{"product_id":"broad-leaf-melaleuca-melaleuca-leucadendra-broad-leaf","title":"Broad Leaf Melaleuca - Melaleuca leucadendra Broad Leaf","description":"\u003cp\u003eBroad Leaf Melaleuca is the heavy crowned form of the weeping paperbark, Melaleuca leucadendra, the big white trunked tree of creek banks across the tropical north. Its leaves are long, flat, broad and gently curved, hanging from pendulous branchlets, so the canopy reads denser and heavier than the fine leaved form, though still weeping rather than solid. Under the crown, the trunk carries cream to white bark built up in thick, spongy layers that give under your hand. This is a tree for real space: a park, a large rural block, a wide verge with nothing buried under it, or a wet gully where ordinary shade trees sulk.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe bargain is simple. You get quick cover, deep shade and that bark, and in return you accept a large tree that sheds all year and roots widely.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWarm country, wet feet and the frost line\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the wild it lines rivers and swamp margins from the Kimberley across the Top End and down the Queensland coast to about Rockhampton, and in gardens it is at home from far north Queensland through the south east and along the warm coast of northern New South Wales. Sydney gardens grow it too, in warm, sheltered positions. Give it full sun. It takes heavy clay, poor sand and ground that lies waterlogged for weeks after summer storms, then rides out a dry winter once established. Frost is the limit at any age: it takes only light frost, young trees suffer worst on their soft new growth, and an inland frost hollow is simply the wrong place for it. Through the first two summers, one slow soak a week that wets the soil a spade deep does more than frequent sprinkling; on a site that already lies wet, skip it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat it costs you, and the shaping it needs\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eRoots follow water, and on a suburban block that means sewer lines, stormwater pipes, pool shells and slab edges. Plant well clear of all of them and of the house itself. Bark peels steadily, leaves and spent flowers follow, and any gutter or pool filter under the canopy will need regular clearing. Flowering is irregular, with cream spikes possible in almost any month, and the nectar draws honeyeaters, lorikeets, bees and, after dark, flying foxes, which are noisy and messy over a parked car. Papery bark also ignites readily, so in bushfire prone country keep it well back from buildings.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChoose one leader, or a deliberate group of two or three stems, while the trunk is still thin, and cut out any narrow, tight fork before it has weight to carry. Cuts on an old tree close slowly, so most shaping belongs in its early years. Leave it unfed: fertiliser only makes a quick tree quicker. In humid coastal summers, check fresh growth for the yellow powdery spots of myrtle rust. For the larger pots, our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/planting-and-establishing-advanced-trees\"\u003eplanting an advanced tree\u003c\/a\u003e covers the hole, staking and first year watering.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBroad leaf, fine leaf or quinquenervia\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/fine-leaf-melaleuca-melaleuca-leucadendra-fine-leaf\"\u003eFine Leaf Melaleuca\u003c\/a\u003e carries narrower leaves on the same weeping frame, giving a lighter, more open crown that lets sun through to a lawn below. Choose the broad leaf where the job is deeper summer shade, over a play area, a stockyard or the western wall of a shed. The names invite confusion with \u003ca href=\"\/products\/paperbark-melaleuca-quinquenervia\"\u003eBroad Leaved Paperbark\u003c\/a\u003e, which is Melaleuca quinquenervia: an upright tree with stiff, five veined leaves and no weeping habit, and the safer choice for Sydney and the cooler parts of the New South Wales coast. When a site needs shade from the first summer, the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/mature-trees-100l\"\u003eMature Trees 100L and Over\u003c\/a\u003e collection is the place to start.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 6 sizes, from 300mm up to 1000L, priced from $119.00 to $3979.00 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\/coastal-planting-salt-and-wind\"\u003ecoastal planting\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"300mm","offer_id":67670404858225,"sku":null,"price":119.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"45L","offer_id":67670405382513,"sku":null,"price":309.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"100L","offer_id":67670405415281,"sku":null,"price":839.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"200L","offer_id":67670405448049,"sku":null,"price":1439.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"400L","offer_id":67670405480817,"sku":null,"price":3269.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"1000L","offer_id":67670405513585,"sku":null,"price":3979.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/broad-leaf-melaleuca-melaleuca-leucadendra-broad-leaf.jpg?v=1791513873","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/broad-leaf-melaleuca-melaleuca-leucadendra-broad-leaf","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}