Australian Red Cedar Toona ciliata

Australian red cedar is one of the very few deciduous trees native to this country, bare through the cooler months and flushing back in spring in copper and pink before the leaves settle to green. That flush, not the small cream flowers, is what people plant it for. Mature trees carry a broad spreading crown over a buttressed base, with long pinnate leaves that shed in quantity. It is planted for shade on rural blocks, in parkland, along wide streets and in rainforest regeneration work.

Giving red cedar the warmth and depth it wants

This is a warm-climate tree. It performs in subtropical and warm temperate coastal districts from northern New South Wales into Queensland, and it wants deep soil with real moisture-holding capacity rather than a shallow sandy profile. Full sun suits it once it is away, growth is fast, and established trees carry a dry spell without fuss. Give it distance, because the crown spreads, the surface roots run and the leaf drop is heavy enough to matter over a pool or a gutter. The failure mode is cedar tip moth. The larvae bore into the leading shoot of young trees, kill the leader, and the tree responds by throwing multiple replacement shoots, so instead of one clean trunk you get a low bushy plant that never lifts. Trees planted among other growth, with shelter and some overhead competition, come through the vulnerable years better than a single specimen standing alone in an open paddock. There is no reliable spray answer in a home garden, so siting is the control. Plant into a hole no deeper than the root ball, stake only where wind demands it, and hold a wide grass-free circle around the base while the tree establishes.

Red cedar next to the evergreen natives here

Set against firewheel tree, the two natives pull in opposite directions. Firewheel is narrow, evergreen and grown for its scarlet flower wheels; red cedar is broad, bare in winter, and grown for scale and the spring flush. If your site is a suburban block or a narrow verge, take the firewheel. For coastal exposure at similar speed, cottonwood hibiscus holds its leaves and shrugs off salt, which red cedar will not do. Choose red cedar when you have hectares rather than square metres, want a canopy that lets winter sun through to the ground beneath it, and are prepared to nurse the leader through the first few years. Larger grades are listed in mature trees.

Building a single trunk

Prune in late winter while the tree is bare and the branch structure is easy to read. The priority for the first several seasons is a single dominant leader. If the tip is lost to moth, cut back to a strong shoot, select one and rub out the competitors, then repeat until the tree is above the height where shoot damage matters. Lift the lower branches gradually rather than all at once. Feed in early spring as the flush breaks, using a complete fertiliser worked into the mulch line, and keep a wide mulched ring clear of the trunk to hold moisture through the first summers. Autumn leaf drop is heavy and worth raking off paths.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 6 sizes, from 140mm up to 150L, priced from $24.95 to $999.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to when to plant in Australia.