Wattle Acacia floribunda

Gossamer wattle is the one to plant if you want a wattle that weeps rather than one that stands stiff. It grows fast into a large shrub or small tree with fine arching branches and long narrow phyllodes, and its flowers are the giveaway: pale cream to lemon rods set thickly along the stems in spring, not the bright yellow balls most people picture. The effect is soft and pale. It is planted for quick informal screening, for a windbreak on an exposed boundary, and as a nurse plant.

Fast cover on exposed ground

Full sun, and almost any soil that drains, including sand and mounded clay. It is native to the eastern states, grows readily through temperate and subtropical gardens, takes coastal exposure, and handles wet spells and dry periods better than most fast growing acacias. Water it through the first summer and then leave it alone, because low water once established is genuinely low. Space plants along a screen line with room for the arching habit, since crowded plants draw up thin and lose their lower branches. A staggered double row gives a better windbreak than a single tight line.

Two things to plan for. It is not long lived, and older specimens split at the forks in strong wind, so site it away from anything you would not want a limb to land on and expect to replace it rather than inherit it. It also seeds freely and is regarded as a weed outside its natural eastern range, particularly in Western Australia and South Australia, so keep it well clear of bushland boundaries and watercourses and pull seedlings while they are small.

Rods, balls and globes

Three wattles sit side by side here and the flowers separate them at a glance. This one carries pale cream rods in spring. Acacia pycnantha, the golden wattle, carries dense fragrant golden balls in late winter and is the choice when you want the classic wattle display and a drier position. Acacia implexa flowers cream in summer and autumn, lives considerably longer, and suckers from the roots, which suits a shelterbelt and does not suit a lawn. Take floribunda for the softest and fastest screen on a mixed site, and for the least aggressive root behaviour of the three in a suburban block. The wattle range has the full set.

Light pruning and a replacement plan

Tip prune from planting and prune again immediately after flowering, shortening the long arching growth to keep the crown compact and to reduce the leverage wind can apply to it. Never cut back into bare old wood, since acacias reshoot from it poorly if at all. Feeding is generally unnecessary in reasonable soil, and where you do feed, use a low phosphorus native fertiliser. If seedlings are appearing, take spent flowering wood off before the pods ripen, and mulch the root zone rather than cultivating around it. A young plant staked loosely for its first year builds a stronger trunk than one held rigid against a stake.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 4 sizes, from 75mm up to 300mm, priced from $16.95 to $88.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to Australian native trees.