Got a query? call us on 01905 888 098

FREE UK Mainland delivery for All Tree Orders, excluding 30 litre pot size and above

Got a query? call us on 01905 888 098

Eucalyptus neglecta – Dargo Plains Omeo Gum – 1 of 4 great for part shade

£36.00£79.00

Exclusive to Hardy Eucalyptus, this exciting new selection of our best-selling Eucalyptus neglecta demonstrates increased vigor and a particularly good habit.

A plant with attitude and deserving of wider usage in the UK.  It quickly grows into an excellent large, bushy shrub and in the long term it forms a beautiful small specimen tree. Very hardy, and one of the few species that is tolerant of shady conditions. Striking foliage and a noted fragrance make it ideal as a statement piece in any garden.

Why we like this species selection:

  • This is a tree with personality and determined to express it; big leaves, square stems, powerful aroma
  • Gives a quick result and then slows right down – unusual for a Eucalypt!
  • Small screening tree with nice habits
  • Grows in sun, part-shade, cool or hot – very easy to manage

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: EUCNDP
Loading...

Description

Eucalyptus neglecta – Dargo Plains Omeo Gum – 1 of 4 great for part shade

Very hardy, Eucalyptus neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ is an excellent and useful small screening tree tolerant of a wide range of growing environments. Aesthetically, it is great for architectural planting and for Jurassic Park style gardens.

Q; How does ‘Dargo Plains’ differ from the straight ‘Omeo’ Gum?

A: Hardy Eucalyptus at Grafton Nursery have introduced ‘Dargo Plains’ to the UK.  Performance in the nursery so far has shown it to be:

  • Slightly more vigorous than straight Omeo, so it should reach a good screening height more quickly
  • The juvenile foliage is impressively large and more round – a very attractive characteristic

Shoots ‘n Leaves: New young shoots are pink/purple bronze. The whole tree canopy takes on a wonderful iced plum purple hue, when viewed from a distance during early to mid summer.

Juvenile leaves are huge (can be up to 17 cm wide and long), rounded – like tea plates and glossy glaucous dark peacock-green, which in a cool moist climate (i.e.  most of UK) take on a wonderful purple tinge in the summer. Juvenile leaves persist for between 7-15 years before the shy adult leaves make an appearance.

Adult leaves are large, broad lanceolate and sage-olive green. They remind me of bay leaves on steroids!

Bark: Mature bark is variable: being smooth lime-custard through to rough pewter and coffee. Branchlets are glaucous and crinkley/corrugated in appearance and square in cross section.

FlowersWhite flowers appear in spherical groups of 7 to 15 buds per umbel – typically during July/August – loved by honey bees

Fragrance: Wonderful – Strong typical fresh Eucalyptus aroma

Rate of Growth: Initially very fast at up to 2m per annum then slowing down to a sedate pace of about 1m (3ft) per year

Height: If given optimal growing conditions and not pruned back,  it will quickly become a small tree growing up to 5-7m tall  (21+ ft-ish), which is impressive, given its huge leaf size. Very long term it may grow a little taller, but this is classified as a dwarf Eucalyptus.

For further information on pruning – visit the tab entitled ‘How to Use’  also read our Guidance Notes here

Responds well to regular annual pruning to keep it small either as a bushy shrub or shrub-onna-stick. If maintained as a coppiced/pollarded specimen, it will take on the size and shape of a Pittosporum  shrub or coppiced Hazel tree

Hardiness: Noted for its exceptional cold hardiness and happy also in considerable heat;  tolerating down to around -12 °C to -15 °C mark, once mature.

Hardiness in Eucalyptus is governed by provenance of seed, how it is grown (i.e. high nitrogen levels reduces cold tolerance), age of the tree – the older your tree, the hardier it will be. Younger Eucs are more susceptible to frost damage.  For further information – visit the tab entitled ‘How to Use’

Additional information

Weight 5 kg
Dimensions 150 × 40 × 40 cm
Size

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Planting Position and Soil

E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ is one of the few Eucalypts tolerant of lightly shady conditions, but will grow equally well in full sun.

Any reasonable garden soil, but as a plus point, this species tolerates boggy ground. If deprived of moisture, E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ will tend to grow more upright into a taller tree.  When supplied with plenty of moisture, it can be grown shrubby and bushy.  Make sure 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.

To encourage deep rooting and therefore good stability, prepare a deep planting pit as per our instructions.

For the best results, follow our planting and aftercare watering instructions; issued with every order.

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

Specimen and Screening Tree: Perfect for the wider landscape, arboretum collection or avenue planting; also for the small, medium and larger garden. Grow either as a standard tree or shrubby bush.

Full-size Standard: Planting the tree and running away is an option, but it won’t necessarily give you the best results. For information on how to do it properly see our ‘Help’ pages here.

Shrub on a stick/clipped standard: This is an opportunity to grow a Eucalyptus in a confined space and control its overall size. You can produce a small tree on a trunk with a height of anywhere between 2.4m (8ft) and 4m (12ft).

E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ naturally lends itself to this growth habit and can be achieved with bi-annual pruning at specific times of year.

To get the best results:

  • Prune to reduce overall height on March 18th – National Eucalyptus Day UK.
  • Tip prune by halving all new growth at the end of May – The Chelsea Chop.
  • Avoid pruning at other times of year

Growing a multi-stemmed bush or tree.  E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ responds well to coppicing and readily produces a multi-stemmed specimen.

