Lemon Scented Gum Corymbia citriodora subsp. variegata (Eucalyptus citriodora)

Check which lemon scented gum you are actually buying. Subspecies variegata is the coastal spotted gum, long sold as Eucalyptus maculata, and the trunk does the work: smooth bark shed in irregular patches leaving a dappled mosaic of grey, cream and soft pink that shifts through the year. The leaves carry only a light citrus scent. It is a forest tree with a tall straight bole and a high open crown, planted for feature and shade on parks, wide verges, school grounds and rural driveways.

A humid coast, and the root run to allow for

Its country is the coast and near coastal ranges of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, so it handles humidity, summer storms and warm winters, and it transfers well to most of coastal and subcoastal eastern Australia, along with Perth and Adelaide given drainage. Full sun. It wants soil that drains and does not need it rich. Growth is fast, and water demand drops right off once established. Cream flowers through the cooler months bring lorikeets and flying foxes, and the timber is a structural hardwood, which tells you something about the weight of the limbs overhead. In an avenue, space for the mature crown rather than for early effect, because crowded trees draw up thin and never build the trunk you planted them for.

A root zone that is too small is what undoes it. Surface roots lift paving, kerbs and slab edges over time, and a tree squeezed between a driveway and a fence will either damage the hard surfaces or decline as its roots are cut during the repairs. Give it an open, uncompacted root run well clear of paving, pools and services from the start. Retrofitting space is not possible once the tree is established.

Scent and geography separate the spotted gums

The scent separates it from Corymbia citriodora, which is strongly citronella scented and carries a smooth, powdery pale trunk instead of a dappled one. The geography separates it from Corymbia maculata, the southern spotted gum of the New South Wales coast. Visually the two spotted gums are close, so choose on climate: this subspecies for the warmer, more humid north, maculata for cooler southern coastal districts. Buyers also come to this one for scale, since it is grown on into very large containers, which matters on a project that has to read as established on handover rather than in ten years. Very large stock is listed under super advanced trees.

Formative work, then an arborist

Keep pruning to formative work in the first few years, in late winter. Select one leader, shorten competing stems, remove tight forks, then lift the canopy in stages so the trunk thickens as it goes. Once the tree is established, restrict yourself to deadwood and clearance, and use a qualified arborist for anything structural, since limbs on a drought stressed tree are heavy and the wood is dense. Feeding is light, meaning a light native feed in its first couple of springs and nothing carrying much phosphorus at all. Mulch a wide ring, keep turf off the root plate and water deeply while it establishes.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 7 sizes, from 100L up to 800L, priced from $1309.00 to $9569.00 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 Australian native trees for shade.