fionamw

Is it a feature of a dry spring, a disease or am I in a position to go into sugar production, cos my Eucalyptuses are leaving the back terrace absolutely coated in small sticky white crystals. Not to mention more leaves than I've seen them drop before. And the little blighters (the crystals) get well & truly stuck to the bottom of your shoes & won't shift for a normal broom.
Hmph. Any clues anyone?

rugbymatt

The "sugar" is gum, hence the name "gum trees", I would not worry too much about it, some years they produce a huge amount others they produce hardly any and they also have a habit of dropping a huge amount of their foliage at certain times in their life not to mention the rather alarming habit of dropping branches at will.

What has the previous growing season been like Fiona? I mean has there been a drought, have the roots been disturbed, what's the rainfall been like etc...

jdr

Same here Fiona, this year so many more leaves dropping but still growing too, and like you say loads of gum, looks like sea salt. ;-))

fionamw

I'm not worried particularly, just p'd off at the potential cleanup needed! Apart from keeping an eye on whether or not any branches are within dropping distance of the house, I have to admit to not really keeping much of a tab on their performance - they're huge & part of the scenery & I guess have been for many years before our time. Rainfall? What's that? Last year was VERY dry and although we had quite a cool wet winter, this spring/summer's shaping up dry too. There always have been (four+ years) loads of leaves dropping, and bark 'shavings' too, and those horrendously spikey flower/seed remnant thingies that the bees dislodge in huge quantity (sometimes there are so many bees they wake us at night/dawn!) but the amount of leaves on the back terrace in the past couple of weeks was above and beyond....
btw the sea salt comparison is far more accurate -
The reason I didn't consider the gum aspect is cos the leaves (both on and off the trees) seem to have the white crystals on the surface (top and bottom I think) so I was thinking insect or disease. However they are definitely sticky so presumably that is the answer. Anything I can do with them?!! Home made Wrigleys, anyone? And how can I get the gloop off unsealed lozas?

rugbymatt

The gum will come off with some solvent, maybe a small amount of turps or paint thinners dissolved in some hot water, or even some washing up liquid.

There are loads you can do with gum trees, and don't forget they will have been planted to keep the flies away.

One word of warning, if they are big be very careful sitting under them or if there are strong winds stay away, they can drop VERY large branches at little or no warning and some of the really older ones in Australia are called Widow Makers.

I will put together a small list of things you can make, mainly from the leaves, including a brilliant insect repellant.

snikpoh

You say they are planted to keep flies away yet my pine trees (prodcuing tons of gum) are actually attracting flies. They seem to be all over the gum on the bark. So much so that when you bang the trunk, the air almost goes black with the flies that take to the air!

rugbymatt

Pine trees or Eucalyptus?

snikpoh

Oh, definately pine trees. I just thought your point about the gum might also apply to pine tree resin (gum?).

rugbymatt

No, its specifically gum trees, the Eucalyptus oil is used commercially to deter flying insects, even commercially in the farming community. Pine trees I'm afraid are designed to attract insects, its the way they defend themselves and propagate.

Cut them down! Having said that, Thuja's are almost as good as gum trees.

fionamw

I'll be needing industrial quantities given the area of terrace 'gummed'; and many thanks, I don't like wasting a useful growing resource!

rugbymatt

It will be later fiona, I have a ton of coursework to type up today and try and stay off the internet until the evening now, too many distractions!

jdr

My gum is not sticky (should I of said that ?) it is more like grains of sea salt. ;-((
Or did the BBQ get that out of hand ?

fionamw

There's a good boy



(wish I could be more disciplined.....only three chapters 'nearly' finished...)

bil

One piece of advice. Never plant eucalypts near your property if the soil is clay and prone therefore to subsidence or heave. They are worse even than willows.

When we bought our place they had planted a trio of them in the garden, and my first job was to remove them.

rugbymatt

Then you are aware that removing a fully grown tree in that type of soil can cause just as many problems if not more.