Why would you want to do this?

To create:

  • A tree with more body or ‘mass’ of branches and foliage for screening purposes. Once grown back up to its full potential, it will now have several main trunks.
  • An attractive multi-stemmed architectural tree, especially if it has exceptional bark.
  • To control height, whereby your Euc can be usefully maintained anywhere between 2.4m and 7m (8-20ft.
  • To produce your own multistem from a young tree or maxi tree see our growing notes here.

Floral Art:  E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ is not on our list of cut foliage species, but I see no reason why you could not use the odd branch in a vase of flowers. It would look great with Dahlias.

Firewood Production:  E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ is not on our selected species for Biomass or Firewood as it is not sufficiently vigorous.  However, it is of interest to firewood/biomass Eucalyptus breeders because of the hardiness it can confer on its offspring. I have no doubt the seasoned wood will burn well from a felled mature E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’.

Hedge-Screens & Windbreaks: A row of standard E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ trees would provide an effective screen at 5 to 7 m tall, which could be easily managed, by pruning once or twice a year (see growing ‘shrub-onna-stick’ notes).

E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ is not on our usual list for bushy hedge-screens or windbreaks, but I guess you could plant a row of them, to grow as a screen, providing you have a lot of space to accommodate the bushiness at ground level.

E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ readily produces sub-lateral shoots – i.e. branches off the side-branches and finds no problem in becoming bushy.  This is unusual for most Eucs.

For information on how to grow hedge-screens, see our ‘Help’ pages here.

Rural/Agricultural:      

  • Good shade tree for livestock to stand under. Eucalyptus provide a cool environment for horses, cattle, llamas, and sheep to shelter from the sun on hot days, as the mass evaporation of water through the leaves creates a cool shady canopy beneath. Also, I have been told that the eucalyptol in the leaves deters flies.
  • Green foliaged species, which looks for comfortable and not ‘foreign’ in a rural setting – reminiscent of big-leaved willow species.

 

Ecology:  

  • Bees and other pollinators. All Eucalyptus produce flowers with nectar and pollen. E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ produces useful flowers in August providing foraging for honey-bees and other pollinating insects.
  • 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.
  • Birds enjoy roosting in eucalyptus trees and pheasants like rootling around underneath them. Over winter, we have 100’s of Goldfinches roosting overnight in our E. neglecta. The seem to enjoy the protection once the leaves have dropped off our hawthorn hedges.
  • Chickens: The shredded foliage of E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ is excellent at keeping chicken nest boxes and hen houses free of red mites, which detest the presence of eucalyptol. We line our chicken boxes with shredded leaves, strew the floor and pile up the spindly branches for the chickens to make nests.

Environmental:

Coastal: We have no experience of growing E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ in a coastal environment. I suspect it may do well, but the strong winds may shred the young foliage; this needs trialling.  Do get in touch if you are giving this a go and let us know how you get on.

See ‘Help’ pages for further details on growing in coastal locations here: hyperlink to help page

Drying Wet Ground: E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ is very at home in moist soils. This is a great species to help you regain the use of boggy ground. Dry up wet ground that intermittently floods, gain remedial treatment for winter boggy ground or which suffers from outflow from a septic tank system or unwanted dew ponds. If you have unusable marshy pasture, I suspect that planting a couple of swamp gums and some E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ will help dry the ground up and give you a crop of firewood logs too, if coppiced every 5 to 8 years; certainly worth giving it a try.

SUDS – sustainable drainage systems:  Needs trialling, but planted singly or in groups, E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ may draw on drain water percolating into swales or similar. Coppice or pollard every few years if you need to control the overall height of the trees. Eucalyptus draw on ground water for twelve months of the year, unlike willows, which lie dormant for 5 months through the winter.

Exposed Conditions: Tolerant of cold and exposed growing environments inland  E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ will grow in open fields and pasture; it does not require a sheltered position. No grass, no weeds, a big dollop of Rootgrow mycorrhizal fungi and a thick bark chip mulch, are essential to assist with good establishment

Poor Soils: Tolerant of poor stoney soils once established:  E. neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’ does not require a rich soil and can survive in poor, stoney soils, but I imagine it will grow into a taller tree with a more open canopy. It is essential that your Euc is given lots of water 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 these challenging conditions. No grass, no weeds, a big dollop of Rootgrow mycorrhizal fungi and a thick bark chip mulch are essential to assist with good establishment.

Nursery Notes and Trivia

Winter 2022 going into Spring 2023

We have good stocks of E. neglecta at this time, including some of the best 9, 12, and 20 litre standards that we have ever produced. Smaller 3 and 5 litre specimens will continue to be introduced in the spring.

Botanical Name: Eucalyptus neglecta ‘Dargo Plains’          MYRTACEÆ; Myrtle Family

Common Name: Omeo Gum, Omeo Round-leaved Gum (Victoria)

Status: Evergreen tree

Origin: Australia, distantly allied to the blue gums

 

Meaning of the name: neglecta – apparently so named because the species was originally overlooked (literally neglected) by the botanists, when it came to classification; it was not recognised as a distinct species.

 

Interesting Notes: E. neglecta belongs to the very large group Eucalyptus subgenus Symphyomyrtus section Maidenaria, which are generally restricted to SE Australia. However, E. neglecta stands alone in the series Neglectae and is not related to any other Eucalyptus in the group – its botanically one on its own.

Happy Plants

Customer Reviews