nectar and habitat value across the season. The phyllodes are long, curved and sickle shaped in a dull grey-green, on an open crowned tree with a habit closer to a small blackwood than a bushy screening wattle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Wildwood tag refers to the seed source rather than a selected garden clone, so expect ordinary seedling variation in habit between plants. It handles dry, hard, compacted ground better than most wattles and is a common choice for shelterbelts, revegetation and paddock edges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBe aware that it suckers from the roots, particularly where roots are damaged by cultivation, trenching or mowing, so keep it well away from garden beds and driveways. Available here in 18L and 45L advanced stock.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"45L","offer_id":64308202701169,"sku":null,"price":279.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"18L","offer_id":64308202733937,"sku":null,"price":129.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/yguNe2ULuwM4KSmr0MEK8_FFjiBuxO.jpg?v=1787627027"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-melanoxylon-blackwood-merri-creek","title":"Blackwood - Acacia melanoxylon [Merri Creek]","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Merri Creek in the name is a seed provenance, not a cultivar. Plants raised from local Victorian stock like this are used in indigenous revegetation work around Melbourne, where matching the local gene pool matters and where the heavy basalt clays suit a tree that would sulk in coastal sand.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlackwood is the big, dark, dense member of the wattle family. Seedlings begin with ferny bipinnate leaves then switch to broad dark green phyllodes, and mature trees carry a heavy shading crown with pale cream flower balls in the cooler months. It is long lived by wattle standards and is the source of the prized dark cabinet timber.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo warnings for garden use. It suckers freely, especially where roots are cut by slashing or trenching, and the root system is vigorous enough to make it a poor neighbour to paths, paving and drains. Give it room on a rural block, a large verge or a revegetation site rather than a suburban courtyard.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"420mm","offer_id":64308204011889,"sku":null,"price":279.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/yeuaaTBSdQNnB7SFgkyAu_S0jZYexK.jpg?v=1787627028"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-sophorae","title":"Wattle - Acacia sophorae","description":"\u003cp\u003eDune care groups plant more Acacia sophorae than almost anything else, and for good reason. Coastal wattle sprawls low and wide with thick leathery phyllodes that shrug off salt wind and blown sand, layering down where branches touch the ground and binding loose sand while it does it. The flowers are yellow cylindrical rods rather than balls, carried in late winter and spring.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBotanically it is treated as the coastal subspecies of Acacia longifolia, and the two get mixed up regularly. The straight longifolia is upright and tree like with thinner phyllodes, while sophorae stays low, dense and wind shorn. Choose deliberately, because a plant sold as one and behaving like the other will wreck a planting plan.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUse it for foredune stabilisation, batter slopes and exposed coastal windbreaks, in full sun on free draining sand. Inland and outside its natural range it can seed about vigorously, so check local advice before mass planting it away from the coast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 2 sizes, from 140mm up to 400mm, priced from $16.95 to $199.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"400mm","offer_id":64308205224305,"sku":null,"price":199.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64308205257073,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/4jN8QC-n00ob9e-p7xwhW_Hsuqb4sS.jpg?v=1787627028"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-baileyana","title":"Wattle - Acacia baileyana","description":"\u003cp\u003eTwo things sell Cootamundra wattle and both are real. The foliage is finely divided and a distinct silver blue that works as colour contrast all year, and in late winter the whole canopy vanishes under bright yellow ball flowers when very little else is out. The habit is a low branching, spreading small tree that fills out quickly. Gardeners use it for fast screening, quick shelter on a bare new block, and native windbreak lines, usually as the plant that covers ground while something slower gets going.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSilver blue foliage, late winter gold\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is undemanding: full sun, drainage of some sort, and low water once the roots are down. Poor dry gravelly ground suits it, frost is not an issue, and it grows fast enough to screen a fence line within a couple of seasons. Space plants roughly two to three metres apart for a screen and expect to thin the row later. Two things temper all that. These are short lived trees by any standard, and older specimens shed brittle limbs in wind, so treat it as a filler rather than the tree you want in thirty years. The real failure, though, is placing it badly. Outside its small natural range in southern New South Wales, Acacia baileyana seeds prolifically, has become a recognised environmental weed in parts of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, and hybridises with local wattles. Keep it well away from bushland boundaries, creek lines and reserves, and pull seedlings as they appear. Root rot in wet clay is the other limit, so mound the planting position or pick a slope if your soil holds water through winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhich of the three wattles suits the site\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe wattles here divide cleanly. