Gum Tree Eucalyptus gunnii

Cider Gum is bought for the round silver blue juvenile leaves that florists cut by the bunch, and that is the clue to how to grow it. Left to run it becomes a large, vigorous tree carrying adult foliage that is longer, narrower and far less interesting. Cut back hard every year or two it holds as a shrub or small multi stemmed tree pushing fresh blue growth. The bark sheds in patches to leave a smooth trunk in cream, grey and green.

Cold suits it, humidity does not

It comes from the Tasmanian high country, which makes it one of the more cold hardy eucalypts in cultivation. Frost, snow and hard inland winters do not trouble it, so it suits the tablelands of New South Wales and the ACT, central and western Victoria, the Adelaide Hills and cool districts generally. Full sun, and soil that drains, though it is less fussy about fertility than most. Growth is fast, and once the roots are down it needs little water. Grown as a clipped screen, set plants close enough that the cut foliage knits into a band, and expect to shear it at least once a season to keep the juvenile leaf coming.

Humidity is what defeats it. Through a wet subtropical summer in coastal Queensland or northern New South Wales it sulks, drops leaves and picks up fungal spotting, and it rarely recovers its colour. This is a cool climate plant, so if your summers are warm and wet, choose something else. The other practical caution is that an unpruned tree gets big, with vigorous roots, so keep it away from footings, tanks and septic systems.

Cider Gum against the other two silver gums

Against Argyle Apple, Cider Gum is the colder and hungrier plant, smooth barked rather than rough barked, and it grows away faster if you stop cutting it. Argyle Apple keeps its silver longer without intervention and holds a dark fibrous trunk. Silver leaved mountain gum never converts to adult foliage at all, so it gives the truest juvenile leaf, but only on a small sprawling plant. Choose Cider Gum for cold districts where you want a cutting hedge with real vigour behind it, and where nobody minds shearing it. Choose one of the other two if the site is warm and humid, or if the plant has to look after itself once it is in the ground.

Prune hard, or accept a large tree

Prune in late winter, before the spring flush, and prune hard. Cutting a young plant back to a low framework, then shortening the previous season's growth each year, is what keeps the round blue leaves coming and stops the plant converting to adult foliage. If you want a tree instead, select a leader in the first two years and remove competing stems while the wood is small. Feed lightly with a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring, particularly on a plant being cut regularly, since repeated shearing takes a lot out of it. Mulch, and water through the first two summers. Larger stock sits under advanced trees.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 2 sizes, from 400mm up to 100L, priced from $199.00 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 Australian native trees for shade.