Arizona Ash Fraxinus velutina

Velvet ash carries a broad, open, rounded crown on a straight trunk, and it holds that crown over ground that defeats most other deciduous shade trees. The name is in the foliage: soft grey-green leaflets with a fine velvety down on the undersides, dull rather than glossy, unlike any other ash in this range. Its job here is shade. Think inland driveways, western-facing back yards, paddock corners and street verges where baking summers, alkaline soil and dry winters are the ordinary conditions.

Siting velvet ash on hot inland blocks

Full sun and honest drainage, which is what the species evolved for in the arid south-west of North America. It earns its keep through inland New South Wales, the Victorian Mallee, the South Australian mid-north and the drier parts of south-east Queensland, taking alkaline soil, hard clay loam and long rainless stretches once the roots are down. Water deeply and infrequently through the first two summers rather than sprinkling daily, and give the tree room, because the crown broadens with age and the lower limbs sweep wider than most people plan for.

The one real failure mode is structural. Velvet ash grows quickly, the timber is brittle, and it naturally forms tight forks with bark included in the union. Those forks split out in a summer storm fifteen or twenty years later, usually over something expensive. Prune formatively from the first winter: hold a single central leader, take out competing stems while they are still finger thick, and keep only wide-angled scaffolds. One further check before a public planting, since ash is recorded as an environmental weed in parts of southern Australia: confirm the species is acceptable with your local council.

Velvet ash or manna ash

The other ash in the range is Manna Ash - Fraxinus ornus, and the two are not interchangeable. Ornus is the small one, a neat rounded head on a short trunk, grown for the creamy scented panicles it carries in late spring, and it is the sensible pick for a narrow verge or a suburban front garden. Velutina is the bigger, coarser, tougher tree. Choose it where the site is genuinely hot and dry and you want canopy over a yard, a shed or a driveway rather than a flowering display. If the block is large and autumn colour matters more to you than drought tolerance, Sweet Gum - Liquidambar styraciflua is the alternative, though it wants deeper soil and steadier water than this tree ever asks for.

Winter pruning and spring feeding

Prune in winter while the tree is bare and the branch structure is easy to read. The early years are for shaping rather than tidying: take out crossing wood, shorten competing leaders and lift the canopy gradually over several seasons instead of stripping the lower limbs in one pass. Once the framework is set, an established tree needs very little cutting at all. Feed in early spring with a balanced slow-release fertiliser spread to the drip line and watered in, and hold a wide ring of coarse mulch back off the trunk so the root zone stays cool through its first summers. More options in ash trees.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 4 sizes, from 45L up to Bare Root Regular, priced from $42.95 to $649.00 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 choosing a tree for a small backyard.