Blueberry Ash Elaeocarpus reticulatus

Blueberry ash keeps a narrow, upright frame with distinctly layered branching, which is unusual in a native of its size. The flowers are why people stop and look: small cream bells hanging under the branch, each with its rim cut into fine fringes, or clear pink on selections such as Prima Donna. Hard round berries follow in a blue that barely reads as natural, and they hang on the tree for months. That slim crown makes it a screening and feature tree for side setbacks, courtyards and verges under wires.

Fringed bells, blue berries and the soil that produces them

It grows naturally on rainforest margins and in wet forest from southern Queensland down the coast into eastern Victoria, and it wants something close to that at home: soil worked with organic matter, mulched, and kept from baking. Full sun gives the heaviest flowering, while part shade suits it better in hot inland districts where afternoon sun scorches the leaf edges. Water is moderate rather than generous, and growth is moderate to fast once the roots reach into surrounding soil. For a screen, set plants about 2 m apart and let the layered branching close the gaps instead of shearing them together.

The failure mode is drought at the root zone in the first two summers. A young blueberry ash that dries out sheds its inner leaves, thins from the middle and then sits there for a season doing nothing, and it is slow to rebuild that lost density. Deep, infrequent watering and a thick mulch ring solve it. This is not a plant for an exposed inland site with no irrigation at all.

Choosing between the three quandongs

All three Elaeocarpus in this batch carry the same fringed bell and blue fruit, so the decision comes down to habit. Eumundi quandong is the narrow columnar one with bronze new growth, built for a tight gap between buildings and happiest in subtropical moisture. Hard quandong is denser and broader, clips into a formal hedge and shrugs off coastal wind. Blueberry ash is the lightest framed of the three, the most tolerant of cooler southern gardens, and the only one grown mainly for its flower. Pick it for a garden feature near a path, and pick the others for bulk screening. Blueberry ash is also the one that suits a verge under powerlines, since the crown stays slim without pruning. More in natives.

Trimming without losing the flower

Prune once the berries have gone, in late winter or early spring, before the new growth moves. Tip pruning young plants thickens the frame, and lightly shortening long shoots holds the shape without shearing, which is what spoils the layered look. Take out weak inner wood at the same time. Feed in early spring with a controlled release fertiliser formulated for natives, then again after flowering in a garden that pushes it hard. If the foliage yellows between the veins on alkaline soil, iron chelate and a heavier mulch layer will bring the colour back.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 11 sizes, from 100mm up to 1000L, priced from $16.95 to $2749.00 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 Australian native trees.