Gum Tree Eucalyptus macrandra

Long Flowered Marlock is the eucalypt that screens at eye level instead of lifting its canopy over your head. It holds a dense, low, often multi stemmed crown that sweeps close to the ground, over smooth pale bark on a short trunk. The buds give it away, long narrow yellow green caps that open into greenish yellow brush flowers loaded with nectar, and honeyeaters find them quickly. It goes into shelter belts and along boundary lines far more often than out on a lawn as a specimen.

Dry summers, and the skirt you must not lift

It comes from the south west of Western Australia and wants a climate with a dry summer. Perth, the wheatbelt, Adelaide and the drier inland districts of Victoria and New South Wales all suit it, and it handles wind, heat and light frost once established. Full sun, and drainage it can rely on. On heavy clay, mound the planting bed or pick another species, because it resents wet feet. For a screen, space plants so the skirts will overlap, not as though each were a separate tree, and plant a staggered double row if you need a windbreak that does not leak at ground level.

The damage done to this species is done with secateurs, not with soil. That low skirt of foliage is the whole point of the tree, and gardeners lift it for mowing access or to tidy the base. Once lifted it does not come back, and you are left with a gappy, awkward small tree that no longer screens anything. Mulch underneath, do not mow under it, and leave the lower branches alone.

Screening at eye level, or seeing underneath

The comparison worth making is with Wallangarra white gum, which is also modest in size but does the opposite thing, carrying a clean white trunk and a weeping canopy held well above head height. If you want to see through underneath, plant that. If you want to block a view, plant this. Flat topped yate is the other low branching westerner here, but it is much larger and belongs on wet or saline ground. Marlock is the one for dry soil and a screen you can look straight into. Flower timing separates it again: the greenish yellow brushes are held on a plant at head height, where you can actually watch honeyeaters work them, rather than up in a canopy. Very large specimen plants are listed under super advanced trees.

Tip work only, and never a canopy lift

Prune after flowering, and prune the tips rather than the frame. Light tip work on the outer growth thickens the screen and keeps the skirt dense, while cutting into old wood leaves gaps that stay. Never lift the canopy. If a plant leans badly, shorten the heavy side and leave the low branches on the other alone. Feeding is minimal. One native feed as the ground warms, in each of the first two years, then nothing beyond mulch. Water through the first two summers to get the roots down, then stop, because established plants are far happier dry than damp.

Choosing a size

This plant is supplied in one size, 400L, at $2039.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to Australian native trees for shade.