Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata – Blue Ice Cider Gum 1 of the amazing gunnii group

Description Eucalyptus gunnii divaricata aka The Blue Ice Cider Gum PLUS: LIMITED OFFER – FREE ECO-MULCH MAT KIT with every tree purchased (while stocks last) Possessor of the much-sort-after, classic cute, round, silvery-blue leaf in the juvenile phase. The Blue Ice Cider Gum is an extremely hardy and versatile variety.  Like most Eucalypts, as the plant matures the juvenile foliage is lost in favour of the elongated adult leaves, so prune it if you want to maintain those lovely round leaves for floral art or keep it as a more manageable tree or bushy garden shrub. Blue Ice Cider Gum – Eucalyptus gunnii divaricata is great as a bushy shrub for garden or container. Click here to read about ‘How to successfully grow a Eucalyptus in a container’ produces excellent cut foliage for floral art in the house can be grown as shrub-on-a-stick, kept pruned small for the smaller garden Hop across to the ‘How to Use’ Tab to see how this species can be enjoyed or used in the landscape or garden – such as growing in a pot, as a bushy shrub, standard tree or for cut foliage etc. Nip over to the ‘Planting and Soil’ Tab to see this Eucs preferred growing conditions– its likes and dislikes and how you can keep your tree in tip top condition. The Trivia Tab is just that!!  Notes for the nerdy types and botanists etc. Blue Ice Cider Gum – Eucalyptus gunnii divaricata is a member of the GUNNII group of Eucalypts.  E. gunnii is the ‘species type’ for this group, but there are several ‘cousins’ – each with their own ‘personality’, that is – they have subtly varying characteristics making them different from the ‘species type’.  For more information on this, visit the Trivia Tab For a similar species, but smaller in stature, check out the dwarf species  Eucalyptus archeri,  Eucalyptus ‘Azura’ and Eucalyptus ‘France Bleu’ Note: Eucalyptus gunnii divaricata is also sold under a Belgian brand name. This is not a new or special variety, it’s straight Eucalyptus gunnii divaricata, being grown in the fatally round, smooth-walled pot (so a dodgy root-system*) and marketed under the brand name ‘Fresh Louis’.  For full details on height and leaf form etc. for Eucalyptus gunnii divaricata read the section below labelled Biometrics. *What do I mean by dodgy root-system?  Any Euc grown in a smooth-walled pot with solid sides is forced into growing a spiral root-system, which means the Euc will very likely fall over when it is about 10-15 years old and weighing in at around 2 tonnes. I’ve seen it happen many times from potential customers needing to replace their mature fallen Eucalyptus with a new one that isn’t going to fall over.  We only grow air-root-pruned Eucalyptus. Our Hardy Eucalyptus trees have a healthy, radial root-system which produces a safe and stable tree once planted in the ground.  Click here to read more about the amazing science of air-root-pruning. Biometrics for the Blue Ice Cider Gum Shoots ‘n Leaves: Very ornamental foliage.  Young shoots and stems are silvery, icy blue. Juvenile leaves are a most striking waxy silvery-blue colour. Adult leaves are lanceolate, elegant, more elongated than the juvenile form, in rich silvery blue-green Bark: Smooth bark in grey, cream, green or sometimes pinky-brown, flaking off in large pieces, mid-late summer, to reveal new bark in shades of yellow/green or creamy grey. Flowers: Fluffy white flowers are often produced in January/February in the UK. Leaf Aroma: Strong fruity, typical Eucalyptus aroma. Rate of Growth of the Blue Ice Cider Gum: Fast at around 1.5-2.0 metres per year. Height in maturity, if left unpruned:   after about 15-20 years, the Blue Ice Cider Gum could reach approximately 15 – 20m.  Having grown several at the nursery since 2010, we have found that the Blue Ice Cider Gum,  Eucalyptus gunnii divaricata is not as chunky as its cousin Eucalyptus gunnii. The trees did not lay down as much fibre i.e. didn’t acquire the same thickness of trunk. However, they did reach the same height.   In our view, Eucalyptus gunnii divaricata is best grown for its juvenile foliage and kept as a pruned bushy shrub or shrub-on-a-stick, lollipop standard. Easy to keep smaller by regular pruning. You have two key dates for pruning. March 18th aka National Eucalyptus Day UK End of May aka Eucalyptus Chelsea Chop. Click here for further advice on pruning, which can be found in our Guidance Notes Click here to visit our pruning video To receive monthly pruning and aftercare advice, sign up to our Gumnut Club – its free and you can unsubscribe at any time.  To subscribe – just call or ping us an email to [email protected] If pruned, Eucalyptus gunnii divaricata can be trained to form a bushy screening tree, a lollipop standard or a multi-stemmed bush like a Pittosporum.  Responds well to coppicing and pollarding, when large enough to tolerate the pruning and done at the right time of year, which is March. When not to prune: Unless you are growing for cut foliage, please refrain from voluntarily electing to prune your Eucalyptus from August through to February; it can kill it. Hardiness: Good hardiness rating, root-system should be happy down to around -14 to -16°C, once mature, and down to -18 °C for brief periods.  Hardiness improves with age; young trees are more susceptible to frost damage than their adult counterparts. 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), 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. For more information on how to increase the winter hardiness of your Eucalyptus – click here to see our Guidance Notes.  These notes on how to help your Euc become more hardy in your garden setting are quite long – I’ve been told they are ‘not for the faint-hearted’!  They are meant to be quite all-encompassing and well-intentioned. You can always skip to the last page to look at the salient points!