How to plant and care for Eucalyptus (Cider Gum)

Eucalyptus gunnii

🌳 Tree 🔁 Perennial

Round, silver-blue, aromatic young leaves loved by flower arrangers. Cut it back every spring to keep it a bushy shrub — left alone it becomes a huge tree.

When to plant and care for it

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Prune

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

Growing Eucalyptus (Cider Gum): what it needs

Light: Full sun · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Water weekly in dry spells for the first two summers
Soil: Fertile, well-drained soil · pH 6.0–7.0
Spacing: 3 m
Height: 2 m coppiced (20 m if not)
In pots: Best in the ground
Feeding: No feeding needed
Hardiness: USDA zones 7–10

Step by step

On planting day
Plant the Tree
Plant at the same depth it grew in its pot, in a hole twice as wide as the root ball, 3 m from other trees. Firm and water well.
0–1 days after “Plant the Tree”
Stake and Tie
Drive a short stake in on the windward side and fix it with a soft tree tie. Loosen the tie each spring so it never cuts into the bark.
0–2 days after “Stake and Tie”
Water In Deeply
Soak the root area with a full can, then keep the soil moist (not wet) for the first few weeks.
7–21 days after “Water In Deeply”
Mulch the Base
Spread 5–8 cm of compost or bark mulch in a 1 m circle, keeping it clear of the trunk.

Every year

April
Spring Coppice
Coppice (cut to 30–60 cm) every spring to keep it small and full of round juvenile leaves for cutting.
September
Cut Foliage
Cut stems of silver leaves for vases and wreaths.