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-dealbata\"\u003eAcacia dealbata\u003c\/a\u003e has similar feathery foliage but makes a bigger tree, carries scented flowers, and suckers from the roots when disturbed, which rules it out near paving and lawns; baileyana stays smaller and neater and does not sucker. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-pendula\"\u003eAcacia pendula\u003c\/a\u003e is a different plant altogether, weeping grey phyllodes rather than ferny foliage, built for dry inland conditions and grown for its silhouette rather than a flower display. Take baileyana for fast suburban screening away from bushland, dealbata for rural shelter, pendula for hot dry sites and avenues. If your block runs up against a reserve, none of the three should go in the ground before you check what the local council recommends for the area. The rest are in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/wattle\"\u003ewattle\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePruning straight after flowering\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrune immediately after flowering finishes, while the plant is pushing new growth, and keep every cut in green leafy wood. Wattles do not reshoot reliably from bare old timber, so a hard cut into the frame is usually the end of that limb. A light shortening of the outer growth each year keeps the crown tighter and reduces the wind load that snaps branches later on. Feeding is generally unnecessary; if the soil is very poor, a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring is enough, and avoid rich manures, which push soft growth that breaks. Deadwood accumulates in the crown of an older plant, and clearing it out annually keeps the tree presentable for the years it has.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 3 sizes, from 250mm up to 45L, priced from $59.95 to $229.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Every size here is established stock rather than a starter plant, so this line is intended for immediate effect rather than for growing on. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"400mm","offer_id":64311342334321,"sku":null,"price":199.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"45L","offer_id":64311342399857,"sku":null,"price":229.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"250mm","offer_id":64311342432625,"sku":null,"price":59.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"300mm","offer_id":64446155882865,"sku":null,"price":109.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/plantdrop-cootamundra-wattle-acacia-baileyana-20260609_d92189af-9870-4322-814d-937d97e15812.png?v=1785551598"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-floribunda","title":"Wattle - Acacia floribunda","description":"\u003cp\u003eGossamer wattle is the one to plant if you want a wattle that weeps rather than one that stands stiff. It grows fast into a large shrub or small tree with fine arching branches and long narrow phyllodes, and its flowers are the giveaway: pale cream to lemon rods set thickly along the stems in spring, not the bright yellow balls most people picture. The effect is soft and pale. It is planted for quick informal screening, for a windbreak on an exposed boundary, and as a nurse plant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFast cover on exposed ground\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFull sun, and almost any soil that drains, including sand and mounded clay. It is native to the eastern states, grows readily through temperate and subtropical gardens, takes coastal exposure, and handles wet spells and dry periods better than most fast growing acacias. Water it through the first summer and then leave it alone, because low water once established is genuinely low. Space plants along a screen line with room for the arching habit, since crowded plants draw up thin and lose their lower branches. A staggered double row gives a better windbreak than a single tight line.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo things to plan for. It is not long lived, and older specimens split at the forks in strong wind, so site it away from anything you would not want a limb to land on and expect to replace it rather than inherit it. It also seeds freely and is regarded as a weed outside its natural eastern range, particularly in Western Australia and South Australia, so keep it well clear of bushland boundaries and watercourses and pull seedlings while they are small.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRods, balls and globes\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThree wattles sit side by side here and the flowers separate them at a glance. This one carries pale cream rods in spring. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-pycnantha\"\u003eAcacia pycnantha\u003c\/a\u003e, the golden wattle, carries dense fragrant golden balls in late winter and is the choice when you want the classic wattle display and a drier position. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-implexa\"\u003eAcacia implexa\u003c\/a\u003e flowers cream in summer and autumn, lives considerably longer, and suckers from the roots, which suits a shelterbelt and does not suit a lawn. Take floribunda for the softest and fastest screen on a mixed site, and for the least aggressive root behaviour of the three in a suburban block. The \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/wattle\"\u003ewattle range\u003c\/a\u003e has the full set.