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Australia has been isolated for thousands of years,
thus our plants look very different to those in the northern hemisphere.
These we call “exotics”. Australian plants are beautiful and many are
quite hardy but they require nurturing in their early years.
Many Australian plants such as eucalypts have tough leathery leaves as
an adaptation to the harsh Australian climate which entails fire and
drought. They also have dormant buds called lignotubers and epicormic
buds that have nutrients stored and allow regeneration after fire,
browsing or drought.
When selecting a plant such as an Acacia, choose small seedlings because
they have smaller roots and won’t be pot bound like larger ones. Larger
plants would be much slower growing because they will be unstable as the
roots won’t be spreading out as they should. This means that they will
need support and water. Smaller plants on the other hand will be able to
send out roots immediately thus requiring less water and no support.
Always buy young plants in long pots because they will have deep roots.
Sometimes liverwort will grow on the surface of the soil in pots. These
are not doing the plant any harm except competing with it for moisture
and nutrients and won’t survive long in the soil.
There is a special way of planting Australian plants. Always dig a hole
so that the top of the root ball is just below or level with the soil
surface. Never stake Australian plants as they use it for support and
become weak. Rather, use a rock at the base of the stem. The movement of the wind blowing the stem against the rock will
actually result in a thicker, stronger stem. It is best though to buy
plants from the nursery that can support
themselves already.
Nip out the shoot tips every 6 months or so to produce a compact
youthful plant and mulch around it, leaving the stem free or it will go
mouldy.
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