Gum Tree Eucalyptus occidentalis

Flat Topped Yate is planted for sites other eucalypts refuse. It tolerates both waterlogging and salt in the soil, which is why it has been used so heavily across the Western Australian wheatbelt and into South Australia on saline discharge areas, damp flats and farm windbreaks. The trunk carries rough fibrous bark low and sheds to smooth above, the crown branches low and spreads into a broad, flattened outline, and the flower buds are distinctive, with long horn like caps worth a close look.

Salt and waterlogging, and the season to plant in

Its home is southern Western Australia, and it transfers well to South Australia, western Victoria and the inland slopes, anywhere with a dry summer and a problem paddock. Full sun. It will take heavy clay, seasonal inundation and salinity that would finish off almost anything else in this range, and once the roots are down its water demand drops right away. Moderate frost is no trouble, though it is not a high tableland tree. Nectar brings birds and bees in numbers. For a windbreak, plant a staggered double row and space for the spread rather than the height, because this tree goes sideways and the low branching is what stops wind at ground level.

Timing decides it. Established trees handle wet ground, but a newly planted one does not, and stock put into a waterlogged flat in the middle of winter simply drowns before it has roots to work with. Plant on a mound as the ground is drying, get a season of growth into it, and let the tree meet the wet when it can cope. Planting into standing water is the single reliable way to lose it.

Three trees for wet ground, and what separates them

For wet ground you have three choices here and they are not equivalent. Flooded gum holds damp clay flats on the Swan Coastal Plain but does not have the same salt tolerance, and it suffers badly from lerp in urban Perth. Swamp mahogany is the east coast answer, with spongy red brown bark and much broader glossy leaves, but young plants are frost tender. Flat Topped Yate is the one for saline, waterlogged inland ground, and it is the least shapely of the three. Treat that as a trade you are making deliberately. If the site is simply damp rather than salty, the other two give you a better looking tree. If the site is scalded and rising with salt, this is the one still standing when the others have gone. Semi advanced sizes sit under semi advanced trees.

Clean trunk or windbreak, decide before you cut

Formative pruning matters here more than with most. Left unformed it branches low and goes multi stemmed, so if you want a clean trunk for mowing or stock access, select a leader in the first two years and shorten the competing stems while they are small. For a windbreak, do the opposite and leave the low branches alone. Late winter is the time. Feed sparingly, a native blend in each of the first two springs, then leave it to the site. Mulch, control grass around the base, and water until the roots reach the moisture below.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 3 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.