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eLight pruning and a replacement plan\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eTip prune from planting and prune again immediately after flowering, shortening the long arching growth to keep the crown compact and to reduce the leverage wind can apply to it. Never cut back into bare old wood, since acacias reshoot from it poorly if at all. Feeding is generally unnecessary in reasonable soil, and where you do feed, use a low phosphorus native fertiliser. If seedlings are appearing, take spent flowering wood off before the pods ripen, and mulch the root zone rather than cultivating around it. A young plant staked loosely for its first year builds a stronger trunk than one held rigid against a stake.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 4 sizes, from 75mm up to 300mm, priced from $16.95 to $88.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64311359930737,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"75mm","offer_id":64311359963505,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"300mm","offer_id":64311359996273,"sku":null,"price":88.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64311360061809,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"35L","offer_id":64446157652337,"sku":null,"price":189.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/plantdrop-gossamer-wattle-acacia-floribunda-20260611_e47f911c-ed3a-4b2e-8c56-6f9d6244b9ad.png?v=1785551643"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-implexa","title":"Wattle - Acacia implexa","description":"\u003cp\u003eLightwood is not one of the fluffy yellow wattles that flower in July and fall apart a decade later. It makes an open, upright small tree with long curved sickle shaped phyllodes, flowers in summer and autumn in pale cream globes, and lives considerably longer than the short lived acacias that give the genus its reputation. The seed pods twist and coil tightly as they dry, which is the easiest way to confirm it. It is grown for windbreaks, shelterbelts, revegetation work and screening on rural blocks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRoom for a tree that suckers\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFull sun, free draining soil, and very little water once it is away. This is a dry country plant and it copes with exposed sites and poor ground that would stall most trees. It grows through the eastern states across a wide range of climates and tolerates frost, heat and wind. Fast growth means a shelterbelt closes quickly, and planting a mixed row with slower species behind it gives you shelter now and structure later. In a windbreak, space it wide enough that each tree keeps a full crown, since a crowded row draws up tall and thin and delivers less shelter at ground level.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe failure mode is suckering. Lightwood throws new shoots from its roots, especially where soil has been disturbed or roots have been cut by a mower, a trencher or a plough, and a single tree can put a thicket up through a lawn or a garden bed. In a shelterbelt or a revegetation planting that is a benefit and part of why it is specified. In a suburban backyard it is a running battle you will not win, so site it accordingly and do not cultivate over the root zone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eLightwood, gossamer and golden\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is regularly confused with blackwood, Acacia melanoxylon, which is darker, denser and much heavier in the trunk. Lightwood is the airier of the two and better suited to dry, exposed country. Within this batch, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-floribunda\"\u003eAcacia floribunda\u003c\/a\u003e is the softer, weeping, faster screen for a garden scale planting, and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-pycnantha\"\u003eAcacia pycnantha\u003c\/a\u003e is the showier flowerer for a dry bank. Choose implexa where the planting has to last: a windbreak, a paddock shelterbelt or a revegetation job where longevity and suckering are both wanted. Its summer and autumn flowering also fills a gap the other two leave, since both of those are finished by spring. The \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/wattle\"\u003ewattle range\u003c\/a\u003e lists the others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFormative pruning while it is young\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDecide early whether you want a single trunked tree or a multi stemmed screen and prune to that within the first two or three years, while the cuts are small. A leader chosen and held then saves major limb removal later. Prune after flowering, and keep cuts within leafy growth rather than into bare wood. Feeding is rarely needed and phosphorus rich fertilisers should be avoided altogether. Remove root suckers at ground level as they appear if the tree stands anywhere near lawn or paving. Water through the first summer and then stop, since continued irrigation pushes soft growth and more suckering.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 7 sizes, from 75mm up to 430mm, priced from $16.95 to $269.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"300mm","offer_id":64311402266993,"sku":null,"price":119.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"75mm","offer_id":64311402299761,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"430mm","offer_id":64311402332529,"sku":null,"price":229.