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Eucalyptus kybeanensis – Kybean Mallee Ash – 1 of our absolute favourites

£77.00£148.00

Eucalyptus kybeanensis – A fabulous species well adapted to the UK climate & the smaller garden. Slower growing than its fellow Eucalypts,  E kybeanensis develops gradually into an open, airy multi-stemmed bush & then a small tree. Reminiscent of an Olive tree in appearance when young with its upright bushy habit and lanceolate green/silver leaves, but much hardier.

Why we like this variety:

  • A superb small Eucalyptus tree
  • Well suited to the UK climate
  • Slow growing and very easy to train and control
  • Very hardy
  • Flowers from November through to April

Sizes Quoted are the approximate height band of the tree above compost level, ie. the height of the tree once planted into the ground. Please note: Eucalyptus are living plants and can grow almost all year round, occasionally we may supply you with a plant that is slightly taller than your order. If this might cause you problems, please include a note with your order.

Click the dropdown below to view our different sizes & prices.

REF: EUCKYB
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Description

Eucalyptus kybeanensis – Kybean Mallee Ash – 1 of our absolute favourites

A super species well adapted to the British climate and the smaller garden.

Slower growing than its fellow Eucalypts,  E kybeanensis develops gradually into an open, airy multi-stemmed bush and then a small tree. The young trees respond well to shoot-tip-pruning in formative years, allowing you to control growth and habit.

If growing as a screening tree for privacy, keep it pruned every spring and a light tip-prune of the new growth at the end of May. It will provide you with a light tracery of deep green foliage.

Biometrics for Eucalyptus kybeanensis

Shoots ‘n Leaves: Young shoots are coated in fine white hairs, presumably to protect them against desiccation in exposed conditions.

Juvenile foliage is small, thin, lanceolate, pointed. Begins bronze with purply shoots turning deep glossy green, and often held upright.

Adult foliage is lanceolate, with rounded tips, in mid olive green to dark holly green, glossy.

Bark: Very attractive; chocolate bark with white striations peels to reveal the smooth under layer of caramel/coffee coloured with a hint of olive green.

Flowers: This variety is fairly showy when in flower with small, white inflorescence held in groups of 7 to 11. Flowers from November through to April and smell of honey.

Great foliage for picking for the house for Christmas and also for making garlands and Christmas Wreaths

Leaf Aroma: Not overwhelming; faintly fruity eucalyptus.

Rate of Growth: Relatively slow-growing for a Eucalyptus at around 60-90cm per annum; still quite fast for an evergreen.

Height in maturity, if left unpruned: Medium term (about 8 years) around 4 metres tall, long term (20+ years) seldom exceeding 7m (about 25′) tall. Prune to keep bushy and compact.

In March, we prune our E. kybeanensis by removing about 30cm of growth from every single shoot, all over the tree; whilst also reducing the leading shoot by 30-60cm.

This keeps the tree bushy compact and a nice shape.😎

If you ignore it and fail to prune, it will grow tall, slim and not bushy.😑

Click here for a link to our pruning Guidance Notes

Click here for a link to our pruning video

Hardiness:  Root-system easily tolerates temperatures down to -14°C / -16°C but needs good drainage to succeed well.

Originating from high plateaux, E. kybeanensis is very tolerant of exposure, once established. The young trees in our nursery survived well, during the winter 2010/11

Avoid planting in a frost pocket or where old air pools in winter.  Eucalyptus kybeanensis will do well on a sunny site with good air flow, on a normal to free-draining soil.

Hardiness in Eucalyptus is governed by

  • provenance of seed (all our seed is sourced from frosty or cold locations)
  • how it is grown (i.e. high nitrogen levels reduces cold tolerance). Eucalypts need to be grown without stress – see our blog post on the subject.
  • the age of the tree – the older your tree, the hardier it will be. Younger Eucs are more susceptible to frost damage.
  • how long it has been planted in the ground. The deeper you can encourage the rooting by digging a deep planting pit at the time of installation, the quicker your tree will establish and you will increase its ability to survive cold winters. See our planting notes for more details.
  • click here for more information about hardiness in Eucalyptus in the UK

Additional information

Weight 5 kg
Dimensions 150 × 40 × 40 cm
Size

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Planting Position and Soil

Eucalyptus kybeanensis – Kybean Mallee Ash

Requirements:

  • Enjoys full sun and open sky above. Avoid shade cast by other tall trees and buildings.
  • Happy in a wide range of soils, including ‘ordinary garden soil’, but performs best on those which are acid to neutral and of average to good fertility.
  • Requires  free draining soil in winter, hates having wet feet, so avoid planting in areas prone to flooding. Very happy on stony, sandy ground and dry soils provided it is well watered during its first full 2 growing seasonsto get it established.
  • Having said all the above, E kybeanensis grows surprisingly well on our horrible yellow swampy wet clay soil at Grafton Nursery.   We have a ‘hedge-screen’ of E. kybeanensis some 30m long, growing very happily on our swampy, yellow clay; so it may be a great deal more tolerant than we give it credit.
  • Good in exposed locations. It will tolerate exposed conditions, but we have no information as to whether it will tolerate salt laden winds.   Cross stake to avoid root-rock whilst establishing.

