Description
Eucalyptus Gunnii, Cider Gum
| Hardy: | Very, frost tolerant below -16°C |
| Soil: | Tolerant of a wide PH and moisture range |
| Growth: | Fast, up to 1.5m per year |
| Height: | 20m plus with a 6m crown if stand alone |
| Biomass: | Good firewood, can be coppiced, polarded or logged |
| Bees: | Good flowering for bees, flowers from July to August |
Eucalyptus Gunnii, common name “Cider Gum” are fast growing trees often planted as an ornamental specimens. They also make a fast growing evergreen hedge, the photo below shows the start of one of my Gunnii hedges planted from poly pot trees, two months after planting and about a year after the seeds germinated.
I will let this hedge become established and during late spring early summer of the second growing season I will prune it back to encourage thick bushy growth.
Currently I am experimenting to see whether Eucalyptus Gunnii will make a natural livestock stockade. I’ll keep you posted.
The blue grey juvenile leaves are often used by florists, as background to floral displays. If pruned regularly Gunnii will retain its juvenile blue grey leaves, left to grow the leaves will become green, elongated and dagger shaped. Still attractive though 🙂
Gunnii is grown commercially for floral foliage. Teagasc published a report on the likely commercial returns. Eucalyptus for Cut Foliage also my page on Floral Foliage
Gunnii grow fast, twice the rate of the native ash tree. Currently 2019, Gunnii is not generally grown for firewood due to a high moisture content, though once cut, chopped and dried the logs will burn well.
Everything’s relative ! Willow have a higher moisture content and are planted specifically to be coppiced for biomass. Gunnii grow much faster so are actually a better commercial proposition. Have to say that I burnt some of the hedge above when I cut it back. It lay out for perhaps four weeks and burnt well.
Gunnii is noted for its exceptional tolerance to cold, down to -16°C. My personal experience with this variety is that it is also one of the most wind resilient. They survived Storm Hannah in April 2019 with ease, and indeed proved hardier than native trees such as Blackthorn, Alder and Beech.
I grew Gunnii in Scotland, and they were completely unaffected by the severe cold snap of 2010; below -9°C for a couple of weeks.
The older your Eucalyputs gets, the more acclimatised and hardy it will become.
Most Eucalyputs shed their bark once a year. The photo below is of a Eucalyptus Gunnii in Kilrush Ireland. Near the west coast of Ireland, so has been tolerant of salt winds. Not at its most attractive perhaps, though you will know when your Eucalyptus Gunnii sheds its bark it’s just doing it’s thing 😉
Grant aid is available for planting Gunnii. Dept of Agriculture Forest Service.
As I say in my blog, these Gunnii plugs coppiced and are generating healthy new growth So if your Gunnii hedge gets a bit burnt off, just coppice it, though as with my Eucalyptus Gunnii hedge, once it’s established it will be grand 🙂
Trees regenerate in two ways:
- The awakening of dormant buds at leaf and branch nodes.
- Growing from the roots using lignotubers.
Gunnii have lignotubers, and will regenerate from either the roots, or if some of the trunk is left, from leaf and branch nodes.