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"400mm","offer_id":64311402365297,"sku":null,"price":269.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"250mm","offer_id":64311402430833,"sku":null,"price":61.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64311402463601,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"25L","offer_id":64311402529137,"sku":null,"price":129.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"35L","offer_id":64446161682801,"sku":null,"price":199.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/plantdrop-lightwood-acacia-implexa-20260611_f7ab276a-5310-4559-ac35-c95f59b2c14d.png?v=1785551734"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-melanoxylon-blackwood","title":"Blackwood - Acacia melanoxylon","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe suckering is the thing nobody warns you about. Blackwood roots throw up new shoots readily, particularly after a mower, trencher or ripper has cut through them, and it seeds freely as well, so a boundary screen can become a thicket in the paddock next door. Plant it where that is acceptable, not in a small suburban garden.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGiven room it is one of the better wattles. It is fast, it holds its foliage year round, and it lives far longer than the short lived nursery acacias that collapse after a decade. What look like leaves are dark green sickle shaped phyllodes; under crowding it draws up into a straight trunk, and the heartwood is a prized furniture timber. Pale cream ball flowers come in late winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFull sun, low water once it is away, and it takes cold and wind without complaint. Use it for fast native windbreaks, gully revegetation and screening on acreage. Water it through the first two summers and watch for borer in trees under stress.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 11 sizes, from 70mm up to 500mm, priced from $16.95 to $459.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"330mm","offer_id":64311405314417,"sku":null,"price":149.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"300mm","offer_id":64311405347185,"sku":null,"price":119.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"70mm","offer_id":64311405379953,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"250mm","offer_id":64311405412721,"sku":null,"price":59.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"45L","offer_id":64311405445489,"sku":null,"price":249.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"400mm","offer_id":64311405478257,"sku":null,"price":249.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"25L","offer_id":64311405543793,"sku":null,"price":119.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"430mm","offer_id":64311405609329,"sku":null,"price":229.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"500mm","offer_id":64311405707633,"sku":null,"price":459.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64311405805937,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64311405838705,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"35L","offer_id":64446162141553,"sku":null,"price":179.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/a_TBZusxNKvjtxeto4K2Q_zxJq0SX6.jpg?v=1787629356"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-baileyana-purpurea","title":"Wattle - Acacia baileyana Purpurea","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe purple form of Cootamundra wattle is grown for its new growth, where each fresh flush of ferny bipinnate foliage opens plum to bronze before hardening off to the usual blue-grey. Set against the golden flower heads of the late winter and early spring flush, it looks like nothing else in a native windbreak.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is fast, which is both the appeal and the catch. Expect a tree that puts on size quickly and then thins, sheds limbs and ages out early. The wood is brittle, so it needs some shelter on exposed ridgelines. Prune lightly after flowering only, since cuts back into bare old wood generally stay bare.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTake the weed question seriously. Acacia baileyana is native to a small area around Cootamundra in NSW and has naturalised well beyond it, particularly through parts of Victoria and southern NSW. Keep it away from bushland boundaries and check your local council listing before mass planting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStocked from 200mm through to advanced 45L, with flat $99 delivery to QLD, NSW, VIC, SA, ACT and WA on orders from $399.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 5 sizes, from 200mm up to 500mm, priced from $29.95 to $229.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"250mm","offer_id":64311442080113,"sku":null,"price":59.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64311442178417,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"45L","offer_id":64311442211185,"sku":null,"price":229.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"500mm","offer_id":64311442243953,"sku":null,"price":229.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"400mm","offer_id":64311442276721,"sku":null,"price":199.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"330mm","offer_id":64446165811569,"sku":null,"price":149.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"300mm","offer_id":64446165844337,"sku":null,"price":119.