Eucalyputs aren’t generally thought of as a tree suitable for hedging, so why choose Eucalyptus hedging 🤔 One of the best reasons is that Eucalyptus hedging will establish very quickly, you can have a two metre high hedge in a year or so 😮
Depending on the variety you choose, eucalyptus can grow into a thick privacy hedge, or a tough wind resilient protection barrier. Many suitable varieties have attractive foliage and stems. Often these same varieties are cultivated as floral foliage here in Ireland, so you can take advantage of that if you are into flower arranging, and of course there is always the pleasant aroma of Eucalyptus oils when you crush up the leaves.
Many eucalypts have lignotuber and in their native habitats regenerate after forest fires, forming multi stem trees, so cutting back a Eucalyptus hedge right back will encourage bushy thick growth. Check out the videos below, I cut one of my Eucalyptus hedges right back and the result was a very thick luscious blue foliage hedge.
One of the most popular varieties suitable for hedging is Gunnii. Gunnii will thrive in a very wide range of soil types, hydration gradients and temperature ranges. There are however several other hardy Eucalyptus varieties which are suitable as hedging.
Eucalyptus hedging varieties:
- Glaucescens
- Urnigera
- Parvula
- Perriniana
- Subcrenulata, Yellow gums, although both variants will make suitable Eucalyptus hedging, you will want to plant the Subcrenulata sub species.
Here is a glimpse of some of my hedging here at Clounsnaghta around the beginning of July 2021. Quite a difference in just a year 😮
Below a photo of the new growth from epicormic buds in the bark after I cut back my Gunnii Eucalyptus hedging
Many Eucalypts regenerate from epicormic buds in the bark after fire, and it was very noticeable just how thick the bark of my Gunnii hedge was when I cut it back.
Original photo below by David Midgley on Flickr
Cutting back needs to be done in the warm summer months so that the new growth has time to establish and the cut wounds have time to heal.
The main issue with cutting right back here in Ireland is the unpredictable climate. As in the video unseasonably cold and strong winds burnt the new growth and several of the trees in the hedge never recovered.
This Eucalyptus Viminalis hedge in Liscanor on the west coast of Ireland always gets burnt off during the winter gales with the sale winds, but always comes back 🙂
So it would seem that wherever you are in Ireland Eucalyptus hedging is possible, and I’d hasten to add that there are probably other varieties that are more suitable as hedging than Viminalis 😉
