Landscaping Under Eucalyptus

Thread was: RE: eucalyptus toxicity?

I've found much the same and for that reason started landscaping with 
shallow rooted succulents under eucs. They can be watered shallowly and 
pick up enough of the water rapidly to avoid the wolfish habits for those 
?*&^%$#  trees. They require higher than normal watering for succulents but 
they do keep a good appearance. Things like jade plant (Crassula ovata), 
Portulacaria afra and Kalanchoe beharensis get large. I use the jade as a 
hedge and others for taller structural elements.  I've also had success 
with Aloe ciliata as a vine to cover a chain link fence. I've been thinking 
about trying tree Euphorbias and Aloe dichotoma as a tall shrub/small tree 
elements. There are some of ground covers like Aptenia that handle the eucs 
very well and provide a greener, more lush effect for large areas. I'm 
currently experimenting with mesembs like Faucaria (tiger jaws) to provide 
color. I think that some of the Drosanthemum and Lampranthus also would be 
good. There are species available that are shrubby and/or more constrained 
than those often found in the commercial nurseries. There also are some 
very nice colors available. Other candidates are things like Crassula 
'Campfire' that have very strong leaf color.

If the eucs were in my yard they would have been mulch and firewood years 
ago :-)

Phil Bunch
Lemon Grove, California
32:44:00N 117:01:58W
540 feet (164 meters) amsl
USDA Zone 10a
Sunset Zone 23
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On Saturday, October 26, 2002 22:27, Ccopuntia@aol.com 
[SMTP:Ccopuntia@aol.com] wrote:
> Greetings, Anni!
>
> For what it's worth, we've done research at the nursery regarding (what's 
> turned out to be) this *old wives tale*.  Euc is just really messy, but 
not
> "toxic" to other plants, or in this case, nut/fruit trees.  What usually
> kills the plants that we attempt to grow under eucs is actually, just 
being
> smothered by the leaf litter.  Well, that, and the eucs sucking up ALL 
the
> water in the vicinity.
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