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/Ny0JwrSwCVqF9Qhf4e0T1_5sPeTkb0.jpg?v=1787629571"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-saligna-prostrate","title":"Wattle - Acacia saligna prostrate","description":"\u003cp\u003eCheck your regional weed listing before planting this one outside Western Australia. Acacia saligna is native to the WA coastal plain and is among the most successful colonisers in the genus, having naturalised through parts of South Australia, Victoria and NSW, so it is a plant to use deliberately rather than casually near bushland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the right place it is genuinely valuable. The prostrate form spreads low and wide instead of building into a small tree, with long drooping blue-green phyllodes and golden globular flower clusters in spring. On sand, limestone and salt-affected coastal ground it will hold a bank together and shade out weeds faster than almost anything else, which is why it turns up in dune revegetation and roadside batter work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExpect a relatively short-lived plant, perhaps a decade or so, and expect suckering from the roots where soil is disturbed or stems are damaged. Full sun, minimal water once established, and no fuss over soil quality. It arrives in 130mm, the size that is easiest to plant out in quantity across a slope.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 130mm, at $16.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"130mm","offer_id":64311449649521,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/rkrcbPnPR_cqXvQ_YKrB8_ephT4Hjk.jpg?v=1787629571"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-pendula","title":"Wattle - Acacia pendula","description":"\u003cp\u003eWeeping myall looks nothing like the fluffy yellow wattles most people picture. The habit is pendulous, with long grey blue phyllodes hanging from arching branches and reading almost silver from a distance, closer to a small willow in outline than to a Cootamundra wattle. Flowering is modest, small pale yellow balls rather than a blanket of gold. It is a tree of the inland plains, and landscapers use it for avenues and driveways, native windbreak lines, and as a soft grey foil against rendered walls and dark foliage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWeeping grey foliage from the inland plains\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a dry country tree and it wants dry country conditions: full sun, heat, open exposure and low water once it is established. It handles heavy clay and alkaline soils that trouble most wattles, tolerates frost and hot wind, and puts on height quickly for a tree of its size. Stake young plants in exposed positions until the trunk stiffens, because the weeping habit lets them whip about. The failure mode is humidity and summer wet. On a warm coastal site with heavy summer rainfall, or in ground that stays damp through the warm months, it goes backwards within a season or two, thins out and dies from the roots up. There is no fix once that starts, so choose it for inland, western and dry temperate gardens, and pick something else on a subtropical coast. Mound the planting position if drainage is at all doubtful. Salt in the soil is not a problem and neither is a long dry spell, but a drip line left running through a warm wet summer does the same damage as the rain would.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFoliage tree, not a flowering one\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAgainst the other two wattles in this batch the difference is foliage. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-baileyana\"\u003eAcacia baileyana\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-dealbata\"\u003eAcacia dealbata\u003c\/a\u003e are both ferny bipinnate plants grown largely for a late winter flower display, and both are happier in cooler, wetter country than pendula is. Weeping myall is grown for form and colour year round, holds up far better in heat, wind and alkaline soil, and never puts on that sheet of gold. Take pendula for a formal avenue, a hot western boundary or a grey foil in a designed bed; take baileyana or dealbata when the point is fast cover and a winter flower. It is also the only one of the three that holds up as a formal line rather than a loose screen. All three sit under \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/wattle\"\u003ewattle\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eTraining a clean leader\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrain it early. Select a single leader on a young tree, remove competing stems, and lift the lower branches gradually as it gains height so the weeping crown starts above head height on an avenue or a driveway. Prune after flowering in spring, keeping the cuts in green wood, and avoid hard cuts into bare old timber. Established trees need very little beyond the removal of dead or storm damaged wood. Feeding is optional and often counterproductive: on reasonable soil it needs nothing, and a low phosphorus native fertiliser in spring is the most it should ever get. Keep mulch pulled back from the trunk base, which stays sounder dry.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 2 sizes, from 40L up to 45L, priced from $189.00 to $279.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Every size here is established stock rather than a starter plant, so this line is intended for immediate effect rather than for growing on. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"40L","offer_id":64311482057073,"sku":null,"price":189.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"45L","offer_id":64311482089841,"sku":null,"price":279.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"12L","offer_id":64446171218289,"sku":null,"price":189.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"420mm","offer_id":64446171251057,"sku":null,"price":279.