 

Recommendations:

  • If planting a large number for cut foliage, subsoiling may be a good practice to follow, especially if pastureland has previously been used by livestock.
  • For the best results, follow our planting and aftercare watering instructions, issued with every order; they can also be found under the Help and Advice tab on this website.
  • Improve poor soils with our planting kit, at the time of planting.
  • To encourage deep rooting and therefore good stability, prepare a deep planting pit as per our instructions.
  • Ensure there is no competition from weeds or grass around the base of the young tree as this will seriously cramp its style and slow down establishment. Our research has found that grass around the trunks of newly planted Eucalypts can completely stop them from growing and may lead to failure
  • Make life easier for you and your new tree: Plant with the mycorrhizal fungi product Rootgrow.  Eucalyptus in particular have a special, lifelong relationship with their root fungi, the latter of which actively transport food and water directly into the tree roots, helping your new Euc establish faster and more efficiently, particularly in challenging types of soil.

How to Use

Eucalyptus kybeanensis – Kybean Mallee Ash

Good Specimen Tree for the wider landscape/for the smaller garden: Planting the tree and running away is an option, but it wont necessarily give you the best results.   See our guidance notes for growing specimen Eucalyptus in our Help and Advice section. For monthly emails on how to prune and care for your Eucalyptus, sign up to our Gumnut Club – it’s totally free and you can unsubscribe at any time.

We think that E. kybeanensis is best pruned once or twice a year. Pruning: once your tree has reached about 1.2m (4ft) in height, remove around 200-400mm (8-16 inches) off the leading shoot in mid-March. You can repeat this exercise again end of May, by lightly trimming back the growing points of the subsequent leading shoots by a few inches. Repeat the pruning of all leading shoots every March until you have achieved the desired tree shape.  As with all Eucs, choose a dry day for pruning to minimise the risk of silver leaf fungus disease. Always use clean pruning equipment.

 

Floral Art: E. kybeanensis is not on the recognised selected cut foliage list, but I find that it produces excellent foliage, with a vase life of around 3 weeks. I don’t  pollard the trees in the usual manner, but just snip off what I need, as required. A premium foliage with a moderate yield. Harvesting in November/December will give leafy stems with flowers and gumnuts.

 

Rural/Agricultural: Green foliaged species, which looks more comfortable and not ‘foreign’ in a rural setting.

 

Ecology:

  • Bees: All Eucalyptus produce flowers with nectar and pollen, but this species flowers from November through to April making it a valuable source of food for winter foraging honey bees.
  • Habitat creation and Game Cover: this species lends itself to providing good trouble-free habitat creation for wildlife and game cover, when planted in groups, on free draining soils.
  • Birds enjoy roosting in Eucalyptus trees and Pheasants like rootling around underneath them.

 

Environmental:

  • Tolerant of cold and exposed growing environments inland. However, E. kybeanensis has a very fine, fibrous root system, which can be easily de-stabilised on windy sites.  It may be necessary to keep the tree pruned for its first couple of growing seasons to ensure good root establishment, before allowing it to grow taller into maturity.  Prune every spring, to develop a compact, bushy head. Thick bark chip mulch, to a depth of 150 mm (6 inches) is essential to assist with good establishment
  • Tolerant of arid environments, poor stony dry soils once established. It is essential that your Euc. is given our recommended quantity of water for its first 2 growing seasons in your grounds, during its establishment phase before you abandon it to its fate.  The tree needs to establish a good root system before it can survive in dry, challenging conditions.

No grass, no weeds and a thick bark chip mulch, to a depth of 150 mm (6 inches) are essential to assist with good establishment. Our research trials have demonstrated that grass around the trunk of Eucalyptus prevent the trees from quickly establishing and can completely stop them from growing.

Patio Pot culture: E. kybeanensis can be grown in terrace pots, but do not be tempted to over-pot it, as the fine root-system will not develop properly. Grow in air-pot containers and increase the pot size gradually.

For information on how to successfully grow Eucs in pots, visit our Blog entitled ‘How to grow a Eucalyptus in a pot and keep it alive!’

 

Nursery Notes and Trivia

Winter 2022 into Spring 2023

Stock levels: Young trees in 3 litre and 5 litre airpots ready now.  We are also growing a few specimens of this slower growing species in 12 litre and 20 litre pots, for those of you who need a decent sized tree now.

Botanical Name: Eucalyptus kybeanensis     MYRTACEÆ; Myrtle Family

Common Name: Kybean Mallee Ash

Status: Evergreen Tree

Origin: An uncommon mountain Eucalyptus from south-eastern Australia; Victoria and New South Wales

Lignotuber:  it has one, which is a good thing! E. kybeanesis will regenerate off the lignotuber if cut down by man, beast or nature; producing a multi-stemmed mallee (multi-trunked specimen).  It also produces many shoots from epicormic buds lying dormant beneath the bark higher up the tree; so E. kybeanesis will respond extremely well to both coppicing and pollarding practices. These buds are triggered into life, when the upper branches of the canopy are removed, either by a forest fire or you with loppers. The harder you prune, the more buds will shoot and develop.

Meaning of the Name

kybeanensis: Richard Cambage first collected this variety in November 1908 near the Kydra Trig of the Kybean Range – part of the Great Dividing Range and 26 km from Nimmitabel, a town in south east New South Wales. However, the main populations of this variety are to be found on the high ground of the Australian Alps, especially around Victoria.

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