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"26L","offer_id":64446171283825,"sku":null,"price":209.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/pd17-400-weeping-myall-acacia-pendula_887370f8-146e-4d59-b71f-7fe200848132.png?v=1785551982"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-cognata-limelight-pbr","title":"Bower Wattle - Acacia cognata Limelight PBR","description":"\u003cp\u003eTwo things kill Limelight in Australian gardens: soil that stays wet, and hard pruning back into old wood. Get both right and it is one of the softest textured natives you can buy, a dense mound of fine weeping foliage in bright lime, closer in feel to a shaggy cushion than a conventional shrub. It is a dwarf selection of the river wattle, grown for that foliage rather than for its minor flowering.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlant it high in free draining soil, keep mulch off the stem, and water low once established. In heavy clay, or in a bed with a sprinkler running daily, it will suddenly brown out in patches, and that is generally root rot rather than anything a spray will fix. Trim only the soft outer growth to shape it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is fast to fill in, so it works in raised beds, along the top of a retaining wall where the growth can spill over, and in large pots. Planted in a row it makes a soft low screen along a path or fence line. Sizes run 140mm, 200mm and 300mm.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 3 sizes, from 140mm up to 300mm, priced from $16.95 to $88.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"300mm","offer_id":64311483072881,"sku":null,"price":88.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64311483105649,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64311483138417,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/ab4FAOKAag8evOJyFsmoH_u9iWXCdN.jpg?v=1787629863"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-pycnantha","title":"Wattle - Acacia pycnantha","description":"\u003cp\u003eGolden wattle is the national floral emblem, and it flowers right on cue: dense fragrant golden balls through late winter and early spring, heavy enough to bend the branches down. The plant underneath is a fast growing large shrub or small tree with broad, drooping, sickle shaped phyllodes on arching stems. Its practical use in a garden or on a block is as a nurse plant, giving fast shelter and quick screening on dry ground while slower, longer lived natives establish underneath it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSharp drainage and a dry position\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt comes from the drier country of the south east and that is where it performs: full sun, gravelly or sandy soil, sharp drainage, and very little water once established. Heavy, wet, poorly drained ground brings on root rot and a sudden collapse in the second or third summer, which is the usual explanation when a wattle dies overnight for no visible reason. Frost is not a problem for it. Humidity and permanent soil moisture are, so on the east coast give it the driest, most open ground you have. Plant small rather than large, since young acacias establish faster and anchor better than advanced stock.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe point buyers most often miss is lifespan. This is a fast, generous, short lived plant. Put it in as the nurse crop and you will be pleased with it; plant it as the permanent centrepiece of a garden and you will be disappointed within a decade or so. One further caution: it is native to south eastern Australia and has naturalised well beyond that range, including in Western Australia, so check local advice before planting it in quantity there or near bushland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eGolden wattle among the other two\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAgainst \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-floribunda\"\u003eAcacia floribunda\u003c\/a\u003e, the difference is the flower and the silhouette: floribunda weeps and carries pale cream rods, while this stands more openly and carries bright gold balls with a strong scent. Against \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-implexa\"\u003eAcacia implexa\u003c\/a\u003e, the difference is time: implexa flowers cream in summer and autumn and lasts far longer, which makes it the better shelterbelt tree, while pycnantha gives more display sooner and then goes. If you want winter gold and can accept replacing the plant, take this one. For a slower, longer lived native flowerer in the same bed, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/grevillea-lilliane\"\u003eGrevillea Lilliane\u003c\/a\u003e is the alternative, and the two together cover winter and the cooler months between them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eTip pruning after the gold fades\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrune as soon as flowering finishes, tipping the growth back lightly to keep the crown compact and to slow seed set. Do not cut into bare old wood, since acacias reshoot from it poorly and a hard cut often kills the branch outright. Feeding is not required in most soils, and phosphorus rich fertiliser should be kept well away from the root zone. Mulch lightly with a coarse material, keeping it clear of the trunk, and water only through the establishment period. Stake only where the site demands it, tie loosely, and take the stake away after the first year, since a trunk held rigid never thickens the way a plant left to move does.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 7 sizes, from 70mm up to 400mm, priced from $16.95 to $199.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"330mm","offer_id":64311486054769,"sku":null,"price":149.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"400mm","offer_id":64311486087537,"sku":null,"price":199.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64311486120305,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64311486153073,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"300mm","offer_id":64311486218609,"sku":null,"price":88.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"70mm","offer_id":64311486251377,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"250mm","offer_id":64311486284145,"sku":null,"price":59.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"20L","offer_id":64446171840881,"sku":null,"price":149.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/pd-201-golden-wattle-acacia-pycnantha_71d574ee-76a7-4e50-9c18-fb563c13466f.png?v=1785552005"},{"product_id":"wattle-acacia-dealbata","title":"Wattle - Acacia dealbata","description":"\u003cp\u003eSilver wattle is the bigger, looser cousin of the Cootamundra. The bipinnate foliage is soft silver blue with a mealy white bloom over the young stems, the tree grows quickly to a real height, and in late winter the canopy carries masses of small golden balls with a scent that travels well past the garden boundary. It occurs naturally through south eastern Australia, including the Victorian high country and Tasmania, which explains its cold tolerance. Rural screening, shelter belts and quick cover on exposed blocks are the jobs it does.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe bigger, scented silver wattle\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eCold country is where it beats most wattles: hard frost, snow, wind and poor soil are all within its range, and it wants full sun and little water once established. Drainage should be reasonable, but it is not fussy about fertility. The failure mode is suckering. Damage a root, run a trench, mow into the base or dig a new bed nearby, and the tree answers by throwing suckers, often well away from the trunk, which turns one tree into a thicket over a few seasons. That makes it a poor neighbour for paving, lawns, septic trenches and small gardens, and a useful plant on acreage where a thicket reads as shelter rather than as a nuisance. Two other things to plan for: the timber is brittle and sheds limbs in storms, and stressed trees attract borers, which show up as gum and sawdust around the base. It seeds itself readily onto disturbed ground as well, so it is not a tree for a bushland boundary, and it has become a problem in parts of Western Australia and in several countries where it was planted for shelter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePaddock tree or tidy screen\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-baileyana\"\u003eAcacia baileyana\u003c\/a\u003e is the obvious comparison: neater, smaller, bluer and non suckering, but with a real weed record outside its home range, so it is the pick for a tidy suburban screen away from bushland while dealbata suits the paddock. The other choice worth making is against \u003ca href=\"\/products\/she-oak-casuarina-cunninghamiana\"\u003eriver she-oak\u003c\/a\u003e. If the shelterbelt has to last, the she-oak is the tree and the wattle is the nurse crop that shelters it through the first years and then comes out. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/wattle-acacia-pendula\"\u003eWeeping myall\u003c\/a\u003e is the third option and belongs on hot dry inland ground, where dealbata struggles with the heat and the alkaline soil. All of them sit with the other local species under \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/natives\"\u003enatives\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eCuts, storms and light feeding\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrune after flowering and keep the cuts in green growth, since like other wattles it will not reliably reshoot from bare wood. Formative pruning is worth the trouble on this one, because a young tree trained to a single leader with well spaced branches holds up far better in storms than a crowded multi stemmed one. Remove broken limbs promptly and cleanly rather than leaving stubs for borers to work on. Feeding is rarely needed, as it fixes its own nitrogen; if you feed at all, use a low phosphorus native formulation in early spring. Deal with suckers by cutting them off below ground level, since mowing them over only multiplies them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 3 sizes, from 70mm up to 45L, priced from $16.95 to $229.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"45L","offer_id":64311493689713,"sku":null,"price":229.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"250mm","offer_id":64311493755249,"sku":null,"price":59.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"70mm","offer_id":64311493886321,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"300mm","offer_id":64446172103025,"sku":null,"price":139.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"35L","offer_id":64446172135793,"sku":null,"price":189.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"400mm","offer_id":64446172168561,"sku":null,"price":259.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/plantdrop-silver-wattle-acacia-dealbata-20260611_c8cb951b-46c6-4cc3-81a8-f3f04c13e226.png?v=1785552053"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/collections\/plantdrop-silver-wattle-acacia-dealbata-20260611_c8cb951b-46c6-4cc3-81a8-f3f04c13e226.png?v=1787348954","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/collections\/wattle.